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The only time I have the blade raised to it's full height is when I am cutting a piece away from a larger piece so there's less loss at the intersection of the cuts. I do this in order to preserve the lengths of a board (or plywood) rather than be left with a bunch of shorter pieces (have I written this so it can be understood?).
Carry on, regardless.
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Not sure I follow--are you saying the kerf is narrower with the blade set higher?Originally Posted by Robert Mahon
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not narrower, just that the excess undercut at the end is shorter.
The opinion of 10,000 men is of no value if none of them know anything about the subject.
- Marcus Aurelius ---------------------------------------- ------------- [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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Higher blade does help reduce splintery tearout on woods prone to that. I was (cross)cutting ipe yesterday and had to raise the blade to avoid such since ipe has a lot of fine splinters.
In Memoriam
In one of books about table saw the author is saying:
"When the blade is high, the cut is at its cleanest and most efficient"
I visited one of the shops (well, looks more like a factory) that they are cutting plywood, melamine and MDF sheets with 3 big sliders and they are running with the blade at full height.
When I asked why, he told me..."we are cutting here non-stop...if the blade is low the feed is slower and the blade may overheat and can deform but, when we are cutting 1/4" or thinner material, we use low blade because the material tend to vibrate up-down after it passes the blade"
I'm setting very high blade but I also use the guard and other devices to keep my hands far away from the blade...
I noticed that when I'm cutting 1¼" white Oak, the feed is easier and faster when the blade is at full height...but, I'm not an expert, just my impression...
niki
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Fact is; the higher the blade is raised, the less of it is actually in the wood. Benefits of this are (1) less chance of a kickback because the blade pushes more down than back to you, (2) Less heat is generated, (3) cleaner cuts when cutting things like Plywood, MDF and Melamine surfaced materials, (4) shorter kerf/less waste on the underside of a piece when cutting a smaller piece from it.
I'm confident there are probably more benefits but that 3 HP Veg-o-matic spinning at 4,000 RPM scares the beJesus outa me and I like to have it nicely tucked away when I'm near it. In truth, I never have the blade exposed when the saw is not being used.
It's not being paranoid. That thing really is out to get us.
Carry on, regardless.
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