# Table saw burning maple



## ron9876 (Jun 1, 2009)

Hello 

I am new to the forum and I have a couple of questions.

I don't have much experience working with maple. I am currently building a coffee table and I keep getting burn marks when I rip pieces. Is this normal with maple or am I doing something wrong.

I am trying to sorta match a pair of end tables that are from Ethan Allen. A friend says they likely have lacquer finish. Does this seem right? I don't have any experience working with lacquer but I understand that it best to apply by spraying. I don't have spray equipment and I hate to experiment with spray cans on this project. Is there another finish that would look close enough and function ok or do I need to stick with lacquer.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*A few things to look at:*

The fence must be set parallel to the miter gage slots, as should the blade, in other words the saw has to be set up properly. The wood type is irrelevant, maple, oak, pine shouldn't matter. The blade should be set as high as you are comfortable using and the splitter and blade guard should be used. The blade must be sharp and have enough set to the teeth. A good combo blade will work but not as well as a blade designed for ripping. Do you intend on sanding or jointing the surfaces after ripping?:smile: bill


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## Valid8r (Nov 8, 2008)

*new member to new member*

Ron - I was having the same problem a couple of weeks ago. Let me start by saying that I am also relatively new to woodworking in general. 

I was not only burning my maple, but binding the blade completely. I new something was wrong and spent a lot of time working on aligning my fence to the mitre tracks first and then to the blade itself (after I determined that my blade was not aligned to the miter slots). I then went and bought a thin kerf rip blade and it made all the difference. Cuts were instantly easy, no binding and very little burning. That problem partially solved I have now moved on to working on aligning the blade to the mitre slots. I found an A-Line-It rig on Ebay and will be using that to adjust my saw as I have found that it is significantly out of alignment.

Not sure if this is useful, but I've learned a lot just from reading on this forum and from careful experimentation.

Good luck.

Jon


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## Tweegs (Sep 8, 2007)

In addition to everything else mentioned, give the blade a good cleaning to remove the pitch/resin build up, if any. Simple Green works well, as do any of the commercially available products made for blade cleaning.


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## knotscott (Nov 8, 2007)

Maple burns a little more easily than some woods. The common causes of burning are dirty blade, dull blade, too many teeth for the cut, incorrect blade choice, slow feedrate, binding from misalignment, binding from the wood not being flat and straight, wet wood, or too thick a piece for the saw. The first thing I'd do is clean the blade, and check alignment....if the wood's not flat, find a way to flatten and straighten it.


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## pianoman (Jan 16, 2008)

Well check the (what everyone said) fence. And to match the finnish on the coffee table...try using Formby`s high gloss wiping varnish called tung oil. Rick


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

I will also stress the idea of calibrating or tuning up your saw. I have yet to see a saw that comes completely alligned right out of the box. I spend hours calibrated my tools and periodically, I will spend that time again on tuning up an already calibrated tool. Wood that is burning while being ripped could be a sign of the blade rubbing on the stock. This brings up a whole new ball game of the dangers of kick back. Take an afternoon and tune your saw. You'll be happy with the results. Your owners manual should walk you through the setup. If not, there are plenty of articles on line.
Ken


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## firehawkmph (Apr 26, 2008)

Ron,
Like the others said, go over the tune on your saw. When setting the fence alignment to the blade, the back end of the fence (trailing end) should actually be around .004-.005" wider than the leading edge. This helps eliminate binding as the piece passed the saw blade. Buy good blades and use them for their intended purpose. Keep them sharp and clean and also watch your feed rate. If you are feeding too slow, most woods will burn.
Mike Hawkins


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## Runs with Chisels (Jun 4, 2009)

I have noticed that maple is pretty quick to burn if everything isn't set right. If you're seeing burn marks, are they consistent throughout the cut, or only at certain points? Is the stock you're cutting pre-milled or is it still rough-cut? If the stock is irregular, align it on a piece you know to be straight and make a cut to true up one edge of your stock, then work from there. Also a blade designed for ripping rather than a general purpose blade will likely make quite a difference.


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## Nate1778 (Mar 10, 2008)

Hard maple burns, I can cut any other wood and not have a burn one, but the hard maple is going to smoke. Like the others have said, use a sharp blade or clean your blades.


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## niki (Jul 16, 2007)

I would like to add another point...

In addition to what everybody said as for alignment, sharp and clean rip blade...

I hope that you are using the blade guard - if not - don't do what I suggest....

Crank the blade to "Full height" position.....high blade cuts the best, stays cool, it's easy on the motor and you will feel that the feed rate is faster than the "gull just above the workpiece"...

I work a lot with White Oak and always rip with the blade at full height...with the guard installed...

On the pics below, please not that I'm using a 100 teeth blade for ripping Lauan and Oak...and still, I don't get any burn marks...

Regards
niki


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## ron9876 (Jun 1, 2009)

Thanks for the input. I am using a blade that I have used for several years. It is a planar blade that I use to make cuts for joining pieces. 

I started rechecking my saw. It is new and I have only had it for a couple of months. The blade alignment was slightly off but not a lot. I haven't had time to finish yet but I will get back after I finish rechecking everything. If I set the back of the fence off a few hundreds will it still give me joints that will allow for edge joining?


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## firehawkmph (Apr 26, 2008)

Ron,
You will still get a straight edge with the fence out a few thousants in the back. It's just enough to keep the wood from binding after it passes the blade.
Mike Hawkins


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## ron9876 (Jun 1, 2009)

I finished my adjustments. The table did need to be adjusted a little. Wasn't a lot. I have a Ridgid 3660 saw and it wasn't too difficult. Cleaned the blade. Cuts clean and without burning now. Thanks for the input.


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