Table Saw Burning Problem

[Le Steak]

I have a wood burning problem with my table saw. It's a General International 50-185 and I am using a Forrest 40 teeth WWII blade (yep, I read this group quite a bit).

1-The blade is aligned with the miter slot 2-The fence is aligned with the blade 3-The table top is flat (not perfect but close)

If I rip a piece of 3/4" pine (previously squared on the jointer) with the blade at the highest position, I get a fairly smooth cut. However, if I set the blade to a safer, lower height (about 1"), I get some burning. I know there is more friction when the blade is lower (more teeth), but this is pine, not cherry and the blade is not what I would call cheap.

Is this normal ? am I missing something in the table adjustment ? could it be arbor/blade runnout ?

[KYHighlander]

are you pushing it thru at a consistent rate? I get some burning if I pause for a second to change my hold on the board and let the board sit against the blade for a second. This happens with long boards where I have to move the spot I hold the board to feed the whole thing thru. Normally just on oak though, don't use much pine.

[Bay Area Dave]

if it's aligned and the blade is sharp I'd suspect feed rate. That's what bites me in the butt when I'm cutting and burning.

dave

Le Steak wrote:

[Bay Area Dave]

BTW, I'm wondering if using a WWII for ripping is part of the problem because I too use a 40 tooth Forrest. Maybe a 30 tooth would reduce the burning? Just asking everyone; I don't know.

dave

Le Steak wrote:

[Le Steak]

If I feed the wood faster, I get less burning. Still, I expected no burning at all with 3/4" pine. I'm really puzzled at what could be wrong.

[Bay Area Dave]

isn't there a lot of pitch in pine?

dave

Le Steak wrote:

[Morris Dovey]

It's the same as with a router: the feed rate is important. The wood and blade need to part company as rapidly as quality and safety permit. If you feed too slowly, the wood will be heated to the point of burning - and it is possible to warp a saw blade by feeding stock too slowly - DAMHIKT.

[Bob Davis]

Some pine has a nasty habit of springing after its cut. A properly aligned splitter can do wonders to tame this problem. Are you using a splitter? Do you get burning on hardwood. How long is the piece of pine that you are ripping? Are you using anything other than your hand and a push stick to guide the wood? Do you have an outfeed table?

I've burned plenty of wood in my short experience. The causes included poor operator technique, lack of outfeed support, improperly aligned splitter, and lack of auxilary support such as a featherboard. I don't seem to get burning at all these days. I attribute this to great improvements in operator technique and using Grip-tites most of the time.

Bob

[Bob Davis]

I guess that's the official name. Yes. Crappy pine would better be described as syrrupy. When I talked to Torben Helshoj (president of Laguna tools) at the Houston show, he demoed the usual hardwoods for cutting, but he also had some pine. He said pine was actually a more difficult cut because of the pitch.

Bob

[Mike G]

It's not normal but there are a number of reasons why it will happen.

You missed something in set up. You are using a splitter and have not set that correctly, you are not feeding the stock properly, your blade has pitch build up, blade put in backwards (don't laugh, it happens). . .

[Wilson]

Is the blade dirty? I know that will cause burn. Oven cleaner will clean the blade up nice.

[Chris Merrill]

I've had the same problem after cutting a bunch of sappy pine - the blade teeth had a buildup of pitch and sawdust. Buring stopped after I cleaned the blade.

C

[Mike in Idaho]

So does Simple Green and it's a lot less toxic and won't peel the teflon coating off (if your blade has it).

Mike

[Zeke]

I had the same problem, but not just with pine. I also read the the group a lot. I replaced the WW2 with a freud glue line rip blade and all of my burning issues went away. Much nicer cut too. I just use the Forrest blade for plywood now. Still burns, but gives a nice cut on plywood YMMV Zeke

[Tom Kohlman]

How hard do you have to "push" the stock? If not like a hot knife through butter, I'd suspect the blade. I'll add that the best blade I've ever used (and probably abused) is the Oldham that costs you less than $20 at the HD.

[Nova]

If I remember correctly a while back someone else complained about the same problem. I think it was discovered that the blade alignment changed as the blade was raised and lowered. You might want to check the "Google" archives to try and locate the thread.

-- Jack Novak Buffalo, NY - USA (Remove "SPAM" from email address to reply)

[klaatu]