Replies

1. 
   dmt | Jan 15, 2003 11:39pm | #1

   You might try offsetting the back of the fence away from the blade about 1/64 to provide a little extra clearance. I have seen that recommended in a number of articles and have mine set that way with no binding or burning.

   Regards,

   Dan T.

2. 
   charlesm | Jan 15, 2003 11:39pm | #2

   Are you using a splitter?

3. 
   booch | Jan 15, 2003 11:44pm | #3

   Wear brown pants, and always hook your fingers over the back of the fence. It is a fact of life that boards bind. You can use splitters and any number of things but it comes down to the fact that the wood isn't homogeneous. It pinches and binds .

   By joining on the table saw I get a pretty good indication of wether or not the board has a life of its own. If you watch when you trim it you'll notice the active boards don't come straight very fast. (I'm describing ripping a flitch then flipping the flitch over so the fresh cut is against the fence - repeat as necessary til straight)

   When I have an active board I generally think about shortening the board before ripping it for a finished product.

   Oh yea, as a parting gift, my daddy taught me never to be in line with a saw blade. I still remember the radial arm saw sending an oak 2x2 to pierce the plenum of the furnace. You talk about a bad tool to rip on!

4. 
   mike4244 | Jan 16, 2003 04:33am | #4

   All of the previous posts were very informative. One other thing, you may have reaction wood.Some planks when being ripped will close up as you push stock thru.  Use a splitter and rip slower. Because you are ripping maple, you will burn the saw kerf going slow.Rip 1/16" oversize and either plane to width or rip a second time to width.Use a rip blade and Dricote on the blade.

5. 
   noone51 | Jan 16, 2003 06:31am | #5

   One right four wrong. Just set your Beis to be .005 over on the back end then move the stock through a touch faster with no lag in motion. You can adjust the fence at the head with the two set screwes on the inside of the fence clamp. If I'm wrong, I'll quit.

1. 
   wklemp | Jan 16, 2003 08:12am | #6

   I concur with the post from "no one".  In my experience, it is well worth while to scrutinize your set-up very carefully.  Most table saws are not properly aligned.  In addition to adding a little angle away from the blade to the back end of your fence, you may find that your blade is not quite square with the table.  Out of square in either direction is bad, but it's really bad if the back end of the blade is angled toward the fence.  Squaring the blade is one of those things that really justifies super precision.  You can buy a jig that runs in the T slot and positions a dial indicator against the blade (I made mine, but Woodcraft sells them).

   I would add that there is an optimum speed for ripping hardwoods that you just have to find (and usually the right feed rate is a little faster than you think).  Assuming 1) your set up is OK, 2) the blade is not dull and 3) leaving out the occasional board that is reacting badly to otherwise normal cutting heat, if you are consistently burning, you aren't feeding fast enough and smoothly enough.

1. 
   lucaire2000 | Jan 16, 2003 08:37pm | #7

   Thanks everyone,

   I know it is not too much rocket science. I did some things last night:

   adjusted the fence away about 1/64"

   It still bound.

   Now I will raise the blade a little more, clean the blade, dricote the blade.

   The blade is not for ripping anyway, but if I were going to rip a lot I would buy a ripping blade.

1. 
   booch | Jan 17, 2003 12:35am | #8

   Is this the same board?

   Binding?

   A few thoughts.

   Sand the table surface with wet dry and wd-40 to take off  the shellac or whatever they cover the table with so it doesn't rust as it crosses the ocean. Wipe it down afterwards and wax it if you feel the need.

   Do you have UHMW or polyethelene sheet stock on the face of your fence? If not that then a piece of maple planed smooth will help stuff slide.

   Is the throat of your TS flush or below the surface of the table? Even that could use the sand with oil treatment.

   If it is the same board then cut it in half and understand it is reaction wood. It deserves to be cut into 1 foot pieces. Sometimes the pretty wood is left on the pile because everyone else recognized it as reaction wood.

   If it still binds, I can't help thinking there is something wrong in your setup. Measure the back of the blade (raised to full height) to the fence (fence locked in place) and the front of the blade to the fence. The front should be less than the back by a little bit or at least equal. PS use a rigid measurement device not a tape measure.Jack of all trades and master of none - you got a problem with that?

2. 
   noone51 | Jan 17, 2003 07:07am | #9

   Cool, are you setting your fence to the blade or the mitre slot? Like was said before if your blade is out of whack with the mitre slot then aligning the fence to the mitre slot is going to produce the same problem.

   The first thing you have to do is get the blade on track. +- .002 is great, anything else will start to cause you problems but they won't be really noticible until you get to about +- .010. Thats from the blade to the mitre track.

   Once you have that set then kick the back end of the fence out about .005 or 1/64 from the mitre track and use a splitter or riving knife with your saw to keep the wood from closing up on you.

   Alternatively, you can try to align the fence with the blade but since you have such a short distance for comparison you are going to need to be very, very tight on your tolerances. + .003 front to rear is what you need to shoot for and that will change with every blade. I doubt it is even possible to get that close.

   I know, it sounds crazy. If you ever get it that right on, you'll be absolutely amazed at the results.

6. 
   mrles | Jan 17, 2003 09:14am | #10

   I would check my blade to mitre slot alignment as some of the post have suggested. An easy way is take a thin piece of 1" stock, raise your blade as high as it will go, turn your saw on using your mitre gauge hold the wood firmly and saw the wood, listen for the wood to sing when it hits the teeth at the back. You should barely hear it, but it should barely touch. I am not familiar with your fence or saw, I have a D. Unisaw and Unifence. I lined up my Unifence when I bought the saw 2 !/2 years ago and I believe I lined it up with the mitre slot, your manual should tell you.

   If there is not a problem there and you still are having trouble try changing blades. I've never had a blade act this on a TS but I did have a problem with a 2 hp circle saw I couldn't cut a straight line on 3/4" plywood. It was a dull blade.

   God Bless and Good Luck

   les