Ripping on Table Saw

[Curt Harms]

For sure the blade needs to be parallel to the miter slot and the fence needs to be parallel to the blade/miter slot. I use the left miter slot because that's where I use miter gauges and jigs most of the time. You can set the outfeed end of the fence to toe out a little but don't use the fence on the other side of the blade if you do that, the fence would pinch the work as you cut. A benefit of having the fence exactly parallel is that you can use the fence on either side of the blade. I guess that matters more on a right tilt saw cutting bevels. My second thought would be to try a piece of decent quality plywood. Solid wood can move when cut, I've never had decent plywood move much at all. Decent plywood does not mean crappy CDX.

[Mike Kees]

After reading this far there are not many stones left unturned. My bet is that your Diablo blade is a thin kerf,and your riving knife is sized for regular thickness blades. Check that first. Then I would Adjust the saw ,blade parallel to miter slots,fence parallel to miter slots,riving knife in line with blade. Also take the time to set the blade stops at 90 and 45 degrees. This is step one with a new or new to you saw.

[Tom Bender]

If you are using a scary amount of force, stop! Always think about the direction of the force your hands are applying. Consider what would happen if the wood suddenly disappeared. It can happen in the blink of an eye.

[Gordon Dale]

This thread exemplifies Sawmill Creek at it's best--thoughtful, detailed, non-judgmental answers to a common and potentially dangerous issue encountered by woodworkers at all levels. I'd like to thank everyone who contributed.

[Alex Zeller]

The first thing I would do is look at the cut in the board you just made. If it looks like the gap is narrower at the end of the board than where you stopped cutting then it's the wood. Another simple check would be to get a straight edge and place it against two teeth on the blade extending past the riving knife. Do it on both sides of the blade. The straight edge shouldn't touch the riving knife. Instead it should have an equal gap. Make sure to do it the full length of the riving knife (while not as bad as a splitter) you want to check that it's not twisted compared to the blade. That being said I do agree with the others about calibrating the saw. When you do don't forget to do it with the blade at both 90 and 45 degrees.