Recommended tooth count for rips in pine and poplar

[Ray Frederick]

I have a variety of blades that work great for my work in oak, sapele, teak, etc.. however, I do a bunch of pine and poplar work (including preprimed finger jointed pine ).

i seem to get fuzzy edges or saw marks with these even with feather boards or the power feed (though the power feed helps some). I'm using a Shopsmith , contractor's saw, or portable table saw primarily depending on location or task. I try to use smaller blades like 7 1/4" or 8" to reduce load on the machines though willing to use 10" as well. Trying to find an ideal tooth count for the pine work to get a smoother edge.

i have a stationary belt sander, disc sander, jointer, etc.. To clean edges just would prefer to get a better cut coming off the saw.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Ray, I think the problem is your saw.

With a 24 tooth rip blade and a stock feeder I get rips without saw marks (actually they're there, it's just that they're perfectly consistent and so small you can't see them).

I suspect that your saw has some wobble or flexing during the cut............Regards, Rod.

[Lee Schierer]

For ripping, I use a 24 tooth blade on my 10" saw. Pine and poplar rip pretty easily so use a 10 inch blade if it fits your saws. To eliminate the fuzz you need a zero clearance insert for your saw. Generally these are home made, though there are commercial versions available for some saws. The saw marks are caused by misalignment between your blade and your rip fence. You need to align your blade first to the miter slot and then align the fence to the blade. Procedures vary according to the model of your saw. You can purchase a cheap dial indicator from Harbor freight that you can mount to your miter gauge with a few screws and a piece of wood that makes the alignment process more accurate.

[glenn bradley]

20 to 30 teeth are common for a 10" ripping blade which is what most of us are familiar with. With smaller blades the plate is thinner so wobble becomes more of a factor. If you do a quick check on your saw to confirm that arbor run out is not working against you, a set of blade stabilizers could improve your cut quality.

Like Rod, I get very nice results with a rip blade on a well aligned machine:

beech (7).jpg

Confirm if the saw is wobbling at the arbor, there is no way to fix that with a blade and it will be a waste to throw money at it in the form of a new cutter.

[Jim Becker]

I regularly rip both poplar and pine...using my normal 40t Forrest WW-II blades unless it's thick stock. I get no fuzziness unless the blade is due for sharpening. Like the others, I'll agree that it may not be the blade if you are using a quality, sharp blade. It may be the saws you are using. Jobsite saws are not known for accuracy. A contractors' style saw can be aligned and if the arbor is true, you should be getting a quality cut with a good, sharp blade. I can't comment on the ShopSmith as I'm not familiar with their characteristics other than the table saw function is somewhat small from a support perspective. The fence alignment can also play a factor here as well as how smoothly you can move the material through the cut.

[Ray Frederick]

Thanks for the input , on the contractors saw and Shopsmith runout and fence alignment are not an issue (jobsite saws are what they are ). With the stock feeder I get no saw marks with poplar , it is mostly the fuzz on the pine that has been problematic.

As I work with a lot of teak , oak, in 2" or more thickness I use the smaller blades and they cut in those woods fine

I have several zero clearance inserts I've made though I will admit I am slack on using them as I leave a 1/2" or so insert in mostly since I switch between small dadoes , bevels, and straight cuts a lot.

I think a new blade (my rip blades are worn , several thousand feet of lumber on all of them) and putting the insert in should do the trick.