case hardening

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How do I tell if my wood is case hardened. I was reading baout it last night. This rough cut white oak I have I moticed is cracking on the ends in a few places. One small board has craks on one of the faces too.

Is it possible to still use the wood or will it continue to split and deform even after cutting and planing?

x-no-archive:yes

How do I tell if my wood is case hardened. I was reading baout it last night. This rough cut white oak I have I moticed is cracking on the ends in a few places. One small board has craks on one of the faces too.

Is it possible to still use the wood or will it continue to split and deform even after cutting and planing?

When you rip it, if the kerf closes up right behind the blade, it's probably case-hardened. If this happens and you're not using a splitter, the table saw will try to kill you.

brian

A splitter is a thin... thing behind the blade. A riving knife is a type of splitter. It's a flat thing that's the same thickness as the saw blade. It goes behind the blade so that if the kerf of the board you're ripping tries to close up, it can't. The blade guards that come with table saws have a splitter bult into the design. It's the flat part that rides in the saw kerf and attaches to the stuff under the table. Usually, the stock one has some sort of plastic guard on a hinge on top of the splitter. The stock ones also usually have kickback pawls which are little springed spike thingies that jam into the wood if you get a kickback.

Here's one type of splitter:

brian

brianlanning wrote:

Hmmm...

Other than taking moisture readings (inside and out) which may or may not reveal the problem, I don't know if there's a way to tell. AFAIK this is usually caused by trying to kiln dry too fast, complain to the supplier or not buy from them again? I had a 10 ft 2x8 oak piece, when I resawed a 5/8 inch slice off, and put it back together, with the ends touching, there was over a foot gap in the middle! The larger side was bowed almost as much as the thin slice. I was still able to use it as 1/2 inch baseboard although I used it for the smaller chunks and extra.

If you can give it time after rough cutting (always recommended for any wood), it should settle down.

-------------------- Steve Jensen Abbotsford B.C. snipped-for-privacy@canada.mortise.com chopping out the mortise. BBS'ing since 1982 at 300 bps. Surfing along at 19200 bps since 95. WW'ing since 1985 LV Cust #4114

Nothing catchy to say, well maybe..... WAKE UP - There are no GODs you fools!

Hey, we all know what a spitter is. Its that thing attached to the blade guard that's stored in an inaccessible corner of the shop.

read Hoadley and cut a "tuning fork" sample. if it close outwards, it's case hardened,

Correction - if it closes inwards. (Page 97 - Understanding Wood, 1982 Edition)

Indeed. How did I manage to type "closes" and "outwards" together ?