Depending on the type of cut, I'll either use my hand, a push block, a push stick or something like the Grr-ripper to make a cut on the table saw.
The Grr-ripper is what I use the least, but it is one of the options that is really irreplaceable. For example if I have a long thin piece of wood (say 2' long x 2" wide x 0.25" thick), and I want to rip it into 0.5" strips, then the only way to safely make this cut is with something like the Grr-ripper. It is the only way to get grip on a thin piece of material and allow me to put pressure in the appropriate places (downward, towards the fence and through the saw).
But keep in mind in this specific example that the stock is not very wide. If you have a 6" piece of stock and are cutting off 0.5" strips, then by far the safer way to do it is to keep the bulk of the material between the fence and the blade and have the off-cut be the thin strip (and there are a variety of ways to setup your saws to do this cut repeatably). In this example the wood is also very thin, which is important. If the wood is thicker then the danger of ripping on the table saws increases, because there is more surface area between the blade and the wood, and at some point I'll just go over the bandsaw, rip things to rough size and then clean them up on the drum sander.
I'm also a huge fan of the grr-ripper rip block for the jointer. I use it all the time for thinner stock where I don't feel there is enough distance between my hands and the blades.
How do you do that cut repeatedly? You have to move the fence each time?
(very amateur woodworker who makes repeated cuts like that with the bulk of the wood on the other side of the blade so he doesn't have to move the fence each time)
The Grr-ripper is what I use the least, but it is one of the options that is really irreplaceable. For example if I have a long thin piece of wood (say 2' long x 2" wide x 0.25" thick), and I want to rip it into 0.5" strips, then the only way to safely make this cut is with something like the Grr-ripper. It is the only way to get grip on a thin piece of material and allow me to put pressure in the appropriate places (downward, towards the fence and through the saw).
But keep in mind in this specific example that the stock is not very wide. If you have a 6" piece of stock and are cutting off 0.5" strips, then by far the safer way to do it is to keep the bulk of the material between the fence and the blade and have the off-cut be the thin strip (and there are a variety of ways to setup your saws to do this cut repeatably). In this example the wood is also very thin, which is important. If the wood is thicker then the danger of ripping on the table saws increases, because there is more surface area between the blade and the wood, and at some point I'll just go over the bandsaw, rip things to rough size and then clean them up on the drum sander.
I'm also a huge fan of the grr-ripper rip block for the jointer. I use it all the time for thinner stock where I don't feel there is enough distance between my hands and the blades.