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Table Saw Ripping Poor Cuts (PLEASE HELP)

3K views 21 replies 10 participants last post by  brettlowing 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
I have a Ridgid 10 in. CAST IRON TABLE SAW TS3650 and have tried both of these blades:
Diablo 10 in. x 24 Tooth Carbide Circular Saw Blade
Diablo 10 in. x 40 Tooth Carbide Circular Saw Blade
with the same results.

I have spent hours making sure the table saw has been set up precisely and have minimized the damage to the wood to the picture shown.

PLEASE HELP!!!
Am I missing something?
 
#2 ·
Brett
I can't view any picture. What is the basic problem? Burning of the wood, tear out or inaccuracy of the line.
The 24 in blade is more for ripping and the 40 can be either a ripping , cross cut or combination blade
The speed that you move your stock also makes a difference.
 
#7 ·
What kind of tolerances are there for it to be considered parallel? I used a combination-square to set everything parallel. Started with the blade to the table, then the fence to the table, then checked the fence to the blade. It's pretty dang close to perfect if not perfect.
 
#8 ·
can you detail what you mean by "I have spent hours making sure the table saw has been set up precisely"?

I can only assume you have tuned the blade parallel to the miter gauge, and the fence parallel to the miter gauge as well so that everything is perfectly aligned? if not - that's a good change to be the cause

did you check for arbor runout? if it's too much it can cause the blade to not run true and wobble just enough to cause what you're seeing

did you check for blade deflection? if the blade is not flat it'll wobble and can create aftereffects such as you are seeing

are these thin kerf blades? if so, you might want to try using a blade stiffener.

thats all I can think of at the moment.
 
#9 ·
I've tuned the blade parallel to the miter gauge, and the fence parallel to the miter gauge as well so that everything is perfectly aligned. (Just took me a while to get perfect)

I don't have a dial indicator to properly check for arbor runout. I set my combination-square against the front of the blade and turned it and notice a very minor difference when turning. I feel like this may be my issue. Can you explain more on this? Should I get a dial indicator?

I laid a straight edge against all the different blades I've tried and they are all flat.

The blades are Freud Diablo Brand from Home Depot (laser cut thin kerf design) But the result is the same from all of them, so it's not the blades.
 
#10 ·
In my jobsite saw, I get the same cut with Diablo blades. I think it is just a product quality issue. I consider Diablos as throw away blades. But I do know that some LJ's get satisfactory results with their Diablos. Try upgrading to a Freud Industrial and see how that does. I'm assuming this is not your cabinet shop saw.
If you have a higher quality blade in your shop or perhaps can borrow one, throw it on and see how it does.
 
#12 ·
In order to get cuts to the perfection you are looking for you need to get the blade/fence alignment to within 0.002 from front to back. The best way to do it is with a dial indicator and a jig to slide it from front to back in the miter slot. I have a paper that explains it in detail. If you want it, send me a PM.
 
#17 ·
There are a few reasons that you are getting saw marks.
What type of wood are you cutting. Some species of solid woods will warp as you cut (depending how the mill cut it, wood may be damper than normal.) The piece between the fence and blade may be binding, causing that perfect alignment to be TOO tight ! SOLUTION: Try feeding a scrap piece of Veneer plywood and see if the same tooth marks happen.
SECOND: Could be a bad "SET" on the blades.
THIRD: The blades could be heating up more than you want as you are cutting. (I had one that would actually wobble as you got into the cut)
FOURTH: Rip blades will leave a tooth mark, that 24 tooth , I would consider it RIP blade in my world.
I have a jointer, so I was never overly concerned about tooth marks. I always cut my stock larger to allow for jointing a smooth edge.
Hope some of this may help you.
 
#18 · (Edited by Moderator)
You're going to get some tooling marks from any saw blade…from what I can see in the pic, it looks pretty typical for a 24T blade. I'd expect a little better from most 40T blades, but not even a top notch 80T blade is going to give you finish ready results…they're all still going to need some help removing the tool marks before applying a finish.

Below is the scale the Wood Mag used a couple of years ago for their 40T blade comparison….they graded A, B, C, and D from top to bottom according to this chart:


From a Diablo 40T, I'd expect results in the "B" range (maybe C+ depending on the setup), from a 24T I'd expect in the C to D range.
 
#20 ·
I purchased a dial indicator and was able to line the blade and fence up more accurately which greatly reduced the cut marks to where you can only see it if you hold it to a light just right. I'm pleased with the results but have found that there is too much slip in my rip fence no matter how much I try to fine tune it. The back of the fence is always trailing the front when I slide it so I have to set my combination square up to measure off the blade and slide the fence over to it, lock the fence down, check the rear and front of the fence only to find that I need to tap the fence in the front to get it just right. (I try to make all my same width cuts at once to eliminate having to go through that set up every time.)

Needless to say, I need to invest in a better fence system.

Thanks for all the advice and tips! I hope this forum will be able to help someone else in the future!
 
#21 ·
Is your fence at all adjustable ?

Some of them have the capacity to adjust for parallel-a set of screws, hex bolts, or whatever.

If you don't know … can you post pictures of the TOP of it-showing the full length OF the top-front to back ?

There may be a stopgap measure, even if you do want to buy an aftermarket fence….
 
#22 ·
The adjustments on the fence are rediculously inaccurate. 4 bolts at the base. The manual says to lock down the fence, loosen the bolts, adjust the fence along the miter slot, and tighten the bolts. It's not accurate enough for my taste. But that doesn't fix the slop. There is a screw in the back that tightens the clamp part in the back closer to the the back rail, but I can tighten that thing down to where the fence will barely slide and there will still be slop. You get what you pay for I guess.
 
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