Table Saw

[Puckdropper]

I've been out piling up the sawdust under my saw, and just wanted to share a few things I learned.

Blade changes on a good saw aren't as much as a hassle as they are a cheap one. One wrench locks the shaft, the other the nut and with a few turns the blade is ready to come off. I wouldn't mind putting an 80t blade on the saw for cross cuts, even if it is just pine.

Belt tension is an important thing. I had the tension too loose and got poor performance with the blade low to the table. After adjusting the tension, the saw ran better and made much smoother cuts through the wood.

2x4s can be resawn in to 1x4s on the table saw, but it's not a quick task. I took 5 passes through each 2x4 to separate them. When it's time to separate the two pieces, the blade should protrude quite a ways (around 5/8"-1") beyond the point of seperation to make sure there's not a little nub holding the two pieces together.

Oh, and don't face west when you're working outside in the evening...

Puckdropper

[bridgerfafc]

on my saw that can be done in a single pass. you need a bigger saw....

[dpb]

Puckdropper wrote: ...

Why is that? 8" or smaller blade or simply too under-powered a saw of jut conservative approach?

Can't imagine why it would ever take more than 2, one from each side.

What were you using for a blade--for that kind of work a decent-quality rip blade would be well worth the expense. The quality/sharpness/suitability-to-task of the blade is even more important when there's little or no spare power to make up for the blade's shortcomings.

Alignment being dead-on would undoubtedly help as well if it isn't quite...

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[LEGEND65]

Ditto. Get yourself a Freud 24T thin kerf and be amazed at what your underpowered saw can do. Not that expensive either.

However I wouldn't ever do that to a 2x4. Assuming I could find one straight enough to start with god only knows what it's going to do when it's resawn. If I really really had to, that is what the band saw is for.

[Tom Veatch]

Agree. It's a rare construction grade 2x4 that doesn't have more cup, warp, twist, or bow than I want to tackle resawing with a table saw. And, IME, after jointing and planing, it usually doesn't have enough thickness left to be worth resawing.

Tom Veatch Wichita, KS USA

[Puckdropper]

dpb wrote in news:garjpu$24v$ [e-mail]:

It was just a very conservative approach. I've never done anything close to resawing before, so I figured I'd take small steps in case anything went wrong. I also had the belt tension wrong, so the blade would slip if I took too big of bite. (Fixed that, but didn't change the method.)

Even so, it's still a slow process. Check for straight, saw, sand/joint/plane, edge...

40T Irwin Marathon blade (new).

Alignment's pretty good. On most pieces the cuts were smooth all the way across.

Puckdropper

[Lew Hodgett]

Switch to a 24T for rips.

Till you do it, you won't believe.

Strictly for your info.

Have a Freud set, 24T, 50T, 80T.

It covers the waterfront.

Lew

[sheldon.mandel]

Where I am, (upstate NY) the quality of 2x4 has a pretty big range... sometimes garbage, sometimes ok, and once in a while excellent... The last time I bought a few at Lowes, the select was way better than the premium, and cheaper by about $1.26. I've also bought 2x6 and 2x8 for resawing - its good value.

I have a cheap table saw with a good blade, and it's handy to be able to mill down a 2x4,6,8 for a variety of projects:

1. 1x .5 stops for installing windows.
2. making furring (ferring) strips (spel chkr brkn)
3. a whole other bunch of various stuff

shelly

[dpb]

.. And make sure it's a rip grind not combination...

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[Puckdropper]

dpb wrote in news:gasucv$491$ [e-mail]:

I'll give that a try some time. Most my cuts are rips (or plywood), but since changing the blade on the saw is a 10 minute task instead of an hour, using a specific blade is something I'd want to do!

Puckdropper

[Lew Hodgett]

Plywood = 80T

Lew

[dpb]

And combination or if not just construction ply, specialty blade, not rip... :)

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[B A R R Y]

With a WWII, I don't bother with a rip blade unless the stock is thicker than 7/8" , or so.

When it is, I use a 20T Freud Industrial rip. I can't feed the stock fast enough to bog the saw!

[dpb]

OP was resawing 2x4 material so it would qualify easily.

It seems hard to imagine that 10 minute estimate for changing a blade wouldn't be about 8-1/2 minutes long, but maybe he's got some really crappy contractor saw w/ no clearance or something, I don't know...

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[Puckdropper]

dpb wrote in news:gaubaj$17o$ [e-mail]:

Well, it's probably somewhere around (3, 15] minutes to change the blade. It's a long weaving walk (too much junk) to the back of the garage where the tools are stored.

Annoucing the rec.woodworking blade changing contest! How fast can you safely change the blade on your table saw? Simply time yourself changing the blade and post the results here. One test cut is required, as well as starting with the new blade and tools OFF the saw when time starts.

Have fun ;-)

Puckdropper

[Lew Hodgett]

A little project for you.

A table saw and a router req'd

Blank out 6 pcs, 12x12x3/8 nominal from a 2x4x3/8 plywood.

Using router, thru cut a 10-1/2 dia in 3 pcs.

Glue these pieces to uncut pieces to form 3 assemblies.

When dry, final cut to 11-1/2 square, then knock off corners @ 45,

Drill hanging hole in one corner, and thru hole in center for

1/4-20x3/4 flat head bolt, fender washer and wing nut.

Apply some shellac,

You now have 10" saw blade protectors that can be manhandled and still protect blade.

Have fun.

Lew

[B A R R Y]

10 minutes _is_ a looooong blade change...

[B A R R Y]

Are you aware that lots of us equip our stationary tools with the commonly used tools as a kit? I've purchased hex wrenches, box wrenches, sockets, etc... for each tool that needs them on a regular basis. Cheapies work great, no need for Snap-on!

[dpb]

Puckdropper wrote: ...

What tool(s) required other than the arbor nut wrench? One of them comes w/ the saw and (should, anyway) hang either close by or even on the saw itself.

Takes at most a couple minutes I'd guess...

...

[Tom Veatch]

Objectively, I'm sure you're right. I've never timed it and would probably be surprised at how little actual clock time is needed to exchange blades. But, subjectively, when I'm all primed to make the next cut, it sure seems to take forever.

Tom Veatch Wichita, KS USA