Shopsmith Forums

Thank you all - I went down before my coffee to test out the suggestions.

Lowering the main table until it kissed the top of the Powerpro did the trick. It gave me about 1/8 to 1/4 more clearance and the board progressed through.

I think the kickback pawls (thanks for the vocab!) were stopping the forward motion while pushing on the board, as someone adroitly noticed-they were all the way up riding in their slots.

I did get some slight burning on about 25% of the face, so i think next time I will try a 2 pass covered approach. It did get a little awkward once the board was fully under the plastic shield and trying to push through the narrow gap with the push stick.



As I run the saw with the quill pulled back, the main table interferes with the top of the powerpro, but I was wondering, is it OK to extend the quill out 3 or 4" to allow the table to come down further, or should the table saw only be run with the quill near fully retracted?

Ripping makes kickback a more likely danger and the anti kickback mechanism helps protect you when it happens and mitigate it's likelihood.

Mitigation strategies would be to add properly adjusted featherboards to keep the stock against the side of rip fence while using the push stick wherever that's possible. Featherboards also protect against kickback.

They will help keep your hands a bit further away from the blade as you move stock through.

On taller stock I like to use stacked featherboards.
https://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/cat ... boards.htm

Also rip fence extensions are available.
https://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/cat ... nsions.htm

For thin stock the fence straddler or third party GRR-ripper helps.
https://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/cat ... etykit.htm

Everett

Burning can happen for several reasons , most common I have found was the board wasn't exactly flat or square , may have a warp a bow or a twist, sap will cause it if you are using pine and some fruit woods ,a dull blade will cause it , keep you blades clean and sharp and your boards as true as possible . do not wax a blade it will melt and also bind ,the fence may have a warp ,if you have a helper on the out feed they could be moving the wood against the cut , the kerf of the blade is wider then the blade so the sides of the blade should never be in contact with the wood ,burning is mostly caused by rubbing the side of the blade while cutting ,, I am sure you are aware of these things but thought I would share for those who may be new to wood working .
I would worry about the saw blade not having enough rake or gullet depth at that depth to get rid of the saw dust as well , that can also cause binding , burning and even kick back . jmo
good luck

I always look for the easy things first. A simple visual inspection of the problem should give you a simple solution.

bainin wrote:Thank you all - I went down before my coffee to test out the suggestions.

Lowering the main table until it kissed the top of the Powerpro did the trick. It gave me about 1/8 to 1/4 more clearance and the board progressed through.

I think the kickback pawls (thanks for the vocab!) were stopping the forward motion while pushing on the board, as someone adroitly noticed-they were all the way up riding in their slots.

I did get some slight burning on about 25% of the face, so i think next time I will try a 2 pass covered approach. It did get a little awkward once the board was fully under the plastic shield and trying to push through the narrow gap with the push stick.


IMG_20190516_105322553.jpg
IMG_20190516_105322553.jpg
IMG_20190516_105534346 (1).jpg



As I run the saw with the quill pulled back, the main table interferes with the top of the powerpro, but I was wondering, is it OK to extend the quill out 3 or 4" to allow the table to come down further, or should the table saw only be run with the quill near fully retracted?

Some times the upper saw guard is more of a problem than it is a solution. IMO you just experienced that. To avoid that situation, I would have either flipped the upper saw guard up or run the cut without the upper saw guard. If running without the saw guard I highly recommend using the Shopsmith Riving Knife in place of the saw guard.

https://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/cat ... _knife.htm

dusty wrote:

bainin wrote:Thank you all - I went down before my coffee to test out the suggestions.

Lowering the main table until it kissed the top of the Powerpro did the trick. It gave me about 1/8 to 1/4 more clearance and the board progressed through.

I think the kickback pawls (thanks for the vocab!) were stopping the forward motion while pushing on the board, as someone adroitly noticed-they were all the way up riding in their slots.

I did get some slight burning on about 25% of the face, so i think next time I will try a 2 pass covered approach. It did get a little awkward once the board was fully under the plastic shield and trying to push through the narrow gap with the push stick.


IMG_20190516_105322553.jpg
IMG_20190516_105322553.jpg
IMG_20190516_105534346 (1).jpg



As I run the saw with the quill pulled back, the main table interferes with the top of the powerpro, but I was wondering, is it OK to extend the quill out 3 or 4" to allow the table to come down further, or should the table saw only be run with the quill near fully retracted?

Some times the upper saw guard is more of a problem than it is a solution. IMO you just experienced that. To avoid that situation, I would have either flipped the upper saw guard up or run thew cut without the upper saw guard. If running without the saw guard I highly recommend using the Shopsmith Riving Knife in place of the saw guard.

https://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/cat ... _knife.htm

I have never used the table saw with the quill extended more than an inch or so (for bevel cuts) but the idea of extending it to facilitate lowering the table further is a scary thought. I don't think it would be safe. Don't ask me why. I am just uncomfortable with the thought.

I do not find the thought of extending the quill for sawing scary, but, think extra caution is prudent.

Making sure the blade does not reach a position where it interferes with other stuff under the table, or the table insert.

No I have not tried it. Not sure there is sufficient quill range to clear the table from the top of the headstock(not able to go to shop to verify).

" I am sure you are aware of these things but thought I would share for those who may be new to wood working ."


Oh I'm not aware-so thank you for the added information. I am new to woodworking !


Regards,

dusty wrote: Some times the upper saw guard is more of a problem than it is a solution. IMO you just experienced that.

I totally agree. I have no experience with the riving knife but I do know that if the 500 style splitter on the upper saw guard is not aligned perfectly in the kerf it can displace the workpiece either away from the fence or tighter to the fence as the cut is made. Either situation can result in binding the work or burning the face of the cut. Or sometimes it can create a parallelogram out of a board that was intended to be a rectangle. You can probably guess how I know this.

edflorence wrote:

dusty wrote: Some times the upper saw guard is more of a problem than it is a solution. IMO you just experienced that.

I totally agree. I have no experience with the riving knife but I do know that if the 500 style splitter on the upper saw guard is not aligned perfectly in the kerf it can displace the workpiece either away from the fence or tighter to the fence as the cut is made. Either situation can result in binding the work or burning the face of the cut. Or sometimes it can create a parallelogram out of a board that was intended to be a rectangle. You can probably guess how I know this.

I have the Shopsmith riving knife and it works well. If anyone has interest in it, I recommend it. Only problem is the amount of sawdust released with it from the top of the table. I am hoping to setup a dust collector in my attic and hookup a boom arm from the ceiling to connect to a Shark Guard for above table dust collection in the future. Still, at times the plastic guard is in the way for some TS cuts, so I am still glad that I have the riving knife to give kickback protection when the plastic guard is too much in the way.

https://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/cat ... _knife.htm