# Rip cut binds on table saw, best solution?



## AffineCreations (Mar 20, 2012)

Ripping a 24" long, 7" wide, 1" thick piece of cherry on my table saw. Cut is 3" in. About 1/3 way through the cut, board starts to bind and quickly the board wants a lot of force to move forward. I carefully reach over and power down the saw.

First off: I am thankful I have the riving knife in place, along with the anti-kickback pawls. Board did stay on the table and I still have all my fingers.

I unplugged the saw and wrestled the board free of the blade. Inspection showed the board had been under tension and closed around the kerf, hence the binding. I will point out the board was planed on the table down face and jointed on the edge against the fence.

I proceeded to start the cut again, letting the blade redo the part of the cut that had slightly closed up. The rest of the cut went fine, with no extra force needed to finish. The other three similarly cut boards ripped without incident.

Question: first time something like this has happened to me. I am new to working from rough-cut lumber and dimensioning it myself. Did I proceed in the safest fashion, or is there a preferred method to deal with rip cuts that bind?


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## waho6o9 (May 6, 2011)

Use a band saw, another fine tip expressed on LJ. I learned the hard way as well on Zebrawood, Oops.


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## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

If there is a better way, I'm not aware of it. As far as I know, you did everything right.


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## Loren (May 30, 2008)

Yeah, that happens. Sometimes you can do what you did and 
recut the kerf and it will work out. Sometimes you'll have to
flip the board and cut from the other end. Then sometimes 
there is so much tension in the board you cannot safely cut it
on the table saw. Safest practice is to rip solid wood with 
a band saw.


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## Brit (Aug 14, 2010)

For a two foot long Cherry board, I'd use a 6tpi rip saw personally. If it starts to close up behind the saw, just stick a wedge in it and carry on.


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## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

I like to do ripping on my bandsaw. I think It's safer and a lot more effortless and it also generates less sawdust. a good choice if you have a decent bandsaw.

I think rip cutting will wear down a sharp table saw blade very fast and it also puts quite a strain on the motor, especially with the lower hp saws mostly found in hobby wood shops.


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## RussellAP (Feb 21, 2012)

I work primarily with pine so I just push it harder when that happens, but if it were hardwood, I'd knee the switch and start over too. Heck, with pine you can cut a curve with a TS if you want.


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## knotscott (Feb 27, 2009)

Any chance that your blade is a bit too thin for the riving knife? What saw and blade are you using?


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## gfadvm (Jan 13, 2011)

You did the safe thing and that's the most important part. After I stopped the saw I would drive a wedge in the sawed kerf and have another go at it, replacing the wedge as necessary.


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## bondogaposis (Dec 18, 2011)

I use Brit's method.


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## NiteWalker (May 7, 2011)

What gfadvm said.


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## Manitario (Jul 4, 2010)

Happens to me all the time with rough sawn lumber. You did the right thing. Just drive a wedge (or a large screwdriver!) into the kerf and continue on.


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## ShipWreck (Feb 16, 2008)

You did everything that I would have done with stopping the cut AffineCreations. I have had binding many times before the wood safely reached the riving knife. It usually was from the wood closing past the blade kerf, or operator error on my part.


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## AffineCreations (Mar 20, 2012)

Thanks everyone for the feedback. Nice to get the impression my sense for how to deal safely with a table saw is pretty good. Though I love that tool, it always scares me. I like the idea of using the bandsaw to rip cut rough lumber. Will definitely try that next time.


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## JaH3Handyman (May 1, 2018)

You did everything right!

I also keep small (kerf sized) finely tapered hardwood wedges close at hand to tap in after turning off the saw.


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## clin (Sep 3, 2015)

Paul, welcome to the forum!

But you have resurrected a 6 year old thread (necro-posted). Not sure why this seems to happen with new members. But what is about to happen is a bunch of people are going to start chiming in, only reading the original post (OP) and not noticing the date is 6 years old. They will then spend effort answering his question. Of course the answers are still valid, but not very timely.

And I'm not trying to scold you. We're easy going around here. Welcome and I look forward to your continuing contributions.


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## johnstoneb (Jun 14, 2012)

I'm with Brit and Bondo


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