: I went home last night and tried to replicate the problem using some pine
: scrap but couldn't get it to screw up again. I have some nice knotty pine
: strips now The only thing that changed before this test was the fence
: (which indicates a possible fence-parallel-to-blade problem).

: . . . Tonight I think I'll purposefully set the fence a touch off to see if this
: replicates the problem.
: I'll post the results. Then I'm setting the saw up as advised.

Congratulations on making those nice knotty pine strips. Quit while you are ahead.

I urge you NOT to try (again!) to recreate this problem. Be happy it is gone.

Consider the possible outcomes: If you succeed in recreating the porblem, then what do you have? A problem! And more wasted wood. On the other hand, if you fail to recreate the problem what do you have? More wasted wood and wasted time.

And those would be your POSITIVE solutions !!!

The possible negative solutions would include doing damage to your sawblade (it could permanently warp), your saw (you could mess up the alignment of the fence, or the bearings), or possibly damage to yourself (an erratic blade can snag the wood and hurl those strips back at you, or it can shatter and send sharp steel shards at you.) A 3 horsepower motor has an awful lot of "kick" -- you don't want to be on the receiving end of it.

None of these possibilities are worth the risk. A broken table saw is an expensive thing to replace. And I couldn't put a price on an injury to the builder.

Please reconsider your experiment and stay safe. All you want out of this process is neat strips, not bandages.

PGJ