Problems Cutting Hardwood Plywood

[ccarpen]

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. ;->

[Swingman]

wrote

Not without knowing what type of saw it is ... but a blade misalignment, either to the fence in the case of a table saw, or a bent shaft from misuse in the case of a circular saw, would cause this behavior.

[ccarpen]

Sorry, I meant to mention that I'm using a circular saw.

A bent shaft...misuse...It wouldn't surprise me at all if that were the case.

Thanks so much for the input. :- )

[Dave W]

I hope you get to the bottom of the problem. IMHO this is not the time to buy a new saw.....better to find out what is wrong first. I had similar problems with a Milwaulkee saw and found the problem to be a bent sole plate. A few minutes with the vise, blocks of wood and a hammer and it is back to it's old form. Dave

[ccarpen]

Now it's interesting that you would mention that. I've inspected the saw and the shaft doesn't seem to be visibly out of alignment. However, when I insert the blade into my existing cut, the saw seems somehow "wobbly", to put it technically. I'll inspect the baseplate and see what I can find out.

[Markem]

How well is the fence aligned? Sounds as though you might be pinching between the fence and the blade.

Of course a nice new table saw...

Mark

[Zz Yzx]

Got the blade(s) on right? You wouldn't be the first woodworker in this group to put a blade on backwards. DAMHIKT.

-Zz

[ccarpen]

Heh...Yes, having done that very thing before, that was the first thing I checked. ;->

[beecrofter]

Steel saws are not so durable when cutting plywood, the glue is very hard and dulls them rather quickly. They can be pretty easy to sharpen with a taper file right in your own workshop. If the edge of the shoe or sole of your circular saw is not parallel to the blade you won't get much mileage when cutting with the shoe against a batten.

If you want a new saw look at the porter cable #330, small but wonderfull.

[Hank]

[e-mail] wrote in news:8dc0428b-4041-4b04-883b-994a95b08905 @d5g2000hsc.googlegroups.com:

To check wobble. Measure the blade width and then measure the saw kerf.

[Charley]

Plywood glue is hard on regular steel blades. Buy a fine tooth carbide tipped blade and your troubles will be over.

Charley