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I'm ripping some 2x4x8s for my son's home rebuild. What is the recommended speed and feed rate to avoid tripping a 20 amp breaker?

BPR

ryanbp01 wrote:I'm ripping some 2x4x8s for my son's home rebuild. What is the recommended speed and feed rate to avoid tripping a 20 amp breaker?

BPR

Hi BPR,

You are really making your Mark V work with that job! It has been my experience that ripping 2X4 and larger lumber is the hardest thing for the saw mode of the Mark V. I have come to the conclusion that I should do that only on my single purpose 12" table saw. As for speed and feed recommendations, my advice is feed ssllooww and use a slower saw speed then you normally wood.

i recently had to rip some 4x4 fir---used the band saw took it easy worked pretty well for rough work

I have ripped many a 2x4 and 2x6 on my SS and usually don't have too much trouble. The main thing I have found is to make sure your table is aligned to the blade, your rip fence is aligned to the table, and use a sharp ripping blade. The ripping blade makes the job go a lot easier.

The biggest problem I ran into is that typical construction lumber is stressed and will often close on the blade when ripping. I keep a few thin wooden wedges handy and wedge the kerf if this happens.

Hope this helps.

Use the right blade for the right job, Ripping blade, will get it done. Make sure everything is aligned properly and you should have no problems.

I have done what you are doing. I have also blown 20 amp breakers when ripping 2x4's. The suggestions above have worked for me. # one is I use the saw guard with the splitter knife to help keep the pressure off the blade. Make sure you use a sharp ripping blade. And also take your time and slow everything down. It works just not that great as compared to larger table saws.

Great answers and all are required for a smooth job. I recently milled a couple of split Cherry logs. The first one was slow but worked fine the second more difficult. Prior to using the saw again I switched to a new very sharp blade. Wow what a difference. fjimp

It is my guess that if you are ripping softwood dimensional stock, those boards are usually fir, W. larch or pine.

The first step is to square the boards (Flat faces and one edge). Cupped or twisted or warped boards will give you fits! - and can be dangerous. For these reasons, many building framers prefer to use a hand held saw for this purpose.

Use of the splitter (upper saw guard) is necessary. As said above, there are often weird stresses in those boards. Sometimes the cut off will pull away from the blade/splitter. Other times the kerf will close, even so much as to clamp in the splitter. Some narrow wood wedges may help (said above) if the splitter gets bound.

If your saw is set up properly (as said above) and you are using a sharp blade, you should have no issues.

Besides squaring, a Sharp blade is the most important.

Also, out feed support will help if the board is longer.

I've been ripping 2x6, 2x8 8' long madrone on my SS using a combination blade without any problems. But, I found it alot less scary to do these longer boards on the bandsaw.

The board was one that had seasoned in the garage for several months. It pinched and curved so quickly that I couldn't get this 4 1/2 section past the blade quick enough to prevent it from pinching the splitter on the 520 upper blade guard. I tried to put wedges in the kerf. It required the oversize blade screw driver to force the kerf open. The resulting 2 x 2 's are so curved that they can't be straightened on the jointer. I assumed it was #2 common 2 x 6.

If they matched, I could build a rocker!