Thread: Opinions sought.

Plenty of discussion on this subject in the archives.

To summarise:

Saw blade at full height = less chance of kickback. Many people have the blade at full height always unless not doing a through-cut.

Saw blade with the gullets just clear of the material being cut = cleaner cut, particularly when cutting things like melamine which chip out really easily. You get the best results cutting this stuff with the blade low.

I tend to wind the blade up fairly high when ripping and only wind it down when I'm concerned about chipping or when not doing a through cut.

I'm with silentC

Only really adjust height for thinner stock such as ply or melamine otherwise full blade

Still have all fingers! by good luck.
If your gunna stick your finger in a blade - don't see it's gunna make much difference.

Best for you?
Cross cut won't make much difference generally.
Ripping - well if it's raggy try less blade, if it's still raggy try a different timber or sharpen the plane

Jamie

I've heard that you should have 3 teeth showing. The leading and trailing teeth just protruding. Can't remember why though!!!! I suppose it depends on blade composition, how many teeth on the saw, what type of timber etc. On my GMC table saw it doesn't seem to matter. When I want much finer cuts than my GMC can provide I use a chainsaw.

Kelly Mehler who wrote "The Table Saw Book" says something like:

The higher the blade
good - less feed resistance, cooler blade.
bad - more danger (more blade showing), More tearout at the bottom of the cut.
More forceful kickback if you don't use a splitter or riving knife.

He goes on to say that if you use a blade guard and a splitter or a riving knife you can set the blade to what ever height you want. For the most efficient chip removal, set your blade so the the primary blade gullets clear the top of the workpiece.

I agree with SilenC on all points

Support Silent.

I use full height except when cutting dadoes/tenons etc.

Alastair

Is this like a Silent Protest?

Thanks, guys, for your input.
Seems we're all thinking and working pretty much along the same lines.

I'm thinking the magazine editors can only write so much stuff each month, but some things, such as blade height requirements, can be changed around to suit. So, to help fill a magazine I guess one month it's blades up, the next month it's blades down.

One month it's wide kerf, the following month it's thin kerfs...and so on.

Take it easy.

I lower the blade for reduced chipout, particularly on ply and melamine products. This has the effect of the tooth trying to slice ALONG the kerf, whereas a high blade means that the tooth is cutting down THROUGH the kerf from top to bottom, thus leading to more splintering on the lower face of the board being cutt. Naturally, if the tooth is going ALONG the kerf, there is more force in that direction, thus a greater potential for kickback. With the tooth coming down (with a higher blade) the board is sort of pushed onto the table by the force of the blade.

However, with a decent push stick and riving knife (plus featherboards and a hold down finger on your sawguard/dust hood assembly) the risk seems small compared to the smoother finish.

There's a good article in Timbecon's latest newletter on this matter.

Don't know if you guys are aware of this one.

http://www.woodworkingtips.com/etips/2004/09/24/wb/

Sometimes it's good - others trashy but this one is relevent to this discussion

Jamie

I've seen a guy just about loose his manhood from using the saw blade down low and having it cause kickback......Ever after that......Silents method for me!

Gotta agree with all said about keeping the blade to the cutting height required and with good extraction system in place the gullets will remain clear providing you're not cutting green material.

I believe that given that you condition yourself to good work practices then the risk should be minimal irrespective of the blade position.

Keeping the blade low to the perspective required keeps tension off the blade because of the number of teeth employed at any given time,it also allows for the driving spindle/ motor to placed under less stress and therefore have a
beneficial due to the reduction of forces employed across the side surfaces if the blade.

Admittedly with manufactured board different forces may apply as opposed to hardwood that may or may not have tight/interlocking grain and the view that having sight of the blade, may suit some with the thought of keeping the blade in a visual, but if using overhead dust extraction off the blade cover and in conjunction with a riving knife the blade is partly obscured anyway thereby giving way to the inbuilt safety features.

People not thinking about the ramifications of KICKBACK will apparently stand in the line of the cut,but if they were to access the Australian Standards site they would know the appropiate procedures for using a bench saw,number 1 ...that is do not stand in line but off-set so that your body is out of line with the saw.Stand to one side whilst feeding material thru a bench saw.
Good pratice with most machinery....makes sense.

Sorry I've rattled on a bit but it needs pointing out particularly where safety is involved!
Cheers

Knew a bloke that lost his fingers in a sawing accident. When he got the hospital the doctors asked him why he hadn't brought his fingers in with him so they could sew them back on. Bloke said, "I couldn't pick 'em up".
Fair Dinkum!!!
Peter R.

Originally Posted by John Saxton

People not thinking about the ramifications of KICKBACK will apparently stand in the line of the cut,but if they were to access the Australian Standards site they would know the appropiate procedures for using a bench saw,number 1 ...that is do not stand in line but off-set so that your body is out of line with the saw.Stand to one side whilst feeding material thru a bench saw.
Good pratice with most machinery....makes sense.

Unfortunataly, this practice did nothing to help the poor sole in my story.:eek: