Oak burns, perplexed!

[Aggrajag]

On Tuesday I made, amongst other things, a horse shoe & horse, and a Lion King ornament, both from 20mm oak using Olson PGT reverse #5 blades, detailed in places, using my usual masking tape setup and had no burns, even on tight turns.

Today I'm using the same wood, the same setup, the same type of blade and even on gentle turns I'm getting scorch marks! I've even held back to tedious slow speed and it's still doing it. What gives?

 

[novocaine]

blade the right way up?

moisture levels in the timber maybe.

burns are normally due to not being able to clear the teeth of sawdust.

 

[Aggrajag]

Yep blade(s) correct and the exact same piece of wood. Ambient temperature very similar. Just again had a burn on the mildest turn ever. Utterly baffled.

 

[Aggrajag]

Well it's the blade. I've changed again and this 3rd one (on this job) is like a knife through butter in comparison. Checked the teeth, definitely the same blade. Wonder if the first 2 were a bad batch?