I'm trying to cut some 3/4" oak plywood for use in a bookshelf project I'm currently working on. I've cut this type of plywood using this very saw before and haven't have any problems at all.
However, this time around I'm having serious difficulties. I started out using a my old plywood blade. I managed to cut about two feet of length, but the saw really seemed to be struggling. Finally it started smoking in contact with the wood, and then ground to a halt. I checked the blade and it had completely dulled, with melty points on the tips. So I bought a brand new blade and tried it out, but had the same results.
In desperation, I changed back over to my general purpose blade, with fewer teeth. It made it a lot further, but in the end ground to a halt.
I've examined a cross section of the plywood and haven't noticed anything weird (no metal, for example). I suppose it could be that I just have a bad sheet of ply, however.
Another factor might be that I loaned this saw to a neighbor a couple of weeks ago. He's a real goob, so I suppose it's possible that he may have broken something...but I haven't seen anything obviously wrong with the saw.
Any ideas on what might be the problem?
To be honest, I'm kinda hoping that my saw is just worn out. This will be a great excuse that I can give to my wife as I head into town to buy a newer, better saw. ;->