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Note to self: Put blade in facing forward, it cuts better

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sawstop
2K views 11 replies 11 participants last post by  craftsman on the lake 
#1 ·
Note to self: Put blade in facing forward, it cuts better

I freely present my stupidity for all to see…

Today I got the dust collection hooked up on my new Sawstop. I aligned everything and started it up. Try something simple, a soft spruce piece of 2×4. Smoke and burning wood! Not a good impression for a 3hp saw.

Then I thought, what could it be? It seems that the arbor nut is on the right side of the blade where my old saw it was on the left. For some reason this led me to put the blade in backwards (I don't know why but it did).

Removed and put it in right….. The cut went as smooth as butter both cross cutting and ripping.

I didn't used to be this stupid…. age?
 
#3 ·
Chalk it up to a senior moment Dan. We're all getting there.

It's probably more important than ever before to have solid safe working practices. I set up to cut 3/4" wide x 1/2" deep dados in 3/4" oak plywood a week ago and did them all in one pass. Not sure if that was the smartest move or not, though I was very deliberate and careful in my set up and did test cut a some scrap first.

Just be glad you didn't trigger the saw stop on the first cut. That would not have been fun. :^o
 
#4 ·
Confession - I did the same thing on my table when I went from a right tilt to a left tilt saw for exactly the same reason. I had to get used to putting the back side of the blade on the outside of the spindle.

I also did the same thing when I changed the blade on my circular saw and put it on backwards and tried to cut some plywood. I wound up ruining the blade and buying another one.

Interesting how we remember things like this for years and years but forget the clever tricks we see and want to remember for future use.
 
#7 ·
I did the same thing a couple of years ago with a worm drive saw. I was cutting a countertop made of plywood and tropical wood floor planks stapled/glued on top. I thought "damn, that's tough wood" and filled the room with smoke until figuring it out. It took me that long because the beast was actually making progress.
 
#10 ·
Yeah, I could see that happening because the label of some blades would face inward toward the arbor on that saw. We are so accustomed to putting the label on outward, it would be easy to do.
 
#11 ·
In my wood carving class, the instructor told me that the blade needed replacing on the bandsaw, because it was cutting so slowly. Yup, he put it on with the teeth going in the wrong direction! My best story is trying to rip a (short piece, about 2' long) 4"X8" on a RAS, and forgetting to lock it down. I was fighting it like hell, smoke everywhere. I didn't get the cut I wanted, lol. It wasn't until I got tired of fighting it and turned the saw off that I realized that I hadn't locked it down. That was over 40 years ago, so I can't blame old age. We've all done it. I was pretty damned lucky with that one. The same instructor in my carving class went to a woodworker's convention, and observed that about one in five of the guys signing in were missing at least part of one finger. I'll be the first to say that I'm damned lucky to have all of mine, given some of the stupid stuff I've done in a hurry with power tools. Some of my scars are covered by older scars, especially the ones from welding.
 
#12 ·
In my wood carving class, the instructor told me that the blade needed replacing on the bandsaw, because it was cutting so slowly. Yup, he put it on with the teeth going in the wrong direction! My best story is trying to rip a (short piece, about 2 long) 4"X8" on a RAS, and forgetting to lock it down. I was fighting it like hell, smoke everywhere. I didn t get the cut I wanted, lol. It wasn t until I got tired of fighting it and turned the saw off that I realized that I hadn t locked it down. That was over 40 years ago, so I can t blame old age. We ve all done it. I was pretty damned lucky with that one. The same instructor in my carving class went to a woodworker s convention, and observed that about one in five of the guys signing in were missing at least part of one finger. I ll be the first to say that I m damned lucky to have all of mine, given some of the stupid stuff I ve done in a hurry with power tools. Some of my scars are covered by older scars, especially the ones from welding.

- Dark_Lightning
Same here. I stick weld in my shorts and sandals in the summer. Doesn't that tingle. Sometimes the t-shirt on my belly catches on fire. I'm like Mrs. Doubtfire slapping it out with my hands. I have three coveted old t-shirts with palm sized holes in the front with burned edges.
 
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