Shopsmith Forums

NLV wrote:

masonsailor2 wrote:It is most likely the previously mentioned issue of stress within the wood. Watch the curf as you are sawing. Does it get narrower, wider, or stay parallel ?
Paul

I am new at woodworking but thought that the curf/kerf would remain the same throughout the cut. I would like to read up on this if you have a link.
Thanks

I think Paul is referring to the width of the kerf after the workpiece exits the blade area. Only a perfect unstressed workpiece will have a constant kerf width. Internal stresses will cause the two parts to 'warp' away or towards each other(or up/down/twist . . ).

Consider what happens with a workpiece that is concave facing the fence. When you first align the piece against the fence, the trailing end of the workpiece will be 'beyond' the plane of the fence face. As the workpiece is fed in, that concave edge will cause the workpiece to drift towards the blade thus making it narrower in the middle.

This is why a jointer is needed to minimize non-straight boards. Proper use of a jointer will remove the concave/convex edge(for a while at least).

JPG, that makes sense. Knowing how I matched the boards being laminated. Even though I was removing 1/8" or so the laminated boards would move and cause what I have been experiencing.

I will go to the jointer for the balance.
Thanks