What's going on here??

[mowerman1193]

Last few times I have cut thick 3/4" + wood on my DW788 it is like the blade gets pinched and I cannot back out or if I try to go forward it tries to grab the wood and what not..I do not feel like I have been pushing too hard on the wood but when it starts doing this I then have to so it will keep going. It gets hot and burns the wood otherwise.
Last few times I needed to cut this thick wood I have went out to the shop and used my old Delta 2 speed with no problems. I have 2 bigger things to make yet before Christmas and the last time I used my delta the bearings went out on the link. At $26 per bearing and it takes 2 of them I am not sure I will fix it. Really somewhat disappointed with the new Dewalt and a lot of times I find myself just using the old Delta. Guess I am going to have to customize the dewalt to my liking but would rather wait until I get my orders done for Christmas.

Any ideas why the Dewalt is pinching?
I am going to try to clean up the blade screws etc and see if the blade might be slipping its tension as a lot of times I will do a cut then when I release the tension lever it bows the blade like maybe the blade has slipped in the clamp.That is probably whats going on but I feel like I am clamping them down pretty good ( don't want to strip out the threads ) ...

Thanks
Kevin

[wood-n-things]

It sounds like a tension problem to me. Try either sanding the ends of your blades or cleaning them off with mineral spirits prior to putting them into your saw. You may need to clean your blade clamps as well as they will get a build up of the residue on the blades. It really is not necessary to over tighten the blade clamps.

It is not the saw I'm pretty sure. It may be your choice of blades as well. What kind of wood is it and what blade are you using? I'd be using nothing less than a #5 on 3/4" stock. I prefer the fd UR#5 or a polar #5 depending on the species of wood.

[mowerman1193]

Mike, I am using a number 7 Ultra Reverse and am cutting 7/8" quarter sawn Jatoba.

no I didn't figure it was the saw itself. My dissatisfaction with the dewalt is the blade forward/backward travel. I tend to tense up using the saw and I always seem so relaxed while cutting on that old Delta. I plan to do the fix on the dewalt that was recently posted on Rick H site..just hate to mess up something right now in my busy time. And now I don't even have my old Delta to use now that the bearings went out again.

I am going to try to clean up the blade clamps and blades to see if that takes care of my pinching issue to get these Christmas things done. Then I will modify the saw ( I hope )

Thanks,
Kevin

[DWSudekum]

If the wood you are using has too high a moisture content or sap the friction heat from the cutting can make the wood swell. In addition some woods like pine and it's cousins have sticky sap that makes a kind of glue when heated this also can make your blade stick. Jatoba produces an orange, resinous, sticky gum that converts to amber through a chemical process that requires millions of years. This could very well be your issue.


DW

[Janette]

I'd try a new blade, check the table for square and give it another shot. 7/8" Jatoba is pretty hard and thick and you'll probably go through a lot of blades cutting just a few pieces of it. If your project doesn't have to be 7/8" thick, you might consider resawing it to about 3/4". I have this problem when cutting myrtlewood, which is very hard as well. Going slow and replacing blades definitely helps. Also put clear packing tape on the wood to help lubricate as it cuts.

[wood-n-things]

I was unaware you were cutting that species of wood and that thick. You mentioned in your original post cutting 3/4" stock. All the advice given for cutting that thick and species of wood, should help solve your problem. The back and forth blade motion is or can be a problem. I'm going to try that fix after the holidays on mine as well .

[mowerman1193]

Thanks to everyone that has replied. I have never cut this wood before so it is new to me. However I do cut a lot of 3/4" Red Oak and this problem has happen with the Oak the last time I had used it. I did take my blade thumb and set screws out just a few min ago and cleaned them up with a brake cleaner spray and then I filed the ends down.

Thanks again for the info on the wood. I also wonder is a skip tooth blade might be a better choice I only use the Ultra rev. blades and have not messed to much with any other style blade..

Mike keep me posted on your saws forward motion fix.

Kevin

[wood-n-things]

Kevin I will keep you posted, you do the same okay? The ultra reverse work as well for me as the skip tooth perhaps better for cleaning out the kerf as i cut.

[will8989]

when this happens to me, I find that I need to replace the blade. I would probably use a #9 or 12 blade on wood that hard and thick.

GOOD LUCK

Betty

[mowerman1193]

Well I started cutting on it tonight and, Wow! this is some hard stuff to cut. I slowed the saw waaay down, lol I used a #9 Ultra Reverse blade and pretty much burned up the blade in just a few minutes, LOL put in another #9 and same thing. I then switched to a #7 and that blade did much better. I thought that was kind of odd but I have run into that before. Not sure why a smaller blade actually will cut faster but... Maybe its something to do with the number of teeth and the thickness of the blade having to cut more..Anyway I am going to try to finish it up with the #7 blades. Dang I just placed a order from Mike last week and I only got a few of the #7's as I tend to use #5's the most..

So far no pinching of the blade and no wood burning yet..But it is sure going sloooooow, I always feel that way after cutting a lot of 1/8 and 1/4 then going to the 3/4 + wood, LOL

Mike I will post when I get brave enough to try the fix on my Dewalt.

Thanks,
Kevin