Maple tabletop with ridgid t3660 and/or BS?

[stephen wood]

I'm a new woodworker looking to build a food-friendly tabletop. I'm thinking my Ridgid TS3660 (1&1/2 hp motor) might not be up to the task. It looks like hard maple is wood of choice but can be difficult to cut. I do have a new Frued 24 rip blade and would consider buying another blade if this would help. I can't justify buying a better TS now since I just bought this one.

I don't have a bandsaw yet, and am considering one....would buying a good one help with my problem?

Or is there another wood I should consider?

[Hugh Jardon]

As long as your saw has exclusive use of a 15A 110V circuit, or is 220V wired, you should be fine with the 3660. Make sure the fence & blade are properly aligned too.

[John Morrison60]

Stephen

Your tablesaw should be up to that task.
The new rip blade is the best move you could make.
If you have crosscuts to do, replace it with a good combo blade.

My tablesaw is a 60 year old Unisaw with 1 hp.
It will not power through thick hardwood quickly, but if I
carefully manage the feed rate, and use the proper blade, it will
cut anything that I ask it to.
I routinely work with cherry, and ash, of varying thickness.
Cutting cherry without burning it can be a challenge with any saw.
My underpowered Unisaw with a good blade will cut cherry cleanly without
marking it, as long as I pay attention to the feed rate.

Good luck
John

[Brian Tymchak]

Hi Stephen,

Welcome to the Creek. I think your saw will handle the task, unless you are trying to cut 12/4 wood. I have the TS 3650 with the 1.5 HP motor. I just recently cut 8/4 Ash for workbench tops with it. Ash is also a pretty hard wood. The trick is getting the feed rate right for your motor and blade. Too slow and you will burn the wood, too fast, you will bog the motor down and trip the breaker. If you have dust collection for your TS, make sure you have it running on a different circuit.

While the rip blade will work fine for ripping, I doubt you will get high quality cuts with it. I currently have a 40 tooth thin-kerf combo blade (Forrest Woodworker II) on my saw. Gives me pretty good performance with both cross and rip cuts, but I still take a pass over the jointer to get finished edges. I don't know if you still have the stock combo blade that came with the saw, but I used that for quite a while and it did a pretty good job as well.

Brian

[Neil Brooks]

Clean blade (no sap, pitch, etc.).

Sharp blade.

Everything well aligned.

Have fun

[Bill Huber]

I have cut 8/4 purple heart with my old Craftsman 8 inch saw with a 3/4 hp motor so I see no problem with your saw.

You may want to get a thin kerf blade which does help with under powered saws. A good blade is the Frued LM75R010 thin kerf glue line blade. They also sell your same blade in a thin kerf LU87R010.

As has been stated you need to have the saw set up correctly and you need to watch your feed rate.

[scott spencer]

How thick is the maple? You should be able to cut 2" or so...hopefully you're Freud rip blade is a thin kerf? It'll help a lot if the wood has been flattened and straightened first.

[glenn bradley]

There is no way you will possibly succeed without a new bandsaw. Start shopping right now!
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OK, now hold you hand over this part of the screen if anyone is watching over your shoulder . . . . . . .

My 1-3/4HP hybrid cuts 2" hardwood without issue. I run a 24T Freud thin kerf for ripping and 80T blades for crosscuts. Maple, shedua, beech, walnut, oaks, no worries.

[stephen wood]

Hi all,

Thanks for the advice!

Stephen

[Ramsey Ramco]

I think some of the guys have better luck than I do. My 1 3/4 hp had trouble cutting 3/4" pine, which is really wierd because my bosch portable saw did pretty good. I replaced my hybrid with a 3hp powermatic and will never look back. the price was right but needed a little TLC. I do agree with a good sharp blade you should be ok as long as its not thicker than 8/4.

[Nathan Callender]

I think some of the guys have better luck than I do. My 1 3/4 hp had trouble cutting 3/4" pine, which is really wierd because my bosch portable saw did pretty good. I replaced my hybrid with a 3hp powermatic and will never look back. the price was right but needed a little TLC. I do agree with a good sharp blade you should be ok as long as its not thicker than 8/4.

My TS3660 had issues cutting 4/4 hard maple at first. Then I tuned it up and put on a good, sharp, full kerf blade, and it can now cut anything. It seems like the secret to all woodworking nirvana is a sharp, well tuned tool. :-)

[scott spencer]

My TS3660 had issues cutting 4/4 hard maple at first. Then I tuned it up and put on a good, sharp, full kerf blade, and it can now cut anything. It seems like the secret to all woodworking nirvana is a sharp, well tuned tool. :-)

Bingo! >>>

[Joseph Tarantino]

my ridgid ts2412 is an entry level predecessor to the 3650/60. it does not have a dual voltage motor, but once properly dialed in (i.e., blade parallel to miter slot; fence parallel to miter slot and, by extension, the blade) i've yet to encounter something it can't handle. the sharpness and position of the blade relative to the thickness of the material being cut cannot be emphasized enough. the top of the material being cut should, according to the folks at freud, be in the middle of the height of the blade's teeth at the blade's highest rotational point. this allows the teeth to shear through the material like a scissor cutting paper. HTH.