Steve H Graham
02-25-2009, 5:23 PM
Okay, I stole mahogany logs from my neighbor's garbage. I've been cutting them into usable slabs. Because it's tiring work and I am fabulously lazy, I let a log sit around and start to dry before I finished cutting it up.
Two things. First, is it normal to get gummy stuff on your saw blade when you cut fresh lumber, and is there a good way to get rid of it? I'm planning to try mineral spirits.
Second, is it normal for wood to get way harder after a couple of days of drying? When I cut the first big log in half, the saw went through it like butter. The wood was really wet. Now the saw seems to have a hard time with it. Even though there is no way the wood could be called dry, it seems much harder now.
I finally experienced blade drift. I started taking the saw apart to tune it up, and then I realized I had somehow gotten the blade on the wrong side of a guide bearing in the lower part of the cabinet. So while the front of the blade was sawing wood, the back was sawing through the shaft that holds the bearing. I got the saw back in shape, but it still likes to drift on really hard pieces that are also tall.
I still have a big fat log in my yard, but I plan to roll it to my own trash heap. This is exhausting, and I figure there will be other trash in the future.
Two things. First, is it normal to get gummy stuff on your saw blade when you cut fresh lumber, and is there a good way to get rid of it? I'm planning to try mineral spirits.
Second, is it normal for wood to get way harder after a couple of days of drying? When I cut the first big log in half, the saw went through it like butter. The wood was really wet. Now the saw seems to have a hard time with it. Even though there is no way the wood could be called dry, it seems much harder now.
I finally experienced blade drift. I started taking the saw apart to tune it up, and then I realized I had somehow gotten the blade on the wrong side of a guide bearing in the lower part of the cabinet. So while the front of the blade was sawing wood, the back was sawing through the shaft that holds the bearing. I got the saw back in shape, but it still likes to drift on really hard pieces that are also tall.
I still have a big fat log in my yard, but I plan to roll it to my own trash heap. This is exhausting, and I figure there will be other trash in the future.