Thread: Tablesaw technique - ripping long timber at 45 °

If the fence is like a panel saw then you should be able to pull it back to be in front of the blade.

If not then maybe you could build a fence out of scrap (making sure in runs parallel to the blade) to get up close to the blade.

As for the saw almost stopping, is the timber you are cutting closing on the blade? Is the fence parallel to the blade? Is there a belt that could be slipping? Is the new blade a timber blade or is it a triple chip? There is alot of things it could be. Maybe like you said you will just need to take it slow.

Good luck with it anyway.

Kind regards, Andrew.

Sent from my D5833 using Tapatalk

Originally Posted by snowyskiesau

I ran a test on a small length, about 300mm, of the same board and the saw found it really tough going, the motor nearly stopping at one point. No sign of burning on the cut. Motor is 1.5HP, new blade.
Is it just a matter of taking it slow and steady when ripping long lengths?

are you using a ripping or general purpose or cross-cut blade?
a would expect a GP nor CC blade to need more power than a dedicated rip blade -- at 45 degrees you are likely cutting at your saw's maximum capacity.

Originally Posted by snowyskiesau

The other question is to do with the fence. If I have it on the right of the blade, as normal, the blade guard fouls the fence before I can tilt the blade to 45°. No such problem if I have the fande to the left of the blade. Is it OK/safe to cut this way? Any particular thing to watch out for?

make yourself a sub fence low enough so that the blade guard can clear it.
also the rip fence should end before the back of the blade.

I'll pick up a ripping blade as the one I got for the saw is just a general purpose blade.
Blade tilts to the right and with the fence located to the left of the blade, there's plenty of room for the guard/splitter. I wasn't sure if using it this way was a good idea or not.
Double checked the blade/fence alignment as there as parallel as I can make them. I'll break out a dial gauge to do a finer check.

The way I've done french cleats in the past is that after tilting the blade 45 degree, I would lower the blade so that it is only slightly higher the cleats itself. With the fence on my right (looking forward) and feather boards on the left. I will use one of these sacrificial push sticks from Jason Bates and with the guard removed and I will push through the cleats with this big home made push stick.

Here's the two option I have, fence on the right or fence on the left. Is one option safer than the other?
The bulk of the board needs to be against the fence, the cutoff portion will be too small.
Featherboard(s) to hold the timber in place?
(Splitter and blade guard not shown)

1. I would put the fence on the right as I am right handed, if you are left handed you would want to put the fence on the left I suppose.
2. The blade should be tilted away from the fence, not towards the fence, mine can't even do that.
3. lower the blade so it just clear the top surface. The blade is way too high in the diagram.
4. featherboard on the left to push the work piece against the fence.
5. I would not use the blade guard or the riving knife. But use the push stick made from 45 mm thick material as in the video, the push stick will cover the any expose blade entirely, sitting on top of the work piece as you push the piece through. Your hands would not be anywhere near the cutting area. The saw will cut a shallow grove on the push stick, but that's alright.

Originally Posted by justonething

1. I would put the fence on the right as I am right handed, if you are left handed you would want to put the fence on the left I suppose.

If I have the fence on the right, the guard/spliter hits the fence before I can get to 45

2. The blade should be tilted away from the fence, not towards the fence, mine can't even do that.

Another reason to put the fence on the left

3. lower the blade so it just clear the top surface. The blade is way too high in the diagram.

Noted - Just a quick Sketchup image.

4. featherboard on the left to push the work piece against the fence.

Noted.

5. I would not use the blade guard or the riving knife. But use the push stick made from 45 mm thick material as in the video, the push stick will cover the any expose blade entirely, sitting on top of the work piece as you push the piece through. Your hands would not be anywhere near the cutting area. The saw will cut a shallow grove on the push stick, but that's alright.

I thought if I suggested not having a guard on, someone would (rightly) tell me off. I thought that the splitter was meant to stop the cut closing up and kicking back?

I'll track down a ripping blade and do a few tests. Thanks for the feed back.

Hi geoff

By right and left, I think you mean this,



the normal rule for ripping is to avoid trapping the off cut between the blade and the fence

Don't remove the riving knife or splitter -- if you do you are just asking for kick-back

keep the guard on -- use an auxiliary fence to avoid the guard hitting the fence. the auxiliary fence should end before the back of the blade

YES - use a push stick and feather boards

I was taught to always use the maximum blade height, unless there were good reasons not to. The reason given was that at maximum height the blade is cutting down rather than along, and at the back of the cut, the blade is going mostly up, not along the cut. (I'll try and draw a diagram)

You're right Ian! I should have mirrored the original diagram, not just viewed it from the other side.
Fence on the left seems to meet the necessary criteria.

fence on left -- as in my diagram -- results in the off cut being trapped between the blade, the table and the fence

sketch of auxiliary fence

Originally Posted by ian

I was taught to always use the maximum blade height, unless there were good reasons not to. The reason given was that at maximum height the blade is cutting down rather than along, and at the back of the cut, the blade is going mostly up, not along the cut. (I'll try and draw a diagram)

here is the diagram of why a table saw's blade should be as set as high as possible

If you set the blade at maximum height, then you will definitely need the blade guide and riving knife, and Jason Bates's push stick can't be used either. I learnt from the Trition days that you always set your blade to slightly above the work piece to get the best finish and maximum safety. Downward cut, forward cut wouldn't matter in the instance of a 20 mm thick work piece. I would argue that cutting at minimum blade height of 20+ mm you don't need the guard and there won't be any kick back because the blade is hardly protruding past the work piece and it allow you to use the Jason Bates push stick which acts as a mobile saw guard anyway and you will have maximum control over the work piece. Kick back even without a riving knife will be minimized if the blade height is only 21 mm and that's why you can do it with the guard and riving knife off. Tilting the blade at 45 deg at full height is quite dangerous even with the guard on in my view, because a lot of guard don't work properly at that angle. Anyhow I just think you have to either keep your fingers and arms well away from the space occupied by the saw blade or reduce the space that a saw blade is in the open. The suggested method is from my own experience and seems to work but I admit that other might disagree and I am always open to learn new ways of doing things.

I very disagree

I learnt from the Trition days that you always set your blade to slightly above the work piece to get the best finish and maximum safety.

Best finish, yes. Maximum safety, nooooooo

I would argue that cutting at minimum blade height of 20+ mm you don't need the guard and there won't be any kick back.

You ALWAYS need the guard and, given the position of the blade and the way it rotates, it's probably MORE likely to throw something back at you.

Kick back even without a riving knife..

Why are we running a saw without a riving knife?