: Rehd,I think it is always wise to leave a little wider space at the back of
: the blade to the fence. Not alot but about 1/64 or so. My reasons are that
: as soon as the wood is started cutting friction is created and heat
: generated which expands the wood slightly. Also if tension is released in
: the board during the cut it needs a little room or it will burn for sure,
: more fiction, heat and expansion. Most blades these days are stamped out
: and not very flat at all. Most of the blades I have are Amana and
: Everlast. Both are in the $100 range and still a few /1000th off. I have a
: couple blades made by Forest that are guaranteed flat within 1/1000ths of
: an in. Especially with the Forest blades I leave the fence open at the
: back. They almost seem to create more friction because they are always in
: contact with the wood. I mostly cut hard woods in my profession which burn
: easier but even just for tension release it wise in my opinion to keep it
: a little open in the back. Most of my burning problem are caused by the
: blade getting out of paralel with the mitre slots. Especially after alot
: of hard ripping.

: John

Hi John

Well, I guess we will have to just disagree then, as My saw and every other one on the market that I know of is designed to be perfectly square: Table to fence, fence to blade and blade to table. What's the point of haveing a square fence if you are going to offset it. My point being that if you set up the offset for the piece between the blade and fence, you are setting up an offset for the outside of the kerf where the blade will be dragging on the wood and leaving cuts in the scrap piece. But, if you are using the outside piece for the next strip, you will automatically have a non square piece of wood to run on the fence for the consecutive cut. Also causing a binding on the outside of the kerf. If you are cutting in a straight line and the fence is square, then the wood will not be dragging on the back of the blade as it is the exact distance that the front from the fence...??? I use a Sears, Craftsman 10" saw and also their blades, all carbide and I have NO problem with any sort of binding when the fence is square. My only problem comes when the fence is clamped down and NOT square. Then, the wood gets scarred on the outfeed as the blade is cutting into the wood on the way out. Either inside or outside of the kerf. As for the warp in the blade, if it is only mere thousandths, then it will only produce a slightly wider kerf as the blade is turning at what....... 1750 or 3400 RPM and the same teeth pass the material many times before it moves past. If the blade is any more that a couple of thousandths off, it will wobble and cause vibration and should not be used.

I have done a lot of cabinet work where I will cut out materials for a whole day or more and the saw and blades perform just fine with no burning. I usually take a new blade down and get it sharpened as soon as I buy it, as they do not do a good job at the factory when made. Then I have many blades that I have never had to sharpen but every other year or so, as I just clean them and they are fine. I experience NO burning or vibration with my cuts by keeping the fence square.

Another thought would be that if you set your fence up with an offset going away from the material at the rear of the blade then the force of the back of the blade on the outside of the kerf would naturally want to push the material being cut, away from the fence and making your job more difficuly by having to hold pressure against the fence. I can cut a long piece of material, once started, with only slight pressure from the back and not have to worry about holding it against the fence, as that is where it tracks. If there is a built in stress in the piece, then I use the feather boards and a kerf seperator, which most saws come with for safety reasons.

My whole point is: the saws are made to be square, and should be left that way. Using any kind of offset is building in problems somewhere down the road.

When I use my 48 tooth combination blades to cut things, I get a nice smooth cut and need NO planing for glue up.

Rehd