Too much from Proshop TS?

[John Yogus]

I have a Jet Proshop. I have no problems with 4/4 oak or maple. I have no experience with 8/4 stock at all. I have some cutting boards on the menu and wanted to get started tonite. I milled an 8/4 hard maple board as usual, then went to rip to final width on the TS. It didn't like it very much. Sounded very underpowered and bogged down for the task. Burned it pretty good as well (I know maple has a tendancy for this. I usually don't have this issue with 4/4). Rather than push it, I closed up shop until I get some feedback on this one. Am I asking too much from my saw or is there another issue I have to deal with to get it correct? As a sidenote, I just cleaned my blade (Freud Premier Fusion) about a week ago. I also double checked my setup. My blade is ~.001 out and I have my fence toed out ~.002.

[keith micinski]

I used to cut 8/4 with an old craftsman 1950's saw with a 3/4 horse motor and completely out of adjustment without problem. If that saw could cut it anything could. I wonder if your setup tools are off because it sounds more like a misalignment issue then a power issue.

[Bruce Page]

I never rip to final width, I always leave the board a little fat and come back to final width with a nice slow & even feed rate.
Your Jet Proshop with 1 1/2 - 1 3/4 hp should be up to the task.

[Clarence Miller]

Chances are you are over powering it a bit but the Unisaw at the plant where I work bogs down on 8/4 oak and maple. Check and make sure the blade 90 degrees on the table, that you blade is parallel with the miter gauge slot and you fence is parallel to both. You may have to slow the feed rate down and deal with the burn marks later. Cut it over sized by 1/16 and either recut it on the ts or mill it on a jointer or planer taking 1/32 off each side.

[glenn bradley]

With no offense intended to the 'one-blade-does-it-all' folks, a 40 tooth blade would not be my go-to blade for ripping 8/4 stock. I run a Freud 24T thin kerf and get great rips on my 1-3/4HP hybrid. Burning can be a problem with maple so fewer teeth and a good alignment of the blade to fence relationship can help assure success.

As with any ripping operation a splitter of some sort should be in play. I also get my material as close to final length before I perform most milling tasks as this minimizes any irregularities along the reference face. That is, if I want a pair of 18" boards, I wouldn't rip a 38" board and then cross cut. I would crosscut to 18-1/2" or so and then rip.

[Clarence Miller]

Excellent point Glenn, I completely over looked that potential problem. Tooth count and hook angle could be the silver bullet

[John Yogus]

Thanks to all replies. Good idea on blade. I've gotten by with my results so far, but it's all been on 4/4. If I'm going to start using thicker stock, it may be time to add another blade.

[Bas Pluim]

I have a JET ProShop, and never had any power issues.. Like Glenn, for 8/4 maple, I use a 24T Freud thin kerf ripping blade with great success. For everything else (including hard maple up to 6/4), I use a 60T Freud LU88R010 (also thin kerf). I suggest you try a different blade first, the combination of tooth count & lumber is probably too much.

And make sure you don't have the blade installed backward....

[Jeff Mackay]

I also agree that a rip blade would probably give you better results. Alignment looks good, you may also want to send your blade away for sharpening.

[Michael Schwartz]

With anything less than a 3hp motor you should expect to have to use a rip blade for 8/4 stock, especially if it is rough. Saws with 3, and 5hp motors that are properly aligned can power through 8/4 stock with a combination blade.

Make sure your table/fence are properly aligned as well. If the fence is pinching the work against the back of the blade that will cause problems. Of course use a sharp blade, and if you have used it for a few projects try cleaning it with citrus cleaner.

[Chip Lindley]

Hard maple and hickory, especially, seem to take a TS to task like no other domestic woods! They are very dense and ripping 8/4 stock means you have twice as many teeth in the stock at any given time. Also, a semi-dull blade really bogs down. A 1.5hp saw just does not have the butt to power it's way through. For greater success, use a true rip blade, or sharpen your present blade. Raise the blade higher, for a more acute angle of attack. Minimize burning by pushing the feed rate to the max, just short of the saw bogging down.

[Dave Gaul]

+ another 1 on the blade selection! I also use the Freud Avanti 24t ripping blade. With this blade on my R4511 TS I can rip whatever the heck I want to!

[Prashun Patel]

I have a Jet Proshop. Works fine on thicker stock with a ripping blade. Even the Oldhams from HD are fine.

In fact, I've been able to go through 3" walnut with this.

Make sure your splitter's properly aligned...

[scott spencer]

If the saw is aligned well, and the lumber is straight and flat, your saw should handle 8/4" maple with a decent 24T FTG thin kerf ripping blade, but asking the Fusion to rip that is really a worst case scenario and is asking too much with that saw.

Most 40T blades won't handle 8/4" maple very well with a 1-3/4hp motor (especially hard maple), but the original Fusion was a full kerf which is even worse for this situation, and only just recently came out with a thin kerf option. But even the TK version may not do well because the Fusion uses such a low side clearance combined with a dual side grind, which gives a very highly polished edge, which makes it even more prone to burning. Too many teeth, too much contact with the teeth, too little power, too much burn-prone material.

Try a blade like the Freud LU87R010, Infinity 010-124, DW7124PT, or the CMT 202.024.10.

[Prashun Patel]

On the Proshop with 8/4, don't try to get cute and look for a blade that'll give you a glueline cut. The best you can hope for is a muscle blade at 24-30t that gives you a straight cut that'll likely need to be jointed after.