Update - not a dull blade or misaligned fence, stressed wood = pinching 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?

[Jim C Bradley]

Hi,
I don't have any answers. I do have a question. Are you saying that the kerf can contract enough between the cutting edge of the blade and the splitter to bind the blade?

Conjecture: Is the splitter as thick as the thickest part of the blade? Is the fence side of the splitter microscopically closer to the fence than fence side of the blade tooth that is offset towards the fence? I hope that last part was English. What I was trying to ask was, "Is the closest part of the splitter a very small bit closer to the fence than the closest part of the blade"?

I don't know your age. If you are old enough this will mean something to you, otherwise ignore it. "I will leave you now Elizabeth."

Enjoy,

Jim

[Matt Armstrong]

Hi,
I don't have any answers. I do have a question. Are you saying that the kerf can contract enough between the cutting edge of the blade and the splitter to bind the blade?

Conjecture: Is the splitter as thick as the thickest part of the blade? Is the fence side of the splitter microscopically closer to the fence than fence side of the blade tooth that is offset towards the fence? I hope that last part was English. What I was trying to ask was, "Is the closest part of the splitter a very small bit closer to the fence than the closest part of the blade"?

I don't know your age. If you are old enough this will mean something to you, otherwise ignore it. "I will leave you now Elizabeth."

Enjoy,

Jim
"Yes."

But the kerf closes around the blade before it even gets to the splitter.. subsequent attempts just result in a pinched blade + pinched splitter.

The kerf goes from .125 where it's being cut to about .100 once i dislodge it from the blade...

[glenn bradley]

"Yes."

But the kerf closes around the blade before it even gets to the splitter.. subsequent attempts just result in a pinched blade + pinched splitter.

The kerf goes from .125 where it's being cut to about .100 once i dislodge it from the blade...

Wow, that is some stress relief. I have rarely seen that sort of release and almost exclusively in construction lumber with one exception. I'm sorry, I don't recall the hardwood that gave me grief but maple is a good bet. The other boards from the same batch were fine(???).

[Phil Phelps]

It could be what's called, case hardened. The outside of the board is dry, but the inside is a bit green.

[Bob Genovesi]

This may have nothing to do with the saw at all.

I wonder if the piece you're cutting is limb wood rather than from the trunk. Limb wood sits for a long long time supporting tremendous weight which equates to internal stress. This might be the answer.

Do you experience this cutting all types of wood?

[William Hutchinson]

Instead of cutting the plank in two, try raising the blade just enough to make a cut without binding. Flip the board end for end to cut the opposite side. Raise the blade again repeating the procedure. Leave the board uncut in the middle, by an eighth, and finish with a hand saw.

[Phil Thien]

The most reactive boards I've ever cut have all been maple.

The problem with trying to use what you have is that you'll have to cut everything significantly oversize so you can use a jointer to fix whatever bows and twists show up after cutting it.

Good luck.

[Paul Ryan]

Matt I have run into that many time ripping 2x4's but only a handful of times with hard wood. What I usually do is run it through the blade until you get about 4-6" behind the spliiter, that may take a few tries. Then I pound a door shim in the cut, pound it in there pretty tight, that should open it up enough to make the rest of the cut unless the board is real long. It isn't the safest process but it gets the job done, by the way pound the shim in with the saw off. When you start it back up it wont kick back because the shim is now in there. I usually have no problems with the wood once the stress is relieved. A pass through the jointer and the edge is clean again.

[Joe Scharle]

I use a half fence on sticks I think may be troublesome. Like a euro fence; I use the over the top Biese clamps to hold a short aux fence to my regular fence. Just a thought.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

This may have nothing to do with the saw at all.

I wonder if the piece you're cutting is limb wood rather than from the trunk. Limb wood sits for a long long time supporting tremendous weight which equates to internal stress. This might be the answer.

Do you experience this cutting all types of wood?

I know a skilled and experienced turner who won't even think about turning limb wood. In his opinion, turning limb wood is asking for cracks in the finished project. His claims are identical to yours. Internal stress brought on through it's environment of being a limb.

[george wilson]

Even if you manage to saw this wood,it may warp so badly that it cannot be used. Better get another piece of wood. you could use that piece for a solid body guitar,or something like that where the wood remains in 1 basic piece.

I have a piece of curly ash like that. Sometime,I want to make a Fender style solid body guitar out of it. The guy who had it wanted to resaw it,and the rest of the batch,to make stairs. It warped terribly,and would have to be used in such an application where it could remain full thickness.

[chris beserra]

Rough cut it with a circular saw, then finish cut it on your table saw.

[dan sherman]

As others have already said, it sounds like the wood you have has to much internal stress, for one reason or another. Personally I would throw that chunk of wood in the fireplace before it damages you or a tool.

[Steve Clardy]

Matt I have run into that many time ripping 2x4's but only a handful of times with hard wood. What I usually do is run it through the blade until you get about 4-6" behind the spliiter, that may take a few tries. Then I pound a door shim in the cut, pound it in there pretty tight, that should open it up enough to make the rest of the cut unless the board is real long. It isn't the safest process but it gets the job done, by the way pound the shim in with the saw off. When you start it back up it wont kick back because the shim is now in there. I usually have no problems with the wood once the stress is relieved. A pass through the jointer and the edge is clean again.


Same problem with maple sometimes.

I too use a door shim.

[Matt Armstrong]

This may have nothing to do with the saw at all.

I wonder if the piece you're cutting is limb wood rather than from the trunk. Limb wood sits for a long long time supporting tremendous weight which equates to internal stress. This might be the answer.

Do you experience this cutting all types of wood?

No, I was able to slice through jatoba and purpleheart of the same thickness like it was butter... (well maybe not butter, but you get the idea) but this piece of maple has been notoriously obnoxious - when I had it crosscut to fit in my car, the guy used a RAS and it bound on that cut as well...

[Matt Armstrong]

I use a half fence on sticks I think may be troublesome. Like a euro fence; I use the over the top Biese clamps to hold a short aux fence to my regular fence. Just a thought.

It's not binding between the blade and the fence..... :(

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

I encounter wood like that occasionally.

Try pushing little wood wedges into the kerf on the aft side of the blade.
Tap 'em with another piece of wood just a tad to set them if the wood tries to pop 'em out.

I find that easier and more convenient than bothering with a splitter. I like it better than a riving knife because the wedges move with the lumber unlike the riving knife which can be captured by the lumber and stall the cut.

[Paul Atkins]

Two words - band saw.

[Matt Armstrong]

I don't own a band saw :(

[Nissim Avrahami]

Yeap, it happened to me with White Oak...

Regards
niki

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