Table saw needs adjustment?

Question

I was ripping some 3/4" cherry this evening, the first time I've ripped hardwood on this saw. The wood became hard to feed about halfway through, and a lot of the pieces came out with burn marks on the piece between the blade and fence. Also, the pieces were very slightly convex on the blade side (I think it was the blade side, at least).

This made me think the rip fence was out of adjustment, but to the extent I'm able to tell, it appears to be exactly parallel to the blade and to the table. I'm going to borrow a dial indicator and make damn sure it's parallel (or, more likely, angled away a couple thousandths), but in the meantime, are there other things that can cause this? The saw is a Craftsman 22122 (or something like that); it's the mid-range model of their new line (cast-iron wings but no Biesemeyer fence).

toller · Accepted Answer

Cherry burns very easily, but it should not bind; in fact cherry cuts like butter. Either your blade or the fence are out of square.

Does your saw have the alinarip (or something like that) fence? People make fun of Craftsman, but mine is perfectly square ever time.

Sam · Answer

A bad blade, a warped fence. While you have the dial indicator, alignthe fence to the miter gauge slot first then align the table to theblade.

George · Answer

Or the edge you're ripping against isn't straight. Appears much more likely, given you've checked.

Dial indicator will tell you how far - so will a set of feeler gages, but it's a go/no-go decision, so who cares how far. Any item which does not decrease in length as you butt it against the fence and the selected tooth forward and then aft is fine. Of course, you can have a bit more distance - light showing - aft, and give yourself a bit of extra anti-kickback protection.

Bob G. · Answer

Cherry BURNS if you use a feed rate that is to slow.... but binding is not normally a problem... Pine on the other had binds like crazy butr does not burn easily....

My fence is offset ever so slightly at the back of the table..away from the blade ....learned long ago that my saws all have preformed better that way... then having the Fence absolutely parallel to the blade...

You also better have a straight edge on the work piece that rides the fence..

Food for thought !

Bob Griffiths

Owen Lawrence · Answer

Sometimes there are internal stresses in the wood, and by cutting out a kerf you're allowing the wood to move to relieve the stress. If the stresses are from the outside of the board towards the middle (where you're making the cut), the two ends want to pinch together, grabbing the back side of the blade. Having a splitter the same size as your saw kerf would be a good idea--there's significant risk of kickback if this is what's happening.

- Owen -

Chip Olson · Answer

I did some measuring tonight and determined that the fence was fine, but the table was out of alignment to the blade. Some rubber-mallet therapy and it's cutting much better. (Also determined that the miter gauge was out of square.)

Table saw needs adjustment?

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