Torn up about my rips


Lee Bussy

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A recent discussion on an apparently curved Bessie made me stop and consider my own issues with the table saw.   I have a Rigid R4510 jobsite saw.  I have been getting inconsistent rips and am wondering if there are things I may be missing.  These rips are to the point where I get as much as 1/16” off over 36”.  Like I set the rip for 3-1/16” and it ends up 3” wide in the middle.  Sometimes all over the place.

For those not familiar with the saw it has an extruded aluminum fence, at most 24” long.   This last time I was ripping plywood the long way.  I do not have an infeed or outfeed table so my form was likely not perfect, but I tried really hard to make sure the board is up against the fence hard.  I leave the riving knife in for most things so I’m thinking that should add some "leverage" to keep the cuts from going kerflooey.  I squared the blade and made sure the fence was square to the blade as well.  Basically I went through all the adjustments in the manual to make sure things are right.

This is all air guitar; I’m at work so I can’t go look at it, but I was just hoping to have a discussion on the list of things I should check.  I imagine most of them are with me … and that sort of feedback is gratefully accepted as well.  Surely this is “one of those things” that you have newer folks ask often?

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Probably depends your feed rate. Have you tried slowing the feed rate and see if it makes any difference.

Not intentionally.  Wouldn't that suggest I was pushing it wring somehow thought?  Like when I go fast I veer right or whatever?

Are you sure the riving knife is perfectly in line with the blade? If it is proud to the not fence side,  I could see it levering the back end of the cut out.

That's an interesting thought.  I adjusted it but by eye only.  I guess I can take it out (cutting dry plywood) and see if my rips improve.

Edited by LBussy
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Not intentionally.  Wouldn't that suggest I was pushing it wring somehow thought?  Like when I go fast I veer right or whatever?

That's an interesting thought.  I adjusted it but by eye only.  I guess I can take it out (cutting dry plywood) and see if my rips improve.

when I ran a splitter, I would adjust it by using a steel rule laid on the table up the edge on two teeth. Push it forward and back.  If it hits the riving knife,  you'll know. 

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My thought was that if your feeding faster than the blade could cut that it may start putting pressure on the blade and cause flex. 

I see.  Well it's worth a shot.  There's no sense in being fast and bad. :)

when I ran a splitter, I would adjust it by using a steel rule laid on the table up the edge on two teeth. Push it forward and back.  If it hits the riving knife,  you'll know. 

Aha, good idea.  I'll give that a try.

I'm here till midnight so it will have to wait.  If anyone else is in Health Care you will know why I'm here so late. :)

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I would start from scratch. Check the blade being square to the table. Check the blade being square to miter slot (then double check it). Check fence is at 90 deg to table throughout its length. Check the fence being lined up with the same miter slot you checked the blade with (do that twice). Then (carefully) rip a few pieces with the splitter removed and check them with a caliper. Then put the splitter in and do a few more rips and check with caliper. if you are still getting inconsistent rips, buy a new blade.

One other thing to check is a warped fence. Don't trust the miter slot, put a strait edge along the length of the fence and look for gaps.

Edited by Janello
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What is the table made of?  Aluminum?

Seems that way, or some kind of alloy.  It's coated too so it does slide nicely, just not horribly magnetic. :)

Are you concentrating so much on keeping it against the fence that the fence is flexing?

Hey I'm the one begging for advice so I won't discount that.  It seems unlikely though.  The fence is very short, is extruded aluminum so pretty rigid, and sort of wedges at the front and back.  I do check the front and rear of the blade against the fence for alignment when I cut but so far it's actually done a good job of locking straight.

I'm not sure how I would test that ... ?

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Perhaps your fence is moving/flexing during the cut? I have a Delta contractor saw with the iron extension wings. My fence portion behind the blade if you will, as I push the piece through, I keep pressure on the fence thus causing the fence to flex while exiting the cut. So what I do to eliminate this is place 2 strong magnets (or clamp a caul) on the table next to the end of the fence to prevent flexing.

Also on long rip cuts I attach a straight edge or better put a 6' steel level clamped to my fence to keep things square while exiting my cuts.

-Ace- 

 

 

Edited by AceHoleInOne
had another thought....heheheh
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  • 2 weeks later...

With ply, the tendency is to push to the right against the fence with your left hand and push the wood thru the blade with your right. On the cuts that you're having problems with, it sounds like you're letting the board come away from the fence mid way thru your cut. Try putting your push stick farther to the left on your board, thus keeping the board tighter against the fence.

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