Contractor Saw under powered for walnut?

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decibel

New User
Patrick
I have the ridgid tablesaw 3650 contractor saw and I'm ripping down some 4/4 walnut for glue ups. I'm using the WWII blade and the saw just doesn't seem happy. I feel if I try to feed any faster I might bog the motor (even more) but at this slow of a feed rate it's burning. I've tried a dedicated rip blade (albiet cheap borg freud rip blade) and it seems worse.

This is my first time really cutting down "real" wood. It seems that is' hard to feed at times then it gets going pretty well and may bog again later in the cut (natural tension in the wood?)

I would think a 1.5 horse motor could handle 4/4 walnut rather easily or am I having unrelastic expectations? If it's this unhappy with walnut I'd hate to see when I start ripping hickory and oak :(
 

Mike Davis

Mike
Corporate Member
Sounds like the blade is not aligned with the table and fence.

There are several threads on here about blade and fence alignment.

Also you said sometimes it goes along OK?

Maybe a splitter would help.
 

Travis Porter

Travis
Corporate Member
I second Mike's comment. Your blade and fence are not aligned. Are you using a splitter or factory guard? Make sure it is aligned as well.

Lastly, is the wood closing up as you rip? If that is the case, a splitter might help if you are not using one.
 

decibel

New User
Patrick
I'll check the blade alignment. I am using the factory splitter/blade guard. To give a little more context I am ripping down rough sawn boards after I"ve edge and face jointed one side. So part of the cut may be taking off just a sliver and other parts a little more It seems the harder feed does come more when it's not cutting that much to really even engage the splittler (just takeing off paper thing strips)

So maybe I should be taking off more? First to dobule check the alignment. I did a quick check last night and it looked ok but didn't not check the splitter alignment to the blade.
 

Ken Massingale

New User
Ken
I'll third Mike and Travis. I have the 3650 and rip much thicker Walnut/Maple etc. with no hesitation, using a Freud Fusion combo blade. Same with a WWII blade. I use a MJ splitter and check the fence alighment periodically, although it has held dead on for several years.
If you aren't using a splitter, please for safety's sake, start doing so and make sure it's thickness matches your blade.

Edit: I just saw we posted at the same time. The OEM splitter is for the thin kerf blade that comes with the saw. Is your Freud rip blade full kerf by chance?
 

timf67

New User
Tim
I have a 1.5HP table saw as well, and when I use a good blade like the WWII it cuts 4/4 walnut, cherry and hard maple like butter. I have also cut 8/4 maple, birch, walnut, and oak with it with little to no burn. I think Mike is on to your problem with the blade alignment. If the back end of your blade is even a hair closer to the fence than the front, you will pinch the wood with the back end of the blade which will cause it to bog down and burn.
 

decibel

New User
Patrick
Ken: You have a point my blades are all full kerf...... gharrr that probably explains it didn't realize the OEM splitter was thin kerf.
 

timf67

New User
Tim
Ken: You have a point my blades are all full kerf...... gharrr that probably explains it didn't realize the OEM splitter was thin kerf.

Just remember that the splitter will only help your problem if the lumber is under tension and is pinching onto itself while you are cutting. The splitter is only designed to keep the wood from sqeezing back onto the blade it won't help if your fence is closer to the back of your blade than the front.
 

Makinsawdust

New User
Robert
In addition to what Mike said, check to be sure there is sufficient tension on the belt and that the pulley's set screws are tight.
 

decibel

New User
Patrick
Took my first stab at it. Blade appears to be parallel but the fence was not. I'll make a jig to slap the dial indicator in there tomorrow hopefully. The fence was about .015 of an inch towards the blade at the back of the fence :elvis: (using feeler gauges). First set of adjustments got rid of the burning for the most part but still was off a bit of parallel so hopefully once I get the fence dialed in it will be a nice smooth rip.
 

Ken Massingale

New User
Ken
Took my first stab at it. Blade appears to be parallel but the fence was not. I'll make a jig to slap the dial indicator in there tomorrow hopefully. The fence was about .015 of an inch towards the blade at the back of the fence :elvis: (using feeler gauges). First set of adjustments got rid of the burning for the most part but still was off a bit of parallel so hopefully once I get the fence dialed in it will be a nice smooth rip.
Here's a simple one that works well Partick.

TS%20Alighment%20Jig1.jpg
 

decibel

New User
Patrick
Looks like I found the culprit. :banana:

The fence alignment was causing the burning so now no more burning but the power still left some to be desired. While doing some test I hear a clunk hit the floor look at the motor mount and sure enough one of the bolts fell off that held the motor to the mount and the bolts hodling the mount to the table had worked their was loose also!

So after tightening those back up all is well with my little saw. Now the wife was all ready to splurge for the SawStop cabinet saw when she walked in a smelled the burning wood. but now it's fixed... :eusa_doh:

Maybe I should unfix it :tinysmile_tongue_t:

Thanks for all the help guys
 

froglips

New User
Jim Campbell
Great job!

If you still want that sawstop, we can brainstorm how to simulate that burning wood :tongue2:

Jim
 

tjgreen

New User
Tim
Small thread hijack, in case somebody else with a Ridgid reads this: I got the ts3660 from HD when they went on clearance earlier this year. I had problems with burning and slow feed rate too, checked everything, couldn't figure it out, and then found my answer on the internet: the stock blade was thinner than the splitter.
 

Ken Massingale

New User
Ken
Looks like I found the culprit. :banana:

The fence alignment was causing the burning so now no more burning but the power still left some to be desired. While doing some test I hear a clunk hit the floor look at the motor mount and sure enough one of the bolts fell off that held the motor to the mount and the bolts hodling the mount to the table had worked their was loose also!

So after tightening those back up all is well with my little saw. Now the wife was all ready to splurge for the SawStop cabinet saw when she walked in a smelled the burning wood. but now it's fixed... :eusa_doh:

Maybe I should unfix it :tinysmile_tongue_t:

Thanks for all the help guys
Call me crazy as a loon, but I wouldn't trade my 3650 for a Sawstop.
Another brand of cabinet saw maybe, but not a Sawstop.
 

gator

George
Corporate Member
Now the wife was all ready to splurge for the SawStop cabinet saw when she walked in a smelled the burning wood. but now it's fixed... :eusa_doh:

Maybe I should unfix it :tinysmile_tongue_t:

Thanks for all the help guys

Inside cover of the latest WoodWorkers Journal is a SawStop ad that says they have a free DVD directed to wives which is supposed to talk a wife into a SawStop approval.

George
 

eyekode

New User
Salem
Small thread hijack, in case somebody else with a Ridgid reads this: I got the ts3660 from HD when they went on clearance earlier this year. I had problems with burning and slow feed rate too, checked everything, couldn't figure it out, and then found my answer on the internet: the stock blade was thinner than the splitter.

Is that backward? I would not think a thicker splitter would lead to burning. Ah but hard to push lumber == slow feed rate and slow == burn?
 

tjgreen

New User
Tim
Inside cover of the latest WoodWorkers Journal is a SawStop ad that says they have a free DVD directed to wives which is supposed to talk a wife into a SawStop approval.

George

Hey, that gives me an idea for the anti-SawStop, the HusbandStop. I'll advertise in Ladies Home Journal - looks like a Delta unisaw, but the blade would leap out of the saw randomly if it was used for more than an hour, and it comes with a life insurance policy. Bet I could sell a bazillion to all the shop widows out there.
 
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