Problems with select pine clogging and binding

[Philip Florio]

I was ripping and planing some select pine from Lowe's.

First I had a hard time ripping the boards since once it was cut the board was collapsing into the kerf. So for safety I took out the unused riving knife.

When I was planing my dust collection system heavily clogged up. My planer has a 2 1/2 " hose that leads to my 4" PVC connections. The clog up happened in the planer itself and in the 4" PVC. The clogs look almost like a birds nest in the way they wrapped themselves together.

I've had this setup for about three years now. Is this common for select Pine? I didn't have this with standard 2x4 pine.

Phil

[Mike Parzych]

Pine seems to have a lot of internal stress, which would account for it closing up on the cut. If you ever broke a bundle of pine 2" x 2" at the BORG, you can almost watch it twist like a snake before your eyes. And like some other woods it doesn't form chips off the planer, more like strands that tangle up pretty easy.

[Steve Clardy]

Typical for pine.
Make light passes with the planer. Less shavings, may help.
I have a 20" planer with a 5" port. If I hog off too much at a time, it will also plug up.

[John Bush]

I milled stock from 120 yo pine beams and they were full of pitch . Left a gummy residue on all my machines. I had to use turpentine to clean it off. Had a nice aroma and the wood did machine and finish nicely too. Was worth the extra effort. I imagine that they didn't kiln dry barn beams in the late 1800's, but you would think wood sold at the retail level now-a-days would be dried and the resin wouldn't be a problem.

[harry strasil]

I got two 2 by 8's at the local yard the other day, it looked like it had been soaking in water and they just took it out.

[Lee Schierer]

I made a pantry for my DIL out of select pine and had no problems with it. It did acclimate in my shop for a week or so before I started cutting it.

http://www.home.earthlink.net/~us71na/kristinpantry2.jpg

We did not that the panels shrank quite a bit from the summer to the winter. Tyically construction grade lumber is not dried lower than 10-12% moisture. Cabinet grade lumber is typically 7-9% moisture.

A 2-1/2" hose is a bit small coming from a planer. As it transitions to the 4" you will get a significant pressure and velocity drop and possibly turbulence that may be creating your "birds nest". COnnect teh 4" directly to tyour planer if you can.

[Jim Becker]

Pine is like that. Pine from the 'borg sometimes more so... It's sticky due to having a lot of resin in it and the fluffy shavings that come off when planing can plug even a very good dust collection system, even if the wood has been dry for years. I know that from personal experience not long ago. ;)

BTW, if the wood is pinching coming off the blade you want the riving knife ON the machine to protect you from problems.

[Neal Clayton]

you should see the inside of my planer after making longleaf pine moldings. it builds a sap/dust clump as much as 4 inches thick on the front where the blades spin past the hood that has to be chiseled off, once the sap dries it's like epoxy.

when will the sap dry? never, basically. from my playing with salvaged stuff, it seems that after 200 years or so the boards get to the point where you can't draw sap out anymore with heat or friction, but if you cut the board it'll still be sticky on the ends.

a paint heat gun or planer friction will still draw sap out of a 100 year old board.

and yeah lee is right too, any assembly or final dimensioning is best done in the winter when the heat is on in your shop. if not expect alot of shrinkage next winter.

[David Keller NC]

Philip - You don't say whether you had "select" southern yellow pine (SYP) or eastern white pine (EWP), and there's a vast difference, both in the way the material behaves and how its supplied by the borg. EWP is usually labeled "clear white pine" and is sold for shelving, typically as 3/4" thick S4S (surfaced 4 sides). This material is dry and stable, and is usually a pleasure to work.

SYP is construction lumber, whether "select" or otherwise. Its moisture content is typically in the 15%+ range, and is not suitable for furniture until it's been dried down to 8-10%. It is also has considerably more sap than EWP, which will coat your planer's knives and feed rollers.

Given your description of a "birds nest", that indicates that you were milling typically wet SYP construction lumber, and that's the issue. You'll need to either put up with the problems if you're nailing together boxes and shop fixtures, or let it dry before you use it in furniture. That will require properly stacking and stickering it in your shop and waiting a couple of months.

Alternatively, you can sometimes by kiln-dried SYP from specialty lumber suppliers. It's more expensive, but it can usually be worked within a few days of getting it into your shop. This material also has the advantage that the high kiln temperatures have "set" the pitch in the wood, so it won't ooze through a finish.

[Philip Florio]

I have attached photos of my new table saw blade, it's the Freud LU83R010.

As I was ripping it was binding a lot. I tried to clean it with Kerosene. What is the best approach to clean the blade. How long should I soak it and should I use a stiff brush? I used paper towels.

David, I believe it was the eastern pine.

Phil

[Bill White]

Use a rip blade. Bigger gullets won't load up a badly.
Bill ;)

[Chip Lindley]

24 or 30T blade would make better for ripping pine. Kerosene is good, also mineral spirits or turpentine, for a *non-stick* coated blade. *haha!* Buy a cheap pizza pan to soak in. A nylon bristle brush would be good!

For blades with no non-stick coating, I use a brass bristle brush and EasyOFF oven cleaner. Others *poopoo* the caustic soda approach, saying that EasyOFF is a lye!!, but it has never harmed a blade of mine!

[Paul Saffold]

Lee, that's a nice looking pantry. Did you get the pine from a borg or from a lumber supplier? Thanks, Paul

[Lee Schierer]

I was in the orange borg looking at lumber for this project and saw the pieces of curly white pine, so I sorted through the rack an took all they had, which was one piece more than I needed for the door panels and frames. My DIL wanted a pantry, but not fancy so she asked that it be made from pine and stained to match her kitchen.

[Lee Schierer]

I have attached photos of my new table saw blade, it's the Freud LU83R010.

As I was ripping it was binding a lot. I tried to clean it with Kerosene. What is the best approach to clean the blade. How long should I soak it and should I use a stiff brush? I used paper towels.

David, I believe it was the eastern pine.

Phil

I would try either mineral spirits or turpentine to take off the pitch on the sides of the blade. Some say simple green will also work, but don't soak the blade for a long time and rinse it well. Whatever you decide to use try it in a small area first and see if the red teflon coating is affected before you soak the blade. Do a search for saw blade cleaning as there are numerous previous threads about things to clean blades with and things not to use like oven cleaner. A citrus based hand cleaner like Fast Orange may also remove the pitch. Use an old tooth brush to clean the teeth and blade sides.

You indicated that the boards were closing up. You should use a splitter if you have one. If you haven't already, check to make sure your saw is properly aligned, blade to miter slot and fence to the same miter slot.

[Alan Schwabacher]

It is important to clean the blade frequently when cutting pine. Pitch makes the blade act dull, and a dull blade can overheat and dull further fairly quickly.

Freud says to use mineral spirits or turpentine, as that is easier on the brazing that holds the teeth on. They should know, but I don't like using volatile organics in my basement shop. If you soak the blade for a long time, I would certainly avoid anything alkaline - most cleaners are mildly alkaline, and oven cleaner is strongly so.

I find that putting the blade in a shallow plastic container like a frisbee, pouring simple green over it, and scrubbing the teeth with (what else?) a toothbrush works very quickly. I then rinse with hot water so it dries quicker. I think that in that amount of time any damage to the brazing should be inconsequential. But I might be wrong.

Incidentally, the LU83 is what I use most of the time, but if I have a lot of ripping to do, I switch to the LU87.

[Rick Lucrezi]

I am running allot of pine myself right now. Here on the West Side we have Ponderosa Pine (Yellow Pine) and Sugar Pine (White Pine) I found the Yellow is very pitchy and requires daily cleaning ( last week end I filled my 50 gallon DC unit twice) I bought mostly rough pine and have to plane it, joint it and rip it, so I am putting some mile on my tools. As stated here, pitch will make a blade act as if it were dull. It then causes more heat which softens the pitch and you see the cycle. A note worthy of mentioning. White pine is more common and is farmed heavily. The trees grow very fast and the wood is like pulp. I know exactly what your talking about with that stringy mess. I believe that is an indicator of the fast growing tree farm pine. Any one else heard of this?