warped blade? also question about wavy xacta fence

[tony mashadi]

306463Hello-
So my jet cabinet saw is almost restored. It is a right tilt 3hp. I put on a brand new freud (DIABLO) blade which I had bought long time ago and made my first cut which happened to be on my new zero clearance plate. The cut turned out to be kind of weird ( I attached a picture of how it looked, well, my drawing of it). As I checked the blade to miter slot gap it seems the center of blade is farther in compare to edges, so the blade is kinda concave. This was a new/unused diablo combo blade (50T, I think). I am thinking about getting a good blade such as the woodworker II or infinity but wanted to make sure it is just case of a warped blade and not me over tightening it or something since it is very thin kerf. I can't return the blade since I bought it long time ago. Also should I buy one of those blade stayblizer discs for thin kerf blades to prevent this problem?
Also I was trying to install my shark splitter for the first time and this blade issue doesn't allow me to get contact everywhere on the straight edge when trying to adjust splitter to blade. My splitter thickness is.90 and I wonder if I should have thicker splitter for thicker kerf blades or not?
Last question, I have a brand new xacta II premier fence and the UHMW sheet on its face has some waves at couple spots but it seems the UHMW is stock on by glue as there are no screws. Would one have to pry this face off if need to shim or change and just glue on new face. Or my best option is to just add a auxiliary fence on top of it with clamps. I also want to add a board on the top of the fence to add couple of board buddies and wondering if I have to drill, tap and screw or just glue it on?

Sorry about the lengthy post. I really appreciate all your help in advance.

The oval I drew is suppose to be the ZC plate and in the middle of it is how the cut ended up looking. At the bottom I tried to draw how the blade is warped. Got a bit carried away with that :)

[Jamie Buxton]

Jet's puffery about the xacta II says "Super slick HDPE Polythyline Interchangeable and replaceable side panels - no tools necessary to remove" You shouldn't have to pry the faces off. Try just pulling the face straight up.

[Chris Padilla]

Definitely try another blade. There really isn't a reason to use a thin-kerf blade on a cabinet saw with a 3 HP motor turning it. They are designed mostly for underpowered saws and yours is not. They are also prone to warping as you are finding out. I personally don't believe in blade stabilizers.

UHMW is nice and smooth and permanently lubricated but isn't always the flattest of materials. I'm not familiar with the fence to tell you what lies beneath the UHMW but I'd be tempted to remove it and replace it.

[David Kumm]

Have you put a dial on the arbor flange and checked for runout? Might not be your problem but every saw i rehab usually needs some work done to the flange to zero it out. Checking it by turning it manually won't ensure that there is no wobble at speed but it gets you pretty close. Dave

[tony mashadi]

Thanks for both of your responds. From what I remember there was about 0.001 or less run out at the flange per my dial. Is that acceptable? If I get a thicker blade could I still use the .9 splitter? Is the wood worker II good kerf wise. I do have a freud 90T for cross cuts so ripping is my main concern but if a combo unit does nice enough I could do that. So any suggestion for blade is appreciated.
The fence is pretty much an xacta II with kind of a basic micro adjuster. So very similar to biesemeyer comercial as I believe this is a clone of that. I have to slowly pry off I guess and not damage nothing. The wavy part has about 0.005 dip and a 0.002 bump somewhere else. It's brand new out of box too so it kinda sucks that I have to repair it already :)
Thanks

[tony mashadi]

Thanks Jamie, just saw your respond. Ok than, at least I know now that's how it's done.
Thank you

[Bruce Wrenn]

Blade was tensioned so it would run true at speed, meaning it flattens out. Take a dial indicator and see if dishing is uniform. Most likely it will be.

[Tom Walz]

Maybe what Bruce Wrenn said. That is common practice in many top end blades but, in my experience, usually larger blades. A good saw shop should be able to tell you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXiZJpq-tIw

[tony mashadi]

Thanks guys. It is pretty uniform so perhaps that is the case. However, I decided to get couple of specialized and good full kerf blades. I am very close to getting the infinity 24 tooth ripping blade and their TCG 80T for melamine/veneer/ply/mdf. And I have freud 80 or 90 T for cross cuts so that should cover me for years to come based on my woodworking rate :) the only hard part is decision on brands as there are so many opinions out there. I am leaning toward infinity only because I hear they are good too and their prices are a bit better than forest.
Thanks

[Tony Leonard]

I have a similar fence but it is Powermatic. I have the same dips. On this model, each dip is where a slot is for a tbolt tha holds it to the metal part. On mine, there are windows in the metal on the bottom where the nuts can be accessed. I discovered the same issue and did some research. It is very common. I've been using mine like that for years and never knew it, so I don't know that it is a big deal. I was trying to make sure my fence was aligned and that's when I found it. Not sure I will do anything about it. Some folks make a new face out of mdf or melamine, etc.

Tony