Update - blade not dull, fence not misaligned... internal stresses = pinch my blade

[Matt Armstrong]

So, after weeks of trying to diagnose the problem, from buying a dial indicator to measure my fence / blade, a new blade to see if the old one was dull, to trying to adjust my splitter, ultimately it looks like the wood I'm trying to cut is just reactive as all heck. It's maple, too, and I didn't think ripping maple was that tough of a task but it's a 7" x 2" x 36" plank that I can only rip about 6 inches in before it's pinching my blade bad enough to the point where even after my blade is stopped, it nearly takes a mallet to get the wood unstuck from the blade. If I run the piece through again, it cuts effortlessly through the 1/2 kerf until it encounters the fresh part again, and then about 4" deeper, we're stuck again and can't push forward.

I want to use this piece since it's a pain to get new lumber... it's visibly free of defect and the other pieces I've ripped from this plank ended up staying in place once cut, so I feel that the wood isn't the problem... but I don't have a bandsaw and don't know how else to rip it safely. I was thinking of driving a wedge in the kerf but not sure how to do that while in the middle of the cut... any other ideas?

Edit - I intended this to be in the general forum. don't know why it ended up here... I'll make a new thread I guess.

[Conrad Fiore]

Matt,
You could place a wooden wedge in the kerf at the end of the board and see if this keeps from pinching on the blade.
Or, you could rip it oversize on a bandsaw and plane it to size afterwards.

[David Romano]

This may be a bit unconventional, but you might try cutting halfway through the thickness of the board, flipping it over and then cutting through. It'll bind on the second cut, but you won't be pushing the full thickness through all a once.

You might also try a shorter ripfence. The portion of the fence beyond the lead edge of the blade is not really needed.

David