Hi Ken,

Try cutting another scrap board. It could be as simple as the piece you tried has some tension in it and wants to warp closed when the cut is made. Some boards will do that, others will warp open. If everything else is set up straight, must be the board. (or maybe the board buddies are screwing things up. I'm not sure how they work. If you still have problems try it without them.)

Grant
Squeedunk Kayaks
: I ran some scrap wood through to cut a couple of test strips and test out my
: setup. If the saw kerf closes up behind the blade, the blade gets pinched
: and starts to back cut the edge of the plank opposite the strip. How do I
: keep the kerf from closing up and pinching the blade? About all I can
: think to do is add a splitter.

: My raw planks are 12' long. I'm using infeed and outfeed tables, Board
: Buddies, a feather board over the blade and ... it's a one man show ...
: I'm ripping my strips alone so I don't have anyone to control the plank
: behind the saw. Even though I push the stock through by applying pressure
: on the strip side the kerf wants to close up on the last few feet of the
: cut.

: Ken