raised panels

[Mark Vaughn]

Every time i try to cut raised panels on the ts they turn out thicker on one side and thinner on the other and the blade marks are very visible is there a better way to do this on a ts? what kind of blade would leave a cleaner surface? i'm just using a general freud blade now.

[Matt Crew]

I don't have alot of experience, so take this for what it's worth.
It sounds like your fence is not parallel to the blade.

[Sam Yerardi]

If you can rent or borrow a dial indicator you can check the blade and the fence both.

[keith ouellette]

it sounds like a fence problem. I know no body likes them but if you have a harbor freight tools near by you can get a panel raiser set pretty cheep and they are easy to use.

As for making it easier on the table saw; make sure the fence is straight, high and sturdy.

[david graves]

I assume you are using a jig "high fence with clamping devices" for this. If not, you can find plans to make one all over the internet or probalby in here for that matter.

In addition to that, make darn sure your fence is parallel with the blade.

Regards,

[Mark Vaughn]

is the panel raiser set for the router?

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Mark, many saws are improperly adjusted, and come out of parallel when the blade is tilted.

The best solution is to determine if this is the case. I presume that when you rip with the blade at 90 degrees you don't have this problem.

If your saw needs adjusting, the best plan is to adjust it.

Many people make a sled to hold the workpiece at an angle so that the blade stays at 90 degrees for panel raising, avoiding the out of parallel issue completely.

Regards, Rod.

[Mark Vaughn]

hey rod thanks for saying that, it sounds like that is exactly what is happening, what is procedure for adjusting the blade so that it stays parallel to the fence when at 45? thanks a lot

[Josiah Bartlett]

I like using a sled even when tilting the blade. I make a stop on the sled to clamp the work perpendicular to the table, as well, so the panel can't twist up or down when being pushed through.

I much prefer raising panels on the table saw to the router table, its much faster. Even if I raise panels using the router table to get a cut profile, I rough it in on the table saw to keep the router from having to work so hard.

The procedure for adjusting the blade is going to depend on which saw you have.

It might not be the blade at all, it may be that the fence is lifting up in the back. I always clamp the back end of my fence down when making angle cuts.

[frank shic]

mark, are your panel blanks flat? if you're freehanding the panels without a jig, you can get a tapered effect. i tried building an extended fence for my dewalt portable, but it doesn't work great since i still have to apply hand pressure to keep it up to the side of the fence - the dewalt rip fence is designed so that you cannot slide a sleeve shaped accessory jig over it. i got great results with the bosch 4000 and a raised panel jig prior to selling it.

[Ed Peters]

can be a scarry challenge. The best tool to accomplish on is this is a shaper. Much safer with predictable results. You can use a full 3/4" thick panel as long as your shaper cutter is accompanied by a back cutter (my preference) or reduce you panel to 1/2" thick to raise the front side only. I raise full thickness panels in 4 steps on my shaper. I don't change the tool height, I adjust the fence moving it after each series of cuts. An acceptable alternative to the shaper is a router mounted in a table. Same process applies but the steps are smaller, probably 6 passes to complete. If you absolutely must do this on a table saw, you should prepare a high fence that will attach securely to your rip fence. This process is tricky enough with out having your panel moving on an axis that the saw would prefer to see as stable. My first experience with raising panels on a table saw caused me to spend about 6 hours working on fixtures. One thing to be sure of if you do go this route. I strongly recommend that the fence "NOT" be paralell with the blade. Adjust it so that there is clearance on the back side of the blade as the wood exits.

Ed