Smooth-cutting rip blade burns cherry

[Howard Acheson]

The only way I can get it to not burn, and this is not foolproof, is to push the board *much* faster than I did when using the combo blade

Decicated rip blades are designed to cut faster. The deeper gullets remove sawdust a lot faster.

Here is some info from Freud about the height of the blade.

QUOTE
I feel this one has been rehashed a few times but I must interject again that if you are using the correct Freud blade for the application, the blade should be set so that 1/2 of a tooth is protruding through the material. So, if you are cutting 3" thick material with a 10" blade, the blade would be at full height. The idea is to have 3-5 teeth in the cut when ripping and 5-7 for crosscut and manmade materials. If you cannot acheive this and keep the blade at 1/2 tooth height, you have the wrong blade for the application.

------------------
Charles M
Freud, Inc.
CLOSE QUOTE

[Dennis McDonaugh]

Its been my experience that all smooth cutting blades burn more than rougher blades. Cherry and maple are particularly bad. Kinda goes with the territory because they physics that make them cut smoothly also make them likely to burn because they contact the wood longer.

[Steve Clardy]

I never run over 40 tooth blades, and Cherry still burns where I hesitate, changing hands, etc.
Hard maples about as bad.

[CPeter James]

I use an oak splitter that is 0.130" with a Ridge Carbide blade or a Forrest WWII that are 0.125". The splitter is centered on the blade. It opens up the cut just a little and it seems to help. I use a lot of red oak and like maple and cherry, it is prone to burning.

CPeter

[Jules Dominguez]

Gee, Howie, you're a real silver-tongued rascal. My methods are gross, are they? Actually, I hadn't set out to align the saw, I was just making a quick check to see if the fence was forcing the wood against the blade on the way out, and I don't think it was, based on my "gross" measurement. After reading all the responses in this thread, I'll stand on my last post - the problem is ripping cherry with a smooth-cut blade.

And thanks for the alignment tip. I like them "low-tech and practical".

[Greg Mann]

Gee, Howie, you're a real silver-tongued rascal. My methods are gross, are they? Actually, I hadn't set out to align the saw, I was just making a quick check to see if the fence was forcing the wood against the blade on the way out, and I don't think it was, based on my "gross" measurement. After reading all the responses in this thread, I'll stand on my last post - the problem is ripping cherry with a smooth-cut blade.

And thanks for the alignment tip. I like them "low-tech and practical".

The easiest way to tell if the blade is burning when cutting or trailing is to look at the pattern to see which way the arcs match up. If it is burning when initially cutting, the alignment of the fence is not the culprit. If it is burning as it passes the trailing edge then it certainly could be fence alignment that is contributing. Ultimately, perfect alignment may still not solve the problem. Those woods that burn easily need more clearance gound behind the cutting edge, which will tend to leave a little more evidence of the saw cut. But even here, very true running blades with more clearance can produce smooth, uniform surfaces without producing the heat that results in the burn. My guess is that many combo blades have more relief in their grinds, resulting in less burn. If they are running true on a stable arbor they can also provide stunning finishes, and, since they cut more freely with less heat, they will allow us to feed slower and still get away with it. When we search for the holy grail in a glueline rip, manufacturers try to give it to us by altering the grind with flatter sides on the teeth. This gives us a wiping action, but, with more carbide in contact with the cut surface, we get more heat. It starts to produce the same kind of frustration we feel when we don't know whether we should use a longer or shorter club to get on the green. Since I see more books about golf than woodworking I suspect no one has a foolproof system to answer that question either.

Greg

[Chris Padilla]

Assuming everything is good and sharp and blade is parallel to the fence, I've always gotten less burning by pushing the wood thorugh the blade faster. A good dedicated 24-tooth ripping blade does the trick. I use CMT for all my TS blades.

If I have burning on the first rip, I'll push the wood harder next time and I normally have no problems after that.