Whats your opinions on this? I have seen every where from no more than 1/8" above the wood all the way up to 1" above the wood, BTW the 1" was on the information sheet from Forrest.
Whats your opinions on this? I have seen every where from no more than 1/8" above the wood all the way up to 1" above the wood, BTW the 1" was on the information sheet from Forrest.
Hi Aaron, I was always told that you want the gullets between each tooth to clear the top of the wood that you are cutting.
Just what I was taught, YEARS ago.........
I'm with Stu,
I have read that you want the gullet to just clear the work in order that the sawdust be exppelled
Probably higher than most folks.
Less chance of kickback.
Running a blade low has the tendency to push the board up.
Decisions decisions decisions!
What are you after? A good cut (cross-cut High blade, or a rip-cut Low blade).
Safety ( low as possible ).
Blade longevity ( gullet clearance )?
Blade height was told to me by Forrest blade reps.
I go with the best blade for the job, with blade stiffners, to get the best quality of cut, and I just clear the gullets for the best safety and blade indurance.
Last edited by Eddie Darby; 09-08-2006 at 10:37 AM.
I of course have a different opinion I always run my blade with 3 teeth points showing above the material. I teach 8th and 9th grade students this method at school each day and there are definate reasons that I teach that way. 1. Kids are gonna get kickbacks so when one happens if their hand gets drug across the blade backwards when sawing say a 1/4" plywood panel, the blade will not have access to but a fraction of an inch of their hand. 2. We use splitters and guards on our tools here at school ( I don't at home) and the chances of a kickback are minimal but they sometimes happen anyway. 3. I use power feeders as much as possible at home and I have to run the blade low to accomodate the feeder. 4. In my own shop I get awfully close to the blade sometimes with my fingers, the lowered blade at least for me makes it much safer. I do lots of rp doors and routinely rip 2 3/8" pieces with my hand and not a push block.
Just my opinions, not to be taken for the gospel for sure.
Just keep working on it. It'll give up and do right after a while.
I was taught that kick-back occurs at the back of the blade, when the wood is gripped by the rear teeth, and then lifted and shot forward by the blade. A higher blade equates to a better chance of the wood being lifted. The splitter is to stop the grab of the rear teeth in the first place.
High blade settings spray me with saw dust So I prefer to keep it lower. Yah Yah blade guard. I don't use 'em.
Also cutting all those extra air molecules above the work burns extra power doesn't it?
I find that my blades don't burn period. I use a Non-ferrous metal blade w/ Pos rake as opposed to a blade ground for wood. It leaves no tool marks. I rip and cross with the same blade.
One of the reasons stated as for wood burning was having the blade to low, that's why I was suprised to see another place say 1/8" but they were stating that for the safety factors like Jim mentioned
it`s very seldom that i pay attention to blade height, i usually just leave it from my last use. if i was cutting 8/4 and now need to cut 1/4" ply i just do it.....but i too was taught to leave at least one full gullet above the work.....02 tod
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Jim- It looks like you would be a good candidate for a “Sawstop”.
Ten finger Bob.
Poor Antonio Stradivari, he never had a Shaper
Chip out on top, raise the blade, chip out on the bottom lower the blade. Having said that my approach is generally the same as tod's
Somewhat intrigued by this thread, I went and found that Ryobi says in their manual: "The blade depth should be set so that the outer points of the blade are higher than the workpiece by approximately 1/8 in. to 1/4 in. but the lowest points (gullets) are below the top surface."
If I was running a school shop it would be an absolute necessity to have a SawStop! The whole concept of kick-back is a daunting one for beginners let alone experts to have to deal with. If you want to reduce the number of people who enjoy woodworking, then just increase the number of accidents!
Jim,Originally Posted by Jim Cunningham
Sawdust is expelled under the wood after the leading teeth have made the cut so the blade height won't help with that.
All,
The idea that a blade will burn if not raised high enough is from using the blade that is not designed specifically for the application. You should have 3 to 5 teeth working in the wood for ripping and 5 to 7 for crosscuts. If you use a 60 tooth crosscut blade and raise it all the way (not recommended!!) you will have the correct number of teeth in the wood for ripping 3/4" stock but the blade geometry will be all wrong. When using the correct Freud blade for the application you will only need the blade 1/8" to 1/4" above the material.
Charles M
Freud America, Inc.
This would make for a great article in one of the woodworking magazines.