Issues with Table Saw Binding on Angled Cut
I was planning to hang a cabinet via a french cleat (first time I am trying this). Cleat is being made from 3/4″ birch plywood, about 3’L x 4″W. While trying to put a 45 degree cut through it, my table saw binds up (and circuit breaker trips) for some reason. The blade being used is a combination blade (Woodworker I from Forrester) in good shape, and the table saw is powered by a 1.5 amp motor. I have no issues sawing through the exact same wood at 90 degrees, so I assume my saw blade is sharp enough and motor is powerful enough? But I also realize the cross section of the cut is somewhat wider at a 45 degree angle so…?
I am using the table fence to guide the cut. And I do not have a throat insert for 45 degree cutting so I am working without an insert in place. Is there anything from a technique perspective I should be aware of?
If there is any other relevant information I can provide with respect to this issue, please let me know. Thanks…
Replies
Tilt
Left of right tilt blade ? Lumber under tilt ?
Binding
1. make sure your rip fence is properly adjusted, (does the edge of the board show any burning?)
2. make sure your blade is sharp and clean (accumulated pitch might be the problem)
3. remember that at 45° the cutting surface is increased
4. if your saw is under-powered, try "nibbling" away at the cut to minimize the work the blade is doing.
You have to address the fence alignment issue and you should have a throat plate, those aside, the bevel on a French cleat doesn't have to be 45, it could be a much less acute angle, even 10 degrees would work.
You have probably read somewhere that the saw blade needs to be aligned parallel to the rip fence and miter slot or the saw will bind on one side or the other as material is pushed past it.
Similarly, under the saw table are trunnions, or a similar mechanism, that define an axis of rotation for the tilt motion. This axis of rotation (an imaginary line) must be parallel both to the plane of the saw table and to the line of motion of the material (defined by the miter slot or rip fence as noted above) or else tilting the saw will also twist it slightly causing it to bind up or down when tilted just as the first misalignment caused it to bind to one side or the other. 3D rotations like this are difficult to visualize at first.
Misaligned one way will cause the blade to toe down front to back as it is tilted so that on a left tilting saw the blade will bind down on a rip cut. Misaligned the oth cause the blade to toe up from front to back as it is tilted so that on a left tilting saw the blade will bind up on a crosser way willcut using the left hand miter slot. It sounds like your saw is toed down.
To check your saw, first check the alignment of the blade at 90 degrees using the usual method of mounting a dial indicator or feeler point on the miter gauge and checking one spot on the saw rotated to 2 positions. You can find complete descriptions of this in FWW. Then tilt the saw and repeat the process. If the saw is aligned correctly, it will still be aligned to the miter slot. You can reposition the gauge for this to measure vertical rather than horizontal if you like.
On most saws I've worked on, shimming up the front or back of the table is the easiest way to align the plane of the table to the tilted saw. If your saw is toed down as noted above the back of the saw blade is closer to the table than the front. Shimming up the front of the table will tip up the table more under the front edge of the saw to even things out.
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