Evening out plywood rip cuts

[Stephen McBride]

Still working on running long pieces as well as sheets through the table saw completely straight. I get a little wiggle as it goes through. As you can see in the pic, still practicing and learning as you can tell by the burn marks. 2 HP Shop Fox cabinet saw with stock fence, 10" Forrest WWII blade, first project it's been used on.

Working with 5'x5' Baltic Birch sheets for a project, ran through at 16" to then rip down to 2.5" strips with the smaller sheet. Still got a little movement running it through as seen in the pic below after I cut the rips down to size for some shaker rail and stiles.

IMG_2311.jpg

What's the proper way to even these out? Run through the table saw again at a slightly narrower size? Plane them even?

[Cameron Wood]

Check to see if the fence is straight and flat. Check that the fence is parallel to the blade. Flatten and polish the aluminum fence as needed or add wood that is flat to the fence . Polish the saw table with #220 wet/dry sandpaper on a block, & coat everything with paste wax.

To clean up the plywood edges maybe clamp together and belt sand flush.

[Stephen McBride]

Fence is parallel, blade is straight. Haven’t adjusted fence height. Also cleaned the table and waxed it after the first few rips, definitely easier after.

I think it’s mainly in technique which I’ll get the hang of over time.

[Bradley Gray]

Are you using a splitter or a riving knife?

[Warren Lake]

stand at the back left corner when you feed, left hand on left side and right hand on the back, not the right side like you see some do on you tubes. If you stand in the right place and position is bit related to the size of what you are ripping then walk foot over foot you can feel that you are tight on the fence. I have a longer than stock fence and may make it a bit easier. You can feel that you are tight to the fence if you are standing in the right positiion.

[Richard Coers]

You better buy a power feeder, because your present technique and setup will never work for building furniture. I'd suggest you need more support tables around the saw.

[Chris Schoenthal]

I got the JessEm Clear-cut stock guides and not only have the rips come out better, but it just feels safer.
They pull the sheet close to the fence and help prevent any kickback.

[Lee Schierer]

Based on the amount of burn marks on your cuts, your saw is not as well aligned as it could be. It could be your fence is flxing from applying too much pressure.

When I make rip cuts on my TS I generally use my feather boards. They mount on my fence and have a small sandpaper covered roller that presses down on the piece being cut. The roller is angled slightly so it constantly pulls the piece toward the fence.

A suggestion: If you need a bunch of pieces of the same width cut from a large sheet, cut them slightly over size (maybe one saw cut over). Then once they are all cut adjust your fence to trim off just a bit from one side, Run all the pieces, one at a time through the saw. Then adjust the fence again to the final dimension and run them through the saw again this time cutting the other side. Use a feather board in front of the blade and one behind.

[James Jayko]

+1 for the Jess-Em stock guides. Makes life much easier.

[lou Brava]

I agree with Jess-em stock guides, but 1st get your saw/technique down. You should be able rip those parts down to almost perfect with out any guide or feather board. I'm surprised at how "off" those small parts are. Check out Fine woodworking web site & if they have any table saw instruction read it or watch it. That saw & blade are probably not the problem, let the saw do the work & don't rush things.
Good luck & stay safe !

[lou Brava]

Or try this, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNKqNFnWQPs

[glenn bradley]

Fence is parallel, blade is straight. Haven’t adjusted fence height. Also cleaned the table and waxed it after the first few rips, definitely easier after.

I think it’s mainly in technique which I’ll get the hang of over time.

I have some operations that take an extra step due to what I have on hand to perform the task. Maybe cutting the strips 1/16" wide and then making another run with the thinner, lighter board and using feather boards could help you get closer to start with(?). These are in use on a router table but it was the pic I found first ;-)

Dado Jig 2.0 (1).jpg

[John Kananis]

Each one of those looks off by the same amount on each opposite side... meaning something is really wrong. Re-align everything and start from scratch. Also, running a 5x5 piece of ply through the saw isn't fun. Rip it down the middle first - 2.5' wide piece is much, much easier to handle.

If it really was technique, you would have more severe burn marks and mistakes don't repeat themselves precisely and in straight lines.

[John TenEyck]

Those really dark saw burn marks are from poor technique, like stopping during the cut. Either that or your saw has a harmonic that makes the blade flutter. The variable widths is another sign of poor technique. Practice keeping the stock tight to the fence. Make sure your splitter or riving knife isn't pushing/pulling the wood in relationship to the fence.

And when you get it all figured out, consider buying a better blade for plywood. 40 teeth on that blade will leave a poor surface no matter how well aligned compared to a blade with something in the 80 tooth range specifically made for plywood. I get beautiful clean cuts in Baltic birch with the Freud LU80R010 Ultimate Plywood and Melamine blade. At less than $100 it's a very good deal.

John

[Patty Hann]

....

A suggestion: If you need a bunch of pieces of the same width cut from a large sheet, cut them slightly over size (maybe one saw cut over). Then once they are all cut adjust your fence to trim off just a bit from one side, Run all the pieces, one at a time through the saw. Then adjust the fence again to the final dimension and run them through the saw again this time cutting the other side. Use a feather board in front of the blade and one behind.

I do it this way ^^^^... all the pieces come out identically flat/smooth. Even running my finger over the "seams" (when stacked against each other) it's all smooth