5 Uncommon Table Saw Techniques You Haven’t Thought Of

Most of us use a table saw for the obvious things: ripping, crosscutting, maybe dados if we’re set up for it. But the table saw can do a lot more than that if you’re willing to build a simple jig and think a little sideways.

In this article, I’m going to walk you through five techniques that feel a bit “specialty tool”… except you can do them with the saw you already own: cutting cove molding, making a tapered round leg, ripping repetitive thin strips safely, cutting circles, and even turning your table saw into a surprisingly aggressive disc sander.

1) Cut Cove Molding on the Table Saw

Architectural trim or furniture moldings usually come from a mix of tools. A lot of the heavy lifting is done on a router table. Sometimes you’ll see people modify a planer with specialty knives. But one thing I like about woodworking is this: if you understand what you’re trying to create, you can often get there with the tools you already have.

Cove molding shows up anywhere you’re transitioning from a horizontal to a vertical surface (like shelves, casework, furniture details, even crown molding in a home). It can hide an ugly seam, cover up small imperfections, or just make the whole piece look finished. It’s just one of those details that makes a room feel richer… and usually costs more than you want to pay.

But crown molding itself isn’t complicated. A typical crown molding has multiple cuts: bevels on the back, then a cove and other profile details on the front. For this technique, I’m focused on the cove itself—and yes, you can cut it on the table saw.

The reason this works is simple: you’re not feeding the board straight through the blade like a normal rip cut. You’re feeding it at an angle, so the blade is taking a “scooping” cut across the face of the board. That angled pass is what creates the curved profile.

And to do that safely and consistently, we need a jig.

The Simple Cove-Cutting Jig

You’ll see store-bought jigs that “trap” the workpiece between two rails. I don’t bother with that. If your fence rail is positioned correctly, the rotation of the blade naturally pushes the board into the rail anyway.

What I’m making is basically an auxiliary fence (or rail) that mounts to the table saw using runners in the miter slots. Once it’s mounted, it acts like a guide fence set at an angle to the blade.

To build it:

• I cut slots in the rail so it can be adjusted and locked down.
• Then I attach the mounts (the runners) that ride in the miter slots.
• If your saw has standard 3/8" x 3/4" miter slots, you can buy ready-made runners.
• My saw uses a non-standard size, so I made mine out of oak: cut to width, then rabbet the edges on the router table so they fit the slots cleanly.

That gives me a solid way to mount and adjust this rail without it shifting during the cut.

Setting the Angle and Depth

Once the auxiliary fence is mounted, the two big decisions are:

1. What angle is the board traveling across the blade?
2. How deep do I want the cove to be?

A good “default” angle is around 30°, but the relationship is worth remembering. The closer to perpendicular the board travels (less angle), the wider the cove will be. 

The more angled the board travels (more acute angle), the narrower and deeper the cove tends to be.

So the angle is basically your “shape control.”

Next is depth. I decide what my maximum depth needs to be (for example, 3/8 inch), raise the blade to that height, and then position the fence so the blade is cutting where I want the cove to land on the face of the board.

This part is a little bit of eyeballing, because you’re balancing two things at once:

• You want the entire cove to be cut in the workpiece, not cutting into your auxiliary fence.
• And you don’t want the workpiece drifting off the guide.

So I set the rough position, do a light test pass, and adjust if needed.

One more practical point: if you’re cutting a bunch of cove (like you’re making crown molding for a room), do it all in one run. This setup is repeatable, but you’re far better off keeping everything locked in and making all your pieces the same while nothing has moved.

Cutting the Cove

This is not a one-pass cut. The temptation is to raise the blade and “get it done.” Don’t do that.

I lower the blade so only about 1/8 inch is exposed and take shallow passes, raising the blade a little at a time. The saw is doing a broad cut across the face grain, and if you try to take too much, it can get grabby and rough.

The shallow passes do two important things:

• They keep the cut controlled and predictable.
• They leave a cleaner surface that’s easier to refine later.

As you make passes and raise the blade, the cove will get wider and deeper until it hits your final shape.

When I’m done, the cove should be consistent from end to end. If I were making full crown molding, I’d use a wider board and then add other edge details with a router. But the point here is the “hard” part—the cove—is completely doable with a table saw and a simple rail jig.

2) Make a Tapered Round Leg on the Table Saw

Probably one of the trickiest things to do on a table saw is a round tapered leg. A square taper is straightforward. You can build a tapering jig and you’re basically done. But once the leg is round, you’ve got a new problem: you still need the taper… and you need to rotate the blank as it’s being cut so you don’t end up with flats.

That’s what this jig does. It’s basically a sled that rides in the miter slot like any other table-saw jig, but it also holds the leg between “centers” so you can spin it while the saw removes material in a controlled taper.

The end result is exactly the kind of leg you see on mid-century modern furniture like coffee tables, end tables, and benches. Anything where the legs look light, clean, and intentional.

The Sled Concept

This jig is a two-piece sled: a bottom board and a smaller top board that can pivot. That pivot is what lets me set the taper angle.

Here’s one detail that matters: a lot of the time, when we build sleds, we obsess over getting the runner positioned so the whole sled is “perfect” from the beginning. That’s necessary when the sled fence must be exactly 90° to the blade, like a crosscut sled or a miter sled.

But in this case, I don’t need a fixed fence at 90°. I need the sled to run parallel to the blade, smoothly and consistently. So the easiest way to make that happen is:

• Cut the base a little oversized
• Attach the runner
• Then run the sled through the saw and trim the edge

When you do that, the sled becomes “self-calibrated” to your saw.

The Runner: Poplar, Glue + Screws, and a Little Wax

For the runner that goes in the miter slot, I use poplar. It’s technically a hardwood, but it’s affordable, stable, and machines nicely. For shop jigs, it’s one of the best choices because it’s straight-grained and predictable.

I attach the runner with glue and screws (and I make sure the screw heads sit below flush). Then I rub a little beeswax on the underside so the sled moves smoothly.

Wax doesn’t sound like a big deal… until you try pushing a jig that drags. Less friction means better control, and better control is what keeps this safe.

Once the runner is on, I take it to the saw and trim the sled edge so it’s perfectly aligned. If it binds, that’s usually the runner being slightly too wide or slightly crooked. And the fix isn’t dramatic: I use a rabbet plane and take off one or two shavings. I’m talking a couple thousandths of an inch. That little adjustment is often the difference between a sled that glides and a sled that jams.

Making the Adjustable Top (Curved Slots + Threaded Inserts)

The top sled is smaller than the bottom. I left the bottom longer at first because I wasn’t sure how much length I’d need for balance. After thinking it through, I decided the longest legs I’d realistically make on this jig were about 18 inches. So I can trim the bottom sled down later once I know it’s stable.

To make the top adjustable, I need curved slots. Those slots let the top board pivot and lock at different angles.

I used a beam compass to lay them out, but you can do the same thing with a pencil and a string. 

Then I drill the slot endpoints cleanly using a brad-point bit, because it lets me hit the exact location. 

After that, I cut the curved slots with a jigsaw.

To attach the top to the bottom in an adjustable way, I install threaded inserts in the bottom board. Pay attention here: threaded inserts require a specific hole size. Mine take a 23/64" hole. If you drill the wrong size, the insert won’t grab properly and you’ll fight it the whole way.

Once the inserts are in, I use threaded knobs with oversized washers. That gives me a strong clamp-down pressure without chewing up the wood.

This is the heart of the jig: those knobs control:

• the taper angle (how steep the leg gets)
• the positioning (so I can repeat the setup)

Holding the Leg: “Between Centers” with Bushings

Now I need to hold the leg blank so it can rotate.

One end is basically a “live center”—it spins freely. I made a simple bracket, ran a bolt through it, and used a nylon insert lock nut so it doesn’t tighten down while it spins. I also added a bushing inside the wood (mine are aluminum for now; brass would be better long-term).

The other end is the driven end. I cut the head off a bolt and cleaned it up so it works like a shaft. That shaft threads into a threaded insert at the end of the blank. 

This end is adjustable, and I can move it back and forth a little bit. It's kind of tight, but that allows me to set the exact point I want. 

And the two threaded knobs you see are going into T-nuts, which are coming through from the bottom side of the board.

So the blank is held between two points and can rotate as it would on a lathe, except the cutting is happening at the table saw.

To operate this safely, I add a handle, which is just blocks and a 1-inch dowel. Nothing fancy. The point is control.

And I keep it narrow on purpose. I need room on the side to get my drill in there, because the drill is what rotates the leg blank while the sled moves through the cut. Full-width handles get in the way.

Cutting the Taper 

For the test, I use a blank about 16 1/2 inches long, which is a good coffee table leg length. I install threaded inserts in both ends of the blank. Ideally they’re dead center. If one is slightly off, it’s not the end of the world, but I account for it by making that end the one that gets cut more aggressively.

Then I connect the blank into the jig, leaving a little slack so it can rotate freely.

Now the taper logic matters. The end you want thinner is the end that needs to be “out” farther relative to the blade. The end you want thicker is “in” closer.

That’s what the pivot and knobs are controlling. Once I set that, I bring the sled back, raise the blade, and make the cut while rotating the blank.

When it comes off the saw, you’ve got a tapered round leg, but it’ll be a little rough.

Smoothing the Leg Without a Lathe

To clean it up, I use a strip of sandpaper torn from an old sanding belt. I wrap it around the leg and use the drill for power. That’s basically sanding it the way you would on a lathe.

Then I work up through finer grits until it’s as smooth as I want.

That’s it. Once you’ve built this jig, you can make tapered legs whenever you want.

3) Cutting Thin Strips Safely (and Consistently)

There are a lot of times I need thin strips of wood. Small projects, accents, inlays, edge details, especially when I’m working with exotic hardwoods and I want to stretch a board as far as possible.

The old-fashioned way is to cut thin strips on the table saw with the strip trapped between the blade and the fence.

That’s a problem.

When the piece is trapped there, a couple things can happen:

• Best case: it just sits there and you pull it out.
• Worse case: it kicks back, and kickback has real force.
• Another common one: the strip drops into the blade slot, and you have to fish it out. If your saw has a dust shroud around the blade well, that turns into a real nuisance fast.

So instead of cutting the strip inside the blade (between blade and fence), I cut it outside the blade on the side away from the fence. That eliminates the pinch point.

The challenge is: how do you make those strips the same thickness every time?

That’s where a thin rip gauge comes in.

Setting Up the Thin Rip Gauge

A thin rip gauge mounts in the miter slot rail. You can mount it on either side depending on your setup. Mine uses bearings as the contact point, which makes it smooth and consistent.

To set it:

1. Bring the gauge up to the blade and establish a “zero.”
2. Measure off the carbide tooth, not the steel plate of the blade. The carbide is what defines the cut width.
   
   
3. Dial in the thickness you want. If I want 1/8-inch strips, that’s two lines on a 1/16 scale

Once it’s set, I slide the gauge forward in front of the blade. That part matters. If the gauge is beside or behind the blade, you can accidentally recreate a pinch point. In front of the blade, it functions as a position stop only, then the fence takes over to guide the cut safely.

Making Repeatable Cuts (Even When You Switch Boards)

Now the workflow is simple:

• Put a block of wood against the gauge bearings.
• Bring the fence up to touch the block.
• Lock the fence.
• Make the cut.
  

The best part is you can swap boards and the thickness stays consistent. The gauge doesn’t care if you’re cutting oak, pine, or some beat-up scrap as long as one edge references cleanly against the fence.

So with the gauge set once, I can cut as many thin strips as I want, from as many different boards as I want, and they’ll all come out the same thickness.

4) Cutting a Perfect Circle on the Table Saw

One of the more challenging things in woodworking is cutting a circle. People cut circles in a lot of different ways, and some of them work fine. But since we’re talking table saw techniques here, we’re going to do it with a simple circle-cutting sled that gives you a surprisingly good result—and it has one big advantage over a lot of other methods:

Size. This sled starts at roughly 22" square, and that can let you cut circles up to about 40" diameter. Most of us won’t need that every week, but the day you decide to build a round table, you’ll be glad you can.

Build the Sled: 22" Plywood + Runner + Back Lip

I start with a piece of 3/4" plywood, 22" x 22". Nothing fancy, this is shop-jig plywood.

Like any sled, it needs a runner that rides in the miter slot. A lot of people install the runner by placing it in the slot and dropping the sled onto it. That works. I do it a little differently here: I attach the runner to a line I’ve drawn on the bottom of the sled, then take the whole thing to the saw and trim it to final width.

Here’s why I do that.

On my saw, the miter track is about 7" from the edge. I attach the runner at about 7 1/2" from the edge, on purpose, because I’m going to trim the sled at the table saw afterward. That final trim “locks in” the sled’s relationship to the blade and the track.

I glue and screw the runner (same as always), and once that’s done, I add a lip on the back edge, which is the edge facing me when I’m using the sled. It’s not absolutely required, but it’s helpful. It gives you something to register against and just makes the sled feel more controlled in use.

Trim the Sled to Fit Your Saw

Now I take it to the saw and cut off the extra width. I’m trimming about 1/2" off (roughly, as this depends on your saw and where you placed the runner). I raise the blade high enough so that, while I’m trimming the sled edge, I can also trim that back lip flush where needed.

Add Pivot Pins (Lots of Them)

At this point the sled is basically ready, except for the key feature: a pivot point.

Really, I want multiple pivot points so I can cut different-sized circles without rebuilding the jig. So I made a pin out of a 10-penny nail (not because it’s special, but because I had it). I cut it down to about 7/8" long. Diameter is just over 1/8", which means I can’t drill a perfect 1/8" hole and expect a nice fit… so I go up to the next size: a #29 drill bit.

If you don’t have number bits, don’t get hung up on that. Use the smallest bit you own that’s just slightly larger than your pin.

Now, instead of drilling one pivot hole, I lay out a whole line of them.

• I make a line at about 10" up from the edge (this one is for smaller circles, up to roughly a 9 3/4" radius).
  
  
• I start around 2" (no need for tiny circles) and mark every 1/2" out to about 9 1/2". That gives me circles up to about 19" diameter on that row.
• If I want bigger circles, I add another row of holes farther up the sled so I don’t run into that back lip.

The whole idea is simple: circle size = pivot location.

Mount the Workpiece

To cut a circle, I drill a matching hole in the center of my workpiece. I also barely countersink the back side just to clean it up.

And I’ll be honest: the most awkward part of the whole process is simply getting that center hole down onto the pin.

Here’s the trick: use balance.

If the piece is leaning one way, shift it the other way. Let it “find” the pin. Once you do it a couple times, it becomes second nature.

Cut the Corners First: Square → Octagon → 16 → 32

I don’t go straight to the final cut.

First, I cut off the four corners and turn the square into a rough octagon. That makes everything easier and safer because you’re removing less material during the final pass.

Then I keep refining:

• 8 sides becomes 16
• then roughly 32

If I miss a point, it’s not a big deal. I just repeat the pass and clean up the remaining high spots. By the time you get to that many facets, it starts to look like a circle already.

The Final Pass: One Continuous Cut

Once it’s close, I change methods. Instead of making repeated facet cuts, I do a continuous cut.

I start the saw, bring the workpiece into the blade and then rotate the workpiece around the pin.

That final pass turns “almost round” into “actually round.”

When you’re done, you’ve got a circle that’s surprisingly clean. It may need a little sanding on the edge, but you’re not fighting a lumpy shape.

5) Using Your Table Saw as a Disc Sander

A heavy-duty stationary sander is one of those tools that’s really useful, but it’s not always a priority. Most of us have other things we’d rather buy first.

But you can still get the function of a disc sander, at least for rough shaping and quick cleanup, by using your table saw.

This is especially handy for easing edges quickly, cleaning up radius cuts, smoothing odd shapes that didn’t come out perfectly, and sanding small parts like circles from hole saw cutouts.

The “Disc” Part: Old Blade + Self-Adhesive Sanding Discs

Years ago, you could buy metal sanding plates that mounted to a saw. I actually have an old Craftsman one that’s probably 50 years old. I tried finding something like it again and couldn’t.

So, I used an old saw blade instead. Mine is old enough that it isn’t even carbide-toothed. I’ve never used it for cutting. It was kind of dull when I got it. Perfect candidate.

To turn it into a sander, I apply self-adhesive sanding discs, and I like 80 grit for this because the whole point is to remove material quickly. This isn’t finish sanding. This is shaping and cleanup.

You won’t get perfect coverage because a round disc doesn’t perfectly match the blade geometry, and that’s okay. I cut crescent pieces by tracing and trimming with a utility knife—cutting through the backing, not the abrasive—and then I tear it to fit.

If I want to, I can fill in a couple gaps with smaller scraps. But even with “good enough” coverage, it works.

The Safety Problem (and the Fix): Build a Guard/Shroud

Now, the dangerous part: sanding with your hands close to an exposed spinning disc is a bad idea, even if the blade is dull.

So I make a guard (shroud) that clamps to the saw’s fence and keeps my hands away from the blade. This guard isn’t about being pretty. It’s about being safe and functional.

To lay out the guard curve, I:

• take measurements from the saw
  
  
• place a few small nails to define the curve
  
  
• flex a steel ruler against the nails and draw the arc
  
  

It won’t be a perfect mathematical curve, and it doesn’t have to be. It just needs to sit outside the blade with enough clearance to protect your hands.

Then I cut the parts, glue them up, clamp them, and clean up squeeze-out. The glue job doesn’t have to be furniture-grade. This is a shop guard. It’s doing one job.

The tricky part is keeping parts from sliding while clamping. Once it’s dry, it’s ready.

Install the “Sanding Blade” and Set the Guard Height

Now I swap the regular blade out and install the sanding blade.

Then I clamp the guard to the fence. I push it forward at first just so I can fit the clamps, then back it off to the working position.

The goal is that the tips of the blade are just below flush (so my hands are protected), but the blade does not rub inside the guard

That’s the sweet spot.

Using It: Fast, Aggressive, and Great for Small Shapes

To test it, I use a circle offcut from a hole saw. It’s those little disks we all end up saving because they’re useful for toys, wheels, shop projects, and jigs. The only problem is that they always need sanding.

This setup is ideal for that kind of work. And I’ll warn you: it’s aggressive. That’s why I like 80 grit here. It does the job quickly. You just need to keep good control and let the abrasive do the work.

If you wanted to get fancy, you could even set it up so the blade tilts for angled sanding. You’d just need to adapt the guard so it tilts with it, maybe a wedge between the guard and the fence. But even without that, it’s an extremely useful trick.

Final Thoughts

I use these techniques because they solve real problems in the shop without adding complexity or new machines. They make difficult cuts safer, more repeatable, and more predictable, which is what matters when accuracy counts. Once the setup is dialed in, the saw does the work, and I can focus on the results.

The real advantage here is flexibility. When you know how to adapt the table saw to tasks like shaping, tapering, or sanding, you are no longer boxed in by the limits of a single-purpose workflow. These approaches are worth keeping in your back pocket, because sooner or later, one of them will be exactly what a project needs.