Replies

1. 
   JMartinsky | Jan 04, 2007 04:46am | #1

   Dear L,
   Almost certainly, your blade is warping. Replace it with a high quality (Freud, Forrest etc.) and you should be OK. White Oak is tough stuff and at 2" even more so. When working with tough material... Ipe, White Oak..etc, we always use new blades as even a slightly worn blade will deflect under those conditions.

   What blade are you using now?

   Best,

   John

1. 
   liamo | Jan 04, 2007 05:28am | #2

   Thanks for the reply John.  Actually I'm using the original DeWalt Blade that came with the saw in 2002.  The saw's at a friend's house at the moment but it is very good blade - at least 80 teeth carbide. I suspect it needs serious sharpening and I will put on a new blade to see if it works.

1. 
   JMartinsky | Jan 04, 2007 06:22am | #5

   Ypu, Scruff has a good point there. Wood on both sides of the cut, very important. Change the blade. make one cut and see what you get. Typically, I never notice how poorly a blade is cutting until I swap it out.Best,John

1. 
   Rich14 | Jan 04, 2007 08:00pm | #9

   Yeah, trying to take just a sliver off a thick piece of wood will deflect the blade. Even a new blade can do this.

   Worse, if you use a blade a few times to do this, rather than having wood on both sides when cutting, the blade wears more on one side, making the darn thing more prone to do this even when using it with good wood on both side. It just seems to self destruct from that point, always deflecting.

   "I never notice how poorly a blade is cutting until I swap it out"

   or:

   Q: When is it time to change a blade?

   A: When you're wondering if you should.

   Rich

2. 
   scruff | Jan 04, 2007 05:58am | #3

   When cutting dense woods I find the only way to get true mitres is to make the first cut the final cut. If the blade has wood to cut on both sides of the blade it cuts cleanly. Shaving the mitre always bends the blade so that the cuts are untrue. This is where a laser guide really shines.

1. 
   liamo | Jan 04, 2007 06:11am | #4

   Thanks Scruff

   I tried to do that on the first run but now I'm running out of wood - as usual.  I think I'll first try a new blade to see if it works and then if not - I'm in for a new plank of White Oak to use your suggestion.

1. 
   scruff | Jan 04, 2007 05:18pm | #7

   If you do have to shave your mitres, try clamping another piece of wood with an opposing mitre tight to the piece you will be cutting, so you are cutting wood on both sides of the blade. Has worked for me before.

3. 
   BigK | Jan 04, 2007 11:55am | #6

   If you are using a thin kerf blade, they can warp very easily if they are only a little dull. I use only full kerf blades in my 12" slider because of this. Spend the money for premium blades; it is money well spent. The blades that Dewalt send with their sliders are junk imo. They make a good saw then set them up with junk. On the DW718 you have to remove a black metal bracket located at the back of the guard to use full kerf blades. Best of luck.

4. 
   wellis | Jan 04, 2007 05:32pm | #8

   You didn't indicate whether this is a slider.  I bought a Dewalt slider, and after about 30 hours of working to tune the thing up I found that the pivot casting was not paralell to the slider bars.  Thus I could square the slider, or square the cut, but if the cut was square, then in pulling the slider the blade moved sideways about 1/16" producing a concave cut.  You can determine if this is the problem by setting up a square with the blade and after setting it precisely, pull out the slider.  If it moves off the square line, then you have the same problem.  My solution was to return the darn thing.

    

   Bill