SYP binding in table saw, violent crack while ripping

[Joey Stephenson]

I've been working with some SYP 2x12's from home depot for a project, and can tell they are very moist. I wasn't expecting them to be dry, but damn. These are practically bleeding in spots. I jointed the edges with my table saw jig without issue. I then trimmed off a 2ft piece to rip down. When I went to start ripping 4" wide sections, the board started binding a few inches into the cut. I pulled back a bit, then pressed forward, and the board came to a complete stop another couple inches in. The blade was spinning fairly easily with only minor contact with the board at this point, but it felt like the board was bolted to the table and wouldn't move in any direction at all.

So I stopped the saw, and it took quite a bit of muscle to pry it off the table. It definitely was pinching the blade. I lowered the blade to about 3/4" and made a partial depth cut which went smoothly. Then raised the blade to just over 1" to make another cut, and halfway through, more binding. I pushed through it just a bit and then POP. The board violently cracked nearly the full length of the board right around where the cut was.

I checked my fence, and it is perfectly aligned with the blade, if not a few thou wide at the far end, no problem there. Is this just due to the moisture content and stresses in the wood? Its pretty obvious now that the wood is pushing itself together around the part that I cut, which is where the pinching occurred. This is not the first board of SYP that has binded up on me, I think I just need to say goodbye to this wood and get some better lumber....

[Larry Frank]

Yes, stress and moisture. I actually have found some reasonably good SYP at HD but you have to dig through piles.

[Matt Day]

Sounds like you need a splitter or riving knife. Or just don’t use SYP from the BORG!

[Michael Alu]

Working with wood from the BORG stores can be a challenging sometimes. Like people said moisture and stress. Find ways to eliminate them. It will take you longer, but will yield better results. If you can tell the wood has a high moisture content, then just sticker them sit in your shop for a little while. If you can rough cut to length first and then let them sit that even helps. If you have a bandsaw rip them to rough length on that if they need to be cut right away.

I suggest investing in a moisture meter. You can bring it with you to the store and use it to select wood with less MC.

[David Kumm]

A bandsaw is better for construction lumber now that wood is fast growth. I have a supplier who kiln dries SYP to < 10%. It is a joy to work with but expensive. Dave

[Joey Stephenson]

Sounds like you need a splitter or riving knife. Or just don’t use SYP from the BORG!

My saw is equipped with a riving knife. It prevented the wood from totally squishing the blade, but not from moving enough to get itself stuck.

A bandsaw is better for construction lumber now that wood is fast growth. I have a supplier who kiln dries SYP to < 10%. It is a joy to work with but expensive. Dave

Wow, that is nice to have that available. Although at that point with the higher price, its probably just worth going with a better wood!

Working with wood from the BORG stores can be a challenging sometimes. Like people said moisture and stress. Find ways to eliminate them. It will take you longer, but will yield better results. If you can tell the wood has a high moisture content, then just sticker them sit in your shop for a little while. If you can rough cut to length first and then let them sit that even helps. If you have a bandsaw rip them to rough length on that if they need to be cut right away.

I suggest investing in a moisture meter. You can bring it with you to the store and use it to select wood with less MC.

How long would it need to sit in my 50%RH shop to dry itself out a reasonable amount? Are we talking like a month or a year? This board has been in my shop for about a month, for what its worth. I may just invest in a moisture meter, but the quick and easy ones are very expensive, arent they?

[Jim Becker]

There is a remarkable difference between the lumber from the 'borg and the premium framing lumber from my local lumber yard. Night and day. The latter is straighter, drier and much more stable. And for about the same price...

[David Kumm]

It will take your lifetime to air dry construction lumber to something below 10%. I have put Doug fir into a kiln for a " short charge " ( last few weeks ) to bring it down. If you have a local kiln available, that can be an option but you need 100+ board feet to make it worthwhile. Dave

[Peter Aeschliman]

I've had a few experiences like this with the garbage lumber from home depot... It makes me super hesitant to cut it on the table saw. I always pick through the pile if I plan to rip the lumber or use it in any application that requires some level of accuracy... and I always joint and plane it first. but if it's soaking wet, that doesn't help a ton.

As mentioned above, the key is to pick through the piles. If it feels cold to the touch, it's wet. If it's heavy (especially if it's flat sawn and has really wide growth rings), it's wet.

On a somewhat related note, one tip I picked up from reading this forum over the years is to buy 2x12's. There are a few of advantages:

1) they are wide enough that they usually include the pith, which means that if you rip the middle inch or so out of the board out, you end up with two quartersawn boards.
2) The mill will only select the higher grade lumber for 2x12's. More knotty or defective trees are cut into 2x4s... or 2x2's. If you really want a laugh, take a look at home depot's 2x2 pile. They often bind them into bundles with bailing wire to create the illusion that they're straight. When you cut the bailing wire, SPROING! the bundle nearly explodes from the tension of the warped boards.

Lots of the moisture problem is caused by the way home depot and some lumber yards store their stock. Here in Seattle, it's often stacked outside in the rain. It really boggles the mind. But I often see poor do-it-yourselvers loading their carts up with horribly crooked, twisted, and bowed lumber without seeming to understand that they're wasting their money. So as long as consumers are buying it, I guess Home Depot will keep selling it...

[Bradley Gray]

+1 on local lumber yards- better, cheaper, less aggravation.

+1 on 2 x 12's

[Joey Stephenson]

Good to know, thank you all for the info. I have a few local lumber yards, one sells dimensional cypress. Perhaps that is a good alternative, though quite a bit softer it seems.

[Michael Pyron]

this really all comes down to ripping a wide board into smaller boards...just doesn't work worth a flip in almost all cases. unfortunately I have to do this all too frequently. for instance I just had to make a door out of Sapele that was supplied in 9" wide boards...had to rip them in half, straight line them with a track saw, then do final dimensioning...biggest PITA about a track saw is that it is basically impossible to get a true 90* rip...my current routine in the field is to get just there and then use pattern and flush cut bits to square up the sides so I can glue up panels and have them turn out worth a flip.

anyway, what you are experiencing is just day in day out typical stuff when dealing with ripping into wide boards...no matter what the species or how well it has been dried...way too much internal stress built up in the boards to expect anything else when ripping a wide board in half.

[Joey Stephenson]

this really all comes down to ripping a wide board into smaller boards...just doesn't work worth a flip in almost all cases. unfortunately I have to do this all too frequently. for instance I just had to make a door out of Sapele that was supplied in 9" wide boards...had to rip them in half, straight line them with a track saw, then do final dimensioning...biggest PITA about a track saw is that it is basically impossible to get a true 90* rip...my current routine in the field is to get just there and then use pattern and flush cut bits to square up the sides so I can glue up panels and have them turn out worth a flip.

anyway, what you are experiencing is just day in day out typical stuff when dealing with ripping into wide boards...no matter what the species or how well it has been dried...way too much internal stress built up in the boards to expect anything else when ripping a wide board in half.

Is this also true for boards that have been stickers and air dried to acceptable levels? I've been told that method can prevent stresses from building up as much.

[Michael Pyron]

I'm going to avoid the "arguments" about what is better: kiln or air drying...there is too much "proof" from both sides for my tastes...I can say that I have used very little "air dried" woods in my life so I can't honestly say what is better.

I think what is more important is seasoning...e.g. letting the wood sit around for years and years then using it...I've got a few boards of high grade flamed red maple in the garage that are almost 30 years old since I got them (the wet dream is to use them for guitars)

what I can say with a very high degree of confidence is that woods these days are cut out of logs with maximum yield in mind and that pretty much eliminates any sense of woods with little to no internal stress. I've been dealing with woods for the last 31 years of my life every working day (in the field trim carpenter) and it is very rare to make any sort of rip out of a "straight" board and find the result is also "straight"...most times any warping/twisting is workable...other times it is like you describe above.

in a nutshell, it is something one should expect when milling up wood for a project and need plan accordingly when rough dimensioning the materials. in the case of the sapele I describe, I made my initial rips 1/2" wider than needed to allow for straightlining and final dimensions. and yeah, it's something I have learned the "hard way" over the years.

[Wayne Lomman]

This is an extreme case of why it is better to rip to rough dimensions before straightening with jointer etc. I have had many similar experiences with radiata pine which is our common framing timber. It is fine if left in its original mill dimensions but take your chances otherwise. As other guys have said, purchase from a yard the cares about repeat business and build a relationship with them. A carton of coldies is a great way to get good deals. Cheers