Crosscutting Wide Stock Safely on a Table Saw

When I created my shooting board, I had to cross cut the back to even up all the protruding molding, veneers, ply substrate, and likely a french fry or two.  Thing is, the board is 14" wide.  The cross cut capacity of my saw with the miter gauge is about 12", significantly less with the blade height I needed for the 1 5/8" thick shooting board.

Some people will punt and use the fence, but a long narrow piece on the fence is a big kickback risk.  Instead, do what I did in this picture: put the saw's stock miter gauge in the track backwards.

Push the stock against the gauge and use it to guide the cut straight and square without the risk of kickback.

Here you can see the extra capacity you get from this simple, safe trick.  Further, when you raise the blade, you add to the capacity for those times when you just need something a little bigger :)