Bullets from the tablesaw

[Brian Tymchak]

I make 1/2" cutoffs using a small sled for a particular small part I cut for a non-profit. Never had a problem with the the offcuts getting shot back at me. Until recently, when I went with a newer Freud rip blade. Same part number as the old blade, but there is a difference in the shape of the gullets. That blade threw 3 or 4 of those cut offs at me in short order after starting a session. The blade was the only difference so I put the old rip blade back on and no more problems. So, a long winded way of saying, it could be the blade. As suggested, try a different blade if you have one.

[Tom M King]

Someone posted a link to a small parts cutting sled here, within the past couple of weeks.

[brent stanley]

Have you tried a deflector wedge to push cuttoffs away from the blade? Very handy, I use one all the time.

[johnny means]

I always just make those cuts in more than one pass. I actually have hash marks on the ZCI to delineate the problem length. I can see in a glance when I need to do a double cut.

[Kevin Jenness]

I make 1/2" cutoffs using a small sled for a particular small part I cut for a non-profit. Never had a problem with the the offcuts getting shot back at me. Until recently, when I went with a newer Freud rip blade. Same part number as the old blade, but there is a difference in the shape of the gullets. That blade threw 3 or 4 of those cut offs at me in short order after starting a session. The blade was the only difference so I put the old rip blade back on and no more problems. So, a long winded way of saying, it could be the blade. As suggested, try a different blade if you have one.

Thanks for teaching me something new.

[glenn bradley]

I agree with those stating that a sled carries the off cut away from the blade and eliminates the problem. An alternative to this is something like the Grr-ripper which carries the off cut away from the blade as well. I use both but not at the same time :-)

[Tom Bender]

Thanks for so many good replies. I took a look at my ZCI and found that it is actually more like 1/8" from the WWII. I may replace it.

However, I recently made a small parts sled and made the clearance cut with this blade so it is as tight as possible and it does the same thing.

Now it's time to experiment with another blade.

[Jim Becker]

Watch your blade height, too...if it's too low, it can cause interesting things to happen because of "lifting", etc.

[Robert Hayward]

Someone posted a link to a small parts cutting sled here, within the past couple of weeks.

Was not me but the one I like the best and use was found here.

[William Hodge]

Thanks for so many good replies. I took a look at my ZCI and found that it is actually more like 1/8" from the WWII. I may replace it.

However, I recently made a small parts sled and made the clearance cut with this blade so it is as tight as possible and it does the same thing.

Now it's time to experiment with another blade.

I used to get wood rockets launched when beveling the bottom of sash. Switching to a dado blade made the projectiles into shavings.