My table saw has a Forrester Woodworker II blade. It has been sharpened fairly recently. It is burning wood pretty badly.
On an earlier sharpening I think, but have no proof, that when sharpened, they ground the side of the carbide tips and now there is little to clearance between the tip and body of the blade. What should a blade like this have a clearance?
Could this be the problem or am I out in left field?
I’m thinking about buying a new blade but hate to if my existing blade might still be good.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Replies
A few questions:
1. Did Forrest resharpen the blade?
2. Have you cleaned the blade?
3. If this is occuring on rip cuts, which is the more likely scenario, have you checked the alignment between the blade and the fence? The fence and blade need to be adjusted until they are exactly parallel.
John White, Shop Manager, Fine Woodworking Magazine
No, it wasn't forrester that sharpened the blade. If I replace it, they will be the only one's allowed to sharpen the next one. When I spoke with some folks at a woodworking retail store, that was the first thing they asked also.
My grandfather has the blade as I am typing this and is cleaning it. Earlier today, he was over and thougth that might help. I will be picking it up tomorrow and will run some test cuts.
The back of the blade is two thousandths of an inch further away from the fence than the front. It's on a General cabinet saw with a beismeyer fence.
Thank you for any help you can offer.
Ken
I just took the freshly cleaned blade and ran a test cut. It burned the maple just as before; no improvement.
I also inspected the blade. It appears to still be very sharp. When carrying it, my grandfather put it in a cardboard folder because of how sharp it is.
The next thing I will check is the fence. Perhaps it needs to be adjusted. That will have to wait. I'll post the results, but it might be a day or two before I can get back in the shop....
Ken
Thank you for giving me some things to check...
We've all heard measure twice cut once..... Well how about check setups twice and don't burn the wood.... LOL....
I had the fence 2 thousands closer to the blade at the back instead of 2 thousandths further from the blade.... It wasn't enough to create a noticable bind but enough to burn the wood.
After a quick check and fence change the blade cut clean as a whistle.
Ken
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