Is my tablesaw getting old? -Black and Decker

There are numerous things that can/will cause non-square cutting on any table saw of any age (and of any price range as well).

From the sound of your description, though, I'm wondering if the blade that's installed on your saw is sort of looking like that old proverbial potato chip and perhaps (also?) suffering from too many visits from the tooth fairy :-)

Are your fence and blade in alignment? Is the arbor suffering from excessive runout? (Does a new flat blade wobble on it?). Is the blade parallel to the miter slots? (etc etc etc -- along with so on and so forth :-) )

Oh, and you might want to watch that word "cheap". I've seen some pretty costly wood working machinery that was shabby enough in quality to be "cheap". I've also seen plenty of inexpensive tools and machinery that can (and do!) out-perform far costlier "good stuff" by other manufacturers (and make theirs look "cheap" in comparison). Your old B&D might well be both inexpensivc and cheap -- on the other hand (if it's old enough) it might well just be suffering from neglect.

-- Steve Penury is the Mother of Invention

A table saw should cut wood like it was machined. Is your blade true and sharp?

Bob

Jack, I get the impression he is ripping, Tony D.

You trying to cut freehand? Or, are you using the saw mitre guage?

JOAT It's what you learn after you know it all that counts.

- Pete Maccarrone

Life just ain't life without good music. - JOAT Web Page Update 3 Feb 2004. Some tunes I like.

A decent table saw cut should be straight as an arrow. I'm usually the last one to tell people to replace old tools, but B&D never made a useful stationary tool as far as I know. Time for a saw upgrade.

GTO(John)

Gotta agree. My experience with B&D table saws is something I would rather forget. They like to make "homeowner" stuff- not suitabl;e for anyone other than a once a year owner.

Hello, this is Tib0r again.

Here's a drawing of my twist formed from the cut.

My blades are true and sharp and appear less like a proverbial potato chip. My miter gauge is align with the blade. I feed the wood slowly. The blade is just a days old and doesn't wobble on it. I've use a cheap 7-1/4" thin blade. I should've gotten the thick 10" name brand ones.

The arbor is kind of a bit suffering from runout, but I've seen worse at Sears. Is it because the blade is 7-1/4", but this should reduce the effects of arbor runouts?

Off subject: A friend gave me an industrial 20 lb., 20-years old

What is a practical way to find out if the new table saw will not have future arbor runouts?

Thanks in advance, TW

Poplar, as in Populus sp versus what's sold out east as poplar which is L tulipifera, will twist, turn, squirm and burn when ripping, sometimes without obvious signs in the piece.

However - if you can see areas of smooth, silky surface interspersed with areas of roughness, or the surface of the wood changes reflectivity as you change your point of view, you're much more likely to have problems.

If you have the heart of the wood very close, or in the piece, you're much more likely to have problems.

If you look at the end and see annual rings closely spaced on part of the board and more generous on the other, you might have "reaction" wood.

Get thee to a library and R Bruce Hoadley's _Understanding Wood_ for some interesting observations on what happens to kilned wood.

NB:Don't use the miter gage to rip.

My question is: where's your fence? Probably a little tough ripping a board with a mitre gauge? If the twist appears after the cut, I would have to ask: is the board rising off the table the last couple of inches of travel?

NB