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Warning: stop running your table saw blade 1/8 inch too high, it cost me a $90 dado set
A guy named Ray at the lumber yard in Boise watched me rip 40 board feet of maple for a face frame job and asked why my blade was peeking so far above the wood, and I said that's just how I learned it. He showed me that on a 3/4 inch cut the teeth only need to clear by one full tooth, and when I dropped it down my burn marks went away and my crosscuts stopped kicking back on me. Anyone else get taught the 'blade high' thing early on, or was that just me and my old boss?
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the_hayden15d ago
I gotta say I see it the other way on this one. Running the blade lower does cut down on burn and kickback for sure, but the teeth have to clear the wood or they rub instead of cut, and that rubbing is what dulls a blade fast and heats up the gullets. A full tooth above the wood is a good rule for a lot of cuts, though on thick stock I actually keep more exposed so the gullets can carry the chips out. Ray's not wrong that most guys run way too high, but going too low is its own problem and you'll feel it in your motor and your blade life. Sounds like you found a sweet spot for that maple job, which is really the point.
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