Power feeder set up question on tablesaw

[David Koehler]

I recently mounted a 4 wheel power feeder on my spare table saw to rip lumber. It's working great so far, but I am getting some burn on the off cut side of the boards.
I assume it's because the feeder is pushing the material into the back side of the blade.
I've tried to compensate for this by installing narrower wheels after the blade (positioned between blade and fence) to push the good cut out but not touch the off cut piece.
Hope that made sense, I can try to post a picture if that helps.
Anybody use a feeder on a table saw with no burn, or is that just the way it is?
To be clear, the good piece comes out great, no burn marks (or blade marks).
Thanks!

[Rod Sheridan]

I use a feeder, try using a small amount of toe in against the fence, sounds to me that you have too much.....Rod

[Mike Wilkins]

Suggest getting the saw set up properly with the fence parallel with the blade. Mis-alignment could be the cause of the burning you are experiencing.

[Darcy Warner]

Could be the fence.

[David Kumm]

Very few table saw fences are stout enough to handle a feeder unless locked at the rear. That becomes especially apparent as the last foot enters the blade. A clamped block on the rear of the fence helps a lot. Dave

[brent stanley]

I would guess there's some flex in your fence and the feeder's toe-in is pushing against it hard enough to cause the flex. Wouldn't affect the piece between the fence and blade, but would pull the edge of the offcut towards the teeth at the back of the blade.

[Mark Bolton]

I'm with all the others in that your fence either is allowing too much flex or your feeder toe in is applying too much pressure against the fence. We run a 1hp 3 wheel feeder on a table saw and we toe the feeder as little as possible. It's a sketchy balance between too little and too much but you need far less toe in on a TS than you do with a shaper. Try plaing around with setting your feeder as close to straight as you can and still hold to the fence then kick it just a hair more. That works for us but you can still get some finicky boards that will fight you. If your fence doesnt lock on both ends and your ripping to standard width sty clamping the tip of the fence and see if it gets better.

[Martin Wasner]

What's the feed rate and tooth count of the blade?

[David Koehler]

It's a Freud glue line rip blade, 30 count.
I've used speeds from 13 fpm to 28 fpm. (It's a variable speed)

[Martin Wasner]

It's a Freud glue line rip blade, 30 count.
I've used speeds from 13 fpm to 28 fpm. (It's a variable speed)

How many hp saw?

[David Koehler]

Martin, it's a 5hp Delta. By the way, even though I don't post much, I've lurked here for almost a year and I love the things you've done in your shop. Very impressive.
From the gist of some of your posts, I think you aren't far from my parents; Stratford/Marshfield area.

[Larry Edgerton]

My best setup for that was block the fence[Biesmeyer], slight toe in, center wheel over the center of the blade with the blade just barely cutting into the wheel. It does put a groove in the wheel, but that is a price I am willing to pay, its just a wheel. With the slight toe in you need to feed any bow to the fence or come up with a featherboard before the blade.

[Martin Wasner]

Martin, it's a 5hp Delta. By the way, even though I don't post much, I've lurked here for almost a year and I love the things you've done in your shop. Very impressive.
From the gist of some of your posts, I think you aren't far from my parents; Stratford/Marshfield area.


A couple hours west.


With a 5hp saw and a 30 tooth blade, one of the first things I would say is 13fpm is way too slow. 28fpm is probably a touch slow. I'd assume the feeder you've got you can take the cover off and flip the gears to get more speeds out of it. I don't remember what those speeds are off hand, but I used to use a Delta three wheel on a 5hp tablesaw when I had massive amounts to rip. Softer woods like Poplar I could go full speed with the feeder if the blade was sharp. Harder woods, not so much. The saw was able, but it was just working it way too hard.

I'm betting the fence is part, if not most of the issue, but a slower than necessary feed rate isn't desirable either and will cause burning as well.

Sometimes things just bind too. I get burning occasionally with on the rip saw, there the fence isn't doing anything and it's feeding at 60fpm. Wood can bind when stress is relieved and pinch the blade.


Everything else I can think of has been pretty well covered.

[Joe Calhoon]

We used a 3 wheel feeder on a saw for a while. You need a stout fence or block it For support. Ruined a Unifence and burned up a 3 hp motor ripping 8/4. Finally put it on the old Martin saw till we got a SLR. We took the center wheel off and that seemed to work well keeping the wheels centered over the blade.
I think you can expect some burning. I never depend on a saw cut for my final finish.

[Darcy Warner]

Best fence style for feeders are the old pinned R&P style fences. The T square style fences are too flimsy for a feeder.

[David Koehler]

Thanks to all. I got some time to mess with it today and after clamping the fence and using minimum toe in, the burning is very slight.
I'll play with feed speeds next.

[Rod Sheridan]

Thanks to all. I got some time to mess with it today and after clamping the fence and using minimum toe in, the burning is very slight.
I'll play with feed speeds next.

Hi, for a good quality rip cut you're looking at 0.008" to 0.012" chip load range.

At 0.008" with a 30 tooth blade, that's 72 feet per minute. Your saw wouldn't have enough power for thicker material at those feed rates, run it at the highest rate you can for your motor power......Rod.

[Mark Bolton]

We run a similar blade to you but not a glue line rip. We run a full kerf heavy plate 24T ripping blade (and can typically go straight to glue up off that blade). Glue line rip blades are sold in my opinion with the assumption they are going to be hand fed (to slow, starts and stops, and trying to compete with a jointed edge). But with fast, and consistent, feed from the feeder the glue line rip isnt essential. If you get your fence toe correct, your feeder toe correct, and your feed speed high enough (hopefully riving knife on your saw so you can run the feeder as fast as the motor will handle), you should be OK.

An option that is hard to find for cheap depending on your material thickness is to find some thick plate small diameter blades that you can run on your TS and still get through the stock. Wont work for thick material but for 4/4 and 5/4 you can often times run a 7.25 or 8.25 thick kerf blade and its almost like doubling your saws horsepower and your still at 24-30T. You'll get less chance of blade flutter, may have to reduce your feed by a hair but you'd be able to feed non stop and never overcome the saw. Blades wont last as long between resharps but its an option.

We run a lot of smaller diameter thick blades when were breaking down tons of 4/4. Takes a lot of misery off the motor.

[William Hodge]

You can put a dial indicator against the right side of the fence, at the outfeed end, to see what deflection you get during a cut.

I have found that tightening the set screws on my Beisemeyer fence, and running the feeder without huge downward pressure, works fine. Toe in is 1/4".

Latly I have been ripping with a 12" Freud crosscut blade. It has a lot of teeth, and doesn't leave deep saw marks. The saw is 7 1/2 hp.

Measuring the ripped wood width with a dial caliper, both ends and the middle, will let you know if you have a problem that needs solving.