2” Walnut

[Ryan Tea]

Hello,

I wanted to see any suggestions for cutting 2” Walnut. I have used it quite a few times and I usually just round over or similar the edges where the burn marks are. However, I want a square finished edge on a river table and curious what everyone does.

I’m aware of having a clean blade and also have used a scraper before. I’m using a Festool Tracksaw. Maybe a better blade? Fewer teeth? Or possibly just give all the edges a shallow quick run over the jointer?

Just seeing what everyone does. Walnut definitely likes to burn. Thanks!!

[Mark Hockenberg]

Ryan - I assume you're referring to the rip cut. If so, my advise is to use a rip blade in your track saw (Festool 496305). This is a 20-tooth blade that give you a great cut. You'll still need to joint after the cut, but a pass or two should suffice.

Cheers,
Mark

[Richard Coers]

No wood likes to burn. It's the wrong blade, wrong technique, or operator error that cause the burn. Use a rip blade with higher set in the teeth, fewest teeth possible, with proper feed speed. Could just be that a Festool Tracksaw is just a poor choice to do that task. Not a good blade choice available, and not enough horsepower to achieve the proper feed speed for the rpm the blade is running.

[Al Launier]

Burning is from the heat in the chips, usually due to a slow feed rate, or dull teeth rubbing against the woof instead of cutting it as it should, or lack of clearance between the teeth to clear the chips. Feeding the wood faster through the saw to get a heavier chip will help draw heat away from the finish product as the heavier will soak up the heat.

[Will Boulware]

I've got a TS75 with a few blades. My Tenryu rip blade (no idea on model number, sorry) gives me a pretty clean, burn-free edge on anything I've run it through (including 2" walnut), but I always follow up with a few swipes from a sharp #8. Try a rip blade. It may cure what's ailing you.

*assuming you're talking about the TS75. No idea if the 55 will cut that much wood very well or not.

[Ryan Tea]

Ryan - I assume you're referring to the rip cut. If so, my advise is to use a rip blade in your track saw (Festool 496305). This is a 20-tooth blade that give you a great cut. You'll still need to joint after the cut, but a pass or two should suffice.

Cheers,
Mark

I am talking about the rip cuts, but on this piece the cross cut as well since it will be square. I ordered the Festool 12-tooth and 28-tooth blade.

I will just have to see how bad of an edge the 12 tooth leaves. Anything is better then the burns though. Thanks!

[Stan Calow]

I use the planer to plane down the burnt edges, especially with multiple pieces that you want to be the same height. Cutting a bit wider to allow for that, to keep square.

[Prashun Patel]

I like to joint the edges. It solves many problems: square, cut marks, burn marks.

Your blade is probably dull, or you're feeding a tad too slow - but with a sharp blade, this doesn't matter too much.

I use a 24T rip blade on pretty much everything.

[Jim Andrew]

This is when having an edge sander is a wonderful thing. I hit about all my pieces on edge with the edge sander. Just for a second or 2, kind of bump.

[Edward Dyas]

Hello,

I wanted to see any suggestions for cutting 2” Walnut. I have used it quite a few times and I usually just round over or similar the edges where the burn marks are. However, I want a square finished edge on a river table and curious what everyone does.

I’m aware of having a clean blade and also have used a scraper before. I’m using a Festool Tracksaw. Maybe a better blade? Fewer teeth? Or possibly just give all the edges a shallow quick run over the jointer?

Just seeing what everyone does. Walnut definitely likes to burn. Thanks!!

Having a clean blade isn't as important as having the right blade. For ripping hardwoods use a blade with as few teeth as possible. Actually the best blade I've used is a fiber cement blade which the 10" blade only had 6 teeth. Something like a 28 tooth blade would be more common and should work alright.

[Mike Cutler]

Ryan

I have the Festool TS-75. I also have 12-15, 2" thick walnut slabs, so I kind of know where you're at.
Yes, you need a rip blade. Festool has the "panther" blade for the TS-75, and the TS-55, for the rip cut. This blade will not leave a nice cross cut edge though, so you will need a blade for cross cutting. It shouldn't burn the rip cut, but you're not going to get a glass smooth edge from it either.
If you are using a TS55, you're at the very outside limits of that saw, to cut a 2" thick piece of material. I highly doubt the gullets of the blade are being cleared, which is adding to the burning issue. You gotta get the waste out of the kerf.
You will need some very good dust extraction, and you may need to do that cut in stages, blowing out the kerf with air in between passes, or cut 1/2 the thickness from one side and flip the material to cut the remaining 1/2 thickness.
The Festool rip blade is not a crosscut blade. It will do it, but not as well as a their universal, or dedicated rip blade.
As I said, I have the TS-75 with the Panther blade, and have done many rip cuts in 2" thick walnut. It's not going to be a fast cut, so don't try to push the saw through the material, just let it do the work, and listen to the saw. 2" thick wood is a lot of material for any handheld circular saw to go through. That's a lot of waste that has to be cleared.
Which Festool blades do you have? This task will really require two different blades.

[Carl Beckett]

One additional consideration: I find burning can be due to some misalignment in the cut. There 'shouldnt' be, with your guide and saw, but something to check.

Having said that I tend to take a couple swipes with a hand plane to clean up the edges, they are rarely ready for finish after a saw blade (edge sanding or jointing is another alternative - although your piece might be rather large to support well so a hand plane might be more convenient)

If it is critical to me I have a Freud ultimate fine tooth crosscut blade that leaves a near perfect finish. So for sure blade can make a difference.

[Joe Hendershott]

I am sure the new blades you ordered will solve the issue. I too use a Festool tracksaw in the 2 inch walnut and have a flawless cut. The other blade opinions don't work here since the OP is using a Festool saw. I will say I have also a few Oshlun blades for the Festool that work very well at a fraction of the Festool blades.

[Ryan Tea]

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for your input. I ended up getting the Festool blades in 12-tooth and 28-tooth. I am hoping these will work a lot better. They arrive in the mail today.

Just to answer one of the questions, I do have food dust extraction with the Festool vacuum so that isn’t a problem. I am guessing this 12-tooth with her right through it and then a little finishing at the end.

Thanks again!!

[Mike Cutler]

Ryan

I think you'll be fine now.
Those River Tables can be very striking. I've seen some beautiful examples on the internet.