Thread: Cutting timber deeper than my table saw blade can cut in one go.

I wouldn't attempt to cut 100mm high on a 600mm long board. I don't have a set of brass balls big enough to feed the short length timber fast enough so that I am not burning my way through. Plus I would need a 10hp motor driving the blade. For me I would either set the blade to be 32mm high and cut the top and then the bottom leaving a ~54mm web in the middle. Raise the blade to 62mm and cut twice again, once top and once bottom. Or you can just do two passes total with the blade set at 62mm.

To get a perfectly aligned cut, there are a lot of variables including the table being flat, blade being 90°, the face of the fence being 90°, the fence being inline with the blade, the timber being 90° all four edges, not 90.1°. And once you get all of that, you then need to hope there is no tension in the board that causes the cut to close in on itself or open up. What I am saying is that I would plan for secondary machining through a drum sander, thicknesser or hand plane/belt sander/random orbital whateva...

edit: I forgot you were doing 6mm panels, or 1/3rd of 30mm less saw kerf. Set the fence so that the offcut = 6mm for the first board. Then double-side tape the remaining ~20mm to a piece of 18-16 mdf and again set the fence so that the board is ripped straight down the guts. It will allow you to have a substantial piece of timber against the fence rather than the flimsy 6mm thickness.

Originally Posted by Sterob

Hi Gents,
I need to cut one piece of Jarrah ( 120 x 30 x 600 mm ) into 3 off 120 x 6 x 600 boards and waste....
My table saw blade will not cut 120 mm in one run and the cuts need to be nice as I will be engraving them on the CNC Router. I'm making drink coasters.

What is the best way to do it to get the best result?

hi Steve

How much power does your table saw have?
Do you have a sharp -- and I mean fresh from the sharpening service sharp -- ripping blade. One with 24 or fewer teeth would be good.
How accurately square is your saw and fence.
How accurately square is your 120 x 30 x 600 board

Whilst I'd prefer to use a bandsaw to rip 120 mm deep, I'd have no qualms with ripping thin slices using my table saw BUT
a sharp dedicated rip blade is a must.
as are feather boards and push sticks.
I'd install a high fence on the saw.
I'd probably do it in 4 passes, first two at 40 mm deep from both sides, then two cuts at 60 mm each.
I'd also expect to have to thickness plane or sand the slices.

bare in mind that depending on the dryness, stability and grain direction in your piece of Jarrah, your 6 mm slices may not be flat enough to put through your CNC.
I suspect that you will struggle to get more than two flat 6 mm slices from your 30 mm thick stick.

I'd consider making the deepest cut on the TS that you can and then finishing it with a bandsaw. Either that or just using a bandsaw to begin with. You'll have less kerf loss that way. Using a bandsaw for a resaw job like this would be the more "normal" way to do it, generally speaking.

I have done this, and have always had trouble aligning the cuts for a smooth finish.

The best way I have found to do this is several cuts on each side, at varying depths, to take the load off the motor.

Bandsaw

Here is your opportunity to buy a hand plane.

My suggestion is to cut 61 mm deep, twice and then smooth the surface with a hand plane.

Or, better yet buy a thicknesser. Or even better, buy a drum sander.

Remember, 'He who dies with the most tools, wins!'

Originally Posted by 44Ronin

Bandsaw

I reckon the bandsaw is the way to go ,if you don't have one get a cabinetmaker or Bunnies to cut it for you.

Bandsaw and card scraper

Thanks Guys, Food for thought.
TS is a new Hammer K3 Winner and makes very nice cuts. 3HP. Fence is quite high.
My Bandsaw is a very small Ryobi jobbie so do not trust it to cut straight and the throat is not deep enough anyway.
A thicknesser would be good, but don't have access to one.....
Will have to do some tests and see how I go.


Steve

3HP will not cut 100mm deep in one go in ANY timber, let alone Jarrah.

If you have a dedicated rip blade (about 24 teeth), you might be able to go 60mm in one go from both sides, otherwise you might have to make to with 30mm, then 60mm from both sides.

60mm in one go using a 30 teeth ripping blade and 3hp. https://youtu.be/gg7P7kPpuTM?t=9m34s

I am controlling the speed/load so I don't trip the power. The blade is less than ideally sharp.

At the 10:01 mark in the video, I have a puzzled look on my face. That was the bloody fence shifting on me, so I effectively freehanded the rest of the cut using the kerf and riving knife. Sure enough I created enough binding that my 15amp circuit was tripped off. I have video lights running off that same circuit. Usually it is ok, but usually it is sub 2" boards.

I agree with Elan and Kuffy.

I have a 3HP Hafco panel saw with 305mm blade and cannot cut 100mm hardwood in one go.

We had a major remodel on the house and I had a 100 Amp breaker panel installed in the shop/garage. From there I ran a 40 Amp, 230 Volt circuit for the table saw. (3 HP) It is really two 115 Volt legs of opposing phases with 40 Amps each. I know that NA electrical distribution is a bit different but I can not imagine trying to do with 15 Amps for a 3 HP table saw. I'm astounded that you can even get the saw to start with only 15 Amps. My table saw is a Delta UniSaw and Delta says that 30 Amp circuit is required.

You could technically run 3hp on 10A (240x10=2400w = 3.2hp), but you'd trip the circuit pretty easily.