Saw blade advice

[crump]

Hello. I am attempting to rip some 38mm beech boards. My table saw does not like it. At a painfully slow rate of feed I can just about advance the work without the motor laboring but the cremated dust generated and attendant fumes are making the exercise somewhat tedious. I am using 1.5 hp table saw with a 24 tooth !0" tct blade (a little old now but tip inspection to my admittedly untrained eye does not reveal major signs of wear). I have checked the fence is parallel to the blade and cleaned residue from the blade teeth. using wedges in the kerf does not help. Most of my work has been with soft wood although I have used the saw to rip hardwoods (not beech) in the past without undue difficulty.

Would you suggest a new blade and if so what? Is my table saw up to the task?

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[carlb40]

TCT blades can be deceptive. While they may look and feel sharp to our eyes and fingers. They will not be sharp enough to cut timber properly. I would either get it sharpened professionally and/or get a new blade. I have had good results in the past with Freud blades.
Another thing, i would not wedge the timber open on a TS. If you get kickback from the saw , you then have 2 pieces of timber to contend with :shock:
The riving knife is designed to do that.
Your fence, is it full length? or the short ( safer) type? The full length type doesn't allow timber once past the blade to open up naturally and help with cutting.

 

[Steve Maskery]

The first step is to ensure the blade is sharp. There are saw doctors all over the place who will do it for a few pounds. 24T on 10" dia is about right.
If you want to buy a new blade contact Doug Perry at Cutting Solutions. He is a member on here and supplies good blades at very fair prices.
S

 

[crump]

Many thanks to both Steve and carlb40 for the input. To respond to the question about fence length, it is the shorter type. I was interested in your comment about the effect the longer fence has on the timber once past the blade though. The wedge was used judiciously I hope, as the riving knife I suspect needs to be thicker for the particular blade I have been using.

I think I will go the new blade route and hopefully speed things up.

On the blade doctor front, my planer blades need some attention. A search for a local company here in deepest Kent has not so far produced any results, although there must be several. Are the ones that offer postal services reliable and do you have any recommendations?

Once again my thanks to you both.

 

[carlb40]

Strange thing is i get no results for a saw doctor in birmingham aswell :?

There is someone offering a sharpening service on ebay, but i have not used them.

 

[Steve Maskery]

I can't believe there is no saw doctor in Birmingham! It's the industrial heart of the country.
As for Kent, why not drop Simon Oryx a PM and ask him where he gets his done? He is in Staplehurst.

And another thing. Why are they called saw doctors? They fix teeth and should be called saw dentists, surely?

For planer blades you can do a very good job yourself with my fantastic super-dooper jig!
Linky.
It really is excellent (but you'd expect nothing less, would you?)
S

 

[carlb40]

I did do a search but nothing popped up. As to that jig, i did link to it in another thread. Plus i knocked one up yesterday for my planer knives. Which are now sharp again. Will be trying out the results later in the week

Big thanks steve

 

[Steve Maskery]

Just send a cheque...

 

[crump]

Thank you Steve. I shall make the inquiry but will definitely make your jig. I have two spare (unsharpened) sets so this would definitely be a worthwhile excercise.

 

[joiner_sim]

With reference to saw doctors in Birmingham.......

http://www.cuttingtoolsolutions.co.uk/index.html

Precise saws, birimingham. We used to use these guys loads when I worked in brum.

http://www.gerrymet.co.uk/

Gerrymet, we use these now im working up in Staffordshire. But also know they serve Birmingham and stourbridge areas.

 

[carlb40]

With reference to saw doctors in Birmingham.......

http://www.cuttingtoolsolutions.co.uk/index.html

Precise saws, birimingham. We used to use these guys loads when I worked in brum.

http://www.gerrymet.co.uk/

Gerrymet, we use these now im working up in Staffordshire. But also know they serve Birmingham and stourbridge areas.

Cheers.

I was working up in staffs most of last year, and prob be back up there later this year when work picks up again.

 

[Myfordman]

I've found that the term saw doctor does not work too well in online directories.
Try sharpening services instead.
The other way is to call in on other local small woodworking firms and see who they use.
Quite often the saw doctors call round in a van once a week collecting and returning jobs to the workshops. A friendly place might even offer to add your blades to theirs next time they have some to do.

 

[Togalosh]

Precise saws, birimingham. We used to use these guys loads when I worked in brum.

.

..didn't they have nice looking women doing the collections & drop offs.. & do a topless calandar ?

Good ol' fashioned marketing.

 

[BTR]

Hi mate i get my blades sharpened from a precise saws up in Deykin avenue in aston just off electric avenue they offer a very good service and there sharpening is top notch they do all sort's of blades etc.

 

[joiner_sim]

Not sure about nice looking women doing the pick ups? All we ever got was an old man! But yes cant go wrong with a topless calender..... Gets put up on the wall and they become your first port of call!