Table saw burning wood- new woodworker here

[Brian Tuftee]

Hello everyone, new woodworker here who's just now taking the leap into 'fine' woodworking projects with the acquisition of a tablesaw and router. Not quite a novice, as I've made some basic outdoor furniture (2x4 asian-themed bench, adirondack chair, planters) but this is my first attempt at making something nice that will be appreciated indoors...

Anyway, my first major issue concerns burn-up while cutting on the saw (a Craftsman 10" entry-level contractor saw - can't remember the model #), specifically, I'm getting burn marks on my waste pieces when ripping with the fence. So far for this project I've ripped some 1x2 poplar stock in half down its length, and ripped some birch and oak plywood as well. The burn marks are always on the waste side (left side) of the blade, never on the fence side.

The wood seems to feed smoothly, and doesn't feel like it's binding, so I can't figure out why I'm burning it so much. The riving knife is lined up with the blade, and I've checked the fence and it's dead on parallel with the miter slots and the blade itself (at least to the limits of accuracy with a tape measure, say 1/32"). I'm using a general purpose 10" carbide ripping blade with 30 teeth (and taping my cuts on the plywood, to minimize the tearout). I'm setting the blade height so the highest tooth fully clears the workpiece.

Should I feed even slower, even though the wood doesn't seem to be resisting? Is my blade height wrong, should it be higher? Different blade? Any other thoughts? I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually, but I'd like to hear some veteran input. Thanks!

[Gary Breckenridge]

:eek: I'm thinking that your blade isn't square. You want the blade parallel with the miter guage slot. Underneath the table in the back of the saw there should be two bolts that can be loosened so you can square up the blade. I use a big carpenters square. Then align the fence with the miter guage slots.:cool:

[Rick Christopherson]

The concern about the blade being parallel to the fence is all to often overblown. This is not your problem.

You're using a ripping blade and you're cutting materials that aren't prone to burning. All that leaves left is your feed rate. Increase the feed.

Your blade height doesn't seem too low, but it may not hurt to raise is slightly if the burning continues.

[Charles McCracken]

I agree with Rick that you don't want to slow the feed. If anything you need to increase the feed within safe limits and keep the feed steady through the cut. The fence alignment could be the culprit if you are measuring to a tolerance of 1/32". Better to toe it out slightly than to risk binding.

[glenn bradley]

I guess the others here have pretty well got it covered. Check you TS setup/alignment and your feed rate.

[Gary Keedwell]

What do you mean by 1/32"? Thirty two thousands of an inch is alot of space. That would give the blade plenty of clearance on one side but it would rub on the other side. I would check your blade to miter slot parallelism. No matter how fast or slow you feed your stock, rubbing is rubbing. Having your blade parallel to slot ensures equal clearance on both sides of your blade.

That being said, you could try to speed up your feed rate. Also, is your blade clean? Build-up on your blade (pitch) will cause burning, too. You really need more than a tape measure to determine if your machine is tuned properly. IMNSHO


Gary K.

[Mike Armstrong]

There are a number of settings you should probably check, and it's not necessary to have specialty tools to set it up accurately:

http://www.thewoodshop.20m.com/calibrate_sled1.htm


Mike