Losing pwer in a cut

dustmagnet · Post by **dustmagnet** » Sat May 16, 2009 8:37 am

Why would my Mark V lose power in a cut. If I start a piece of lumber into the blade it seems to be spinning up to speed fine and as I get into the cut it is almost like the motor wants to stall. This happens no matter what type of lumber I use. Thanks in advance for any help.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Sat May 16, 2009 8:47 am

dustmagnet wrote:Why would my Mark V lose power in a cut. If I start a piece of lumber into the blade it seems to be spinning up to speed fine and as I get into the cut it is almost like the motor wants to stall. This happens no matter what type of lumber I use. Thanks in advance for any help.

The first thing I would do is make certain that I had a sharp blade and the right blade for the type of cut.

If that did not resolve the problem, I would make certain that all of my alignments were correct. This is especially necessary when ripping. The blade must be parallel to the fence to perform a safe rip. If not parallel, the blade tends to bind in the cut and thus loading the motor (slowing it down). This is a sure recipe for kickback.

Lastly, I would make certain that everything is cleaned, waxed and lubricated; especially lubricated.

If these actions have not returned the machine to full power then I would suspect the primary power source or the motor. In my opinion, this is the least likely cause of your problem.

billmayo · Post by **billmayo** » Sat May 16, 2009 10:22 am

dustmagnet wrote:Why would my Mark V lose power in a cut. If I start a piece of lumber into the blade it seems to be spinning up to speed fine and as I get into the cut it is almost like the motor wants to stall. This happens no matter what type of lumber I use. Thanks in advance for any help.

Dusty has covered the woodworking side really well and should be your problem area, so I will cover the machine side. If you have a Poly-V drive, I find that hard use can cause the Poly-V belt to get hot and slip. I would slide the belt housing back and check tension (1/8"-1/4" deflection). If you have a Gilmer drive, I find the Gilmer clutch can slip under heavy load.

I normally place the 12" sanding disk on the quill and holding the motor sheaves to prevent turning, I try to turn the sanding disk. In normally situations, you should not be able to turn the sanding disk. If you can turn the sanding disk, you should be able to see where the slipage is occuring and be able to correct the problem.

I believe that periodic application of belt dressing on both belts helps prevent noise, cracking and slipage of the belts.

Ed in Tampa · Post by **Ed in Tampa** » Sat May 16, 2009 10:27 am

Losing power?

Possible reasons: Listed in order of likeliness of happening.

1. Wood binding during the cut. Check alignment, if the wood is pressing against the blade it generates friction which will seriously sap power. Check the table to blade alignment, the miter gauge to blade and the fence to blade. Your tolerance is only .005" so work carefully and take your time.

2. Blade dull. Sharpen blade, a dull blade is no longer cutting but instead is hammering out tiny pieces of wood, again a real way to sap power.

3. Feeding too fast. Slow the feed rate, Too fast a feed rate is like gagging the saw, trying to force into it.

4. Electrical problems. If you have a too small of wiring, a bad line cord, or possible loose connections, anything that causes a voltage drop, sucks power from your machine. Frankly I think the 14 gauge line cord supplied with the SS is too small, I upgraded mine to a 12 gauge cord and the difference was day and night. The upgrade is simple. I also ran a special circuit from my breaker box to a plug using 12 gauge Romex. Now I can use my SS where I want it without any extension cord and assured I have full electrical power.

5. Mechanical problems. Insure everything else is okay if the problem persists then begin to look at the motor/headstock. One thing to try slow down the arbor speed the slower the setting the more mechanical advantage the motor has. For really thick wood I often slow my SS down to the very low range of the saw operation.

dustmagnet · Post by **dustmagnet** » Sat May 16, 2009 4:03 pm

Thank al of you for that great info. I received this machine from my Dad after he passed away in 2001 and used it very little at first but have decided to do some long put off projects my wife asked me to do. I do have a brand new blade on the machine but have not check anything else. At first it seemed to preform without any slowing down but now it is doing this no matter whether I am freestanding a cut or using the fence. I did suspect the fence at one point and recall getting out the manual (luckily my dad kept every book he ever owned) and went through the checks to make sure the fence was parallel to the blade. I will spend some time going over the other tips and hopefully find the cause of this problem now that I know what to start looking for. Thanks again guys

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Sat May 16, 2009 4:17 pm

dustmagnet wrote:Thank al of you for that great info. I received this machine from my Dad after he passed away in 2001 and used it very little at first but have decided to do some long put off projects my wife asked me to do. I do have a brand new blade on the machine but have not check anything else. At first it seemed to preform without any slowing down but now it is doing this no matter whether I am freestanding a cut or using the fence. I did suspect the fence at one point and recall getting out the manual (luckily my dad kept every book he ever owned) and went through the checks to make sure the fence was parallel to the blade. I will spend some time going over the other tips and hopefully find the cause of this problem now that I know what to start looking for. Thanks again guys

If your machine has been idle for an extended time, you may want to open it up, vacuum it all out and then take an air hose to it to get into the crevices. After cleaning it, give it a good lubrication and wax job and then check out its cutting capacity.

Please, please don't hesitate to come back here and ask questions while doing this. Read the books and view the forum but don't hesitate to ask for help.

I'd like to see every Mark V has been manufactured (and not parted out) be put back into active service. Yours is one of those. Let's get it going so that you can make some big time sawdust.

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Sat May 16, 2009 7:47 pm

dustmagnet wrote:Thank al of you for that great info. I received this machine from my Dad after he passed away in 2001 and used it very little at first but have decided to do some long put off projects my wife asked me to do. I do have a brand new blade on the machine but have not check anything else. At first it seemed to preform without any slowing down but now it is doing this no matter whether I am freestanding a cut or using the fence. I did suspect the fence at one point and recall getting out the manual (luckily my dad kept every book he ever owned) and went through the checks to make sure the fence was parallel to the blade. I will spend some time going over the other tips and hopefully find the cause of this problem now that I know what to start looking for. Thanks again guys

Hey there dustmagnet! If your stalling/slowing problem started after you put on the new blade - check to see if the blade is on so the teeth are pointed toward the front of the saw. It's an easy thing to put the blade on backwards.