minimum waste on table saw cut?

[skeetstar]

Folks just a quick question - on the basis that there is no such thing as a stupid question.

Example, I have a piece of stock measuring 21mm that I want to cut down to 20mm, The kerf width on my blade is 2.5mm, so using the table saw means that the blade has no timber on the waste side. Is this good practice, or does the blade need 'meat' on both sides to balance it or whatever? Issue is, I guess, would I be damaging the saw by repeated use of such a technique?

Thanks in anticipation.

 

[custard]

Depends on your saw. If it's a beefy, double trunnion professional machine then provided you don't make a habit of it and blunt one side of your teeth, no problems. Otherwise best avoided.

 

[marcros]

Ripping 1mm off a piece 20mm wide on a table saw is best avoided.

 

[woodbrains]

Hello,

I can't say I've never done it once or twice, but it is not best practice. It is not just that regularly doing so will blunt one side of the sawblade faster than the other, but the blade is in balance when both edges engage in the cut. Using only one side sets up vibrations and the blade flutters a little, so the cut is noisier and not as smooth. Also, dust extraction is compromised, believe it or not. 1mm is planeable, surely.

Mike.

 

[skeetstar]

Thanks all, yep, 1mm is planeable, and that is probably what I would do, but I have seen the technique used, mostly by our colonial brethren on their YouTube 'How To' videos. I would have thought that do this continually might have some malign impact on the saw. Never thought of blunting one side of the saw though, thanks again

 

[Dee J]

It depends on the wood, and the saw, and you. Less challenging wood (ie soft,. and well below the saw capacity), moderately capable saw (sharp enough, powerful enough), and you (careful, controlling a slow steady feed rate) then you'll never notice any ill effect. If you force large pieces of tough challenging wood quickly on a flimsy blunt saw then the results, tools and timber will suffer. Apply skill and judgement.

 

[RobinBHM]

If it a piece 75mm thick then no!

If only say 20mm thick or so then ok, but not best practice.

The problem is that it is likely to cause the blade to deflect reducing accuracy. feeding gently and a sharp blade will probably be fine. It will cause the blade to wear unevenly so best not done on a few 100 metres!

 

[dkaardal]

Coming from the colonies myself and having a decent cabinet saw... yes, I'd not hesitate to do this. If it was all I was ever doing with my saw then I might worry about blade wear... but I'd not give it any thought at all if I was just doing it for a few meters here and there.

When I say cabinet saw, I mean something like a delta unisaw, a sawstop, a wadkin (most any sort)... where the whole assembly that holds the blade and motor (the trunnions) is/are attached to the cabinet, not the underside of the cast iron table.

heh - if trimming a little bit off the side of a board worries you though, you should see how we cut coves on our table saws!

 

[sunnybob]

no problem if done slowly.
Pushing too hard will deflect the blade to the side with least resistance and bow the blade. Move slowly and allow the blade to cut in its own time and I dont see much of a problem there.
I often trim wood on my bandaw. The blade moves instantly if I apply too much pressure, so its a good learning tool.

 

[meccarroll]

Why not ask for technical help from the saw blade manufacturer that made your saw blade.

There are a lot of different ways to grind and profile a saw blade tip and you may find some tip profiles more troublesome than others for trimming small amounts from one side of the blade. For example there is Positive hook, negative hook, ATB Alternate Top Bevel, Triple Chip, etc. I tend to think it is best to use a saw blade for the purpose it is designed.

Mark

 

[Orraloon]

As others have said you can do it at a slow feed rate but the blade needs to be sharp.
Other options are router table or even a hand plane.
Regards
John

 

[Bodgers]

Do you have a planer? That would be the right tool.

You could do this in a couple of passes shaving off 0.5mm at a time on the tablesaw, though. That would reduce potential deflection. I've done these kind of light passes quite a bit as a sort of initial planing to save the planer effort, then a final pass in the planer.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Jacob]

No problem as long as you can hold it and feed it through securely.
Except very thin offcuts can get stuck down the slot so you have to watch out for this, or make up a no clearance insert - a bit of mdf on top will do, you don't have to replace the actual insert.