# Prevent wood from pulling away from my tablesaw fence when ripping?



## chirpfarm (Jan 30, 2012)

So I've been working on a chessboard for my little brother. When ripping 2" wide strips of 4/4 maple and walnut, the wood pulls away from the fence by about 1/8" Before starting, I checked to make sure that the blade was parallel to both the miter tracks and the fence (FYI - the TS is a stock Ridgid 4512). I got the strips as even as possible with a router sled and then glued them up similar to a cutting board. I then cross-cut the glue-up without any of the pull-away problems I had when ripping. How do I prevent the crooked cut when ripping? This seems like a dumb question, but I'm a rookie...


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## Dave66 (Apr 6, 2012)

Assuming that your fence is parallel to the blade, you may be pushing the board too close to the fence. Ideally, you should push right at the spot where the blade will come thru the wood. Since that's not a really good idea, try pushing with both hands applying even pressure on either side of the blade path. A small amount of extra pressure on the offcut side can also keep the board in contact with the fence.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*ripping....it's a little tricky*

The best results start with a very sharp blade free of gum and pitch.

The fence must be parallel to the miter slot and the blade must be parallel to the miter slot and therefore they are parallel to one another.

A feather board can be used in front of the teeth on the blade to maintain pressure against the fence.

A riving knife or splitter should be used when making rips.

A push BLOCK or SHOE is better than a push STICK. :yes:

You need to apply pressure downward and forward and in towards the fence simultaneously. A push stick will not work.

I've ripped thousands of feet of all different woods and materials over the years. The thick hard woods are the most tricky and require a blade designed for ripping for the best results. Fewer teeth like 24 or 30, are best for thicker woods since they carry the chips away better and therefore less heat is generated. 

DO NOT REACH AROUND IN BACK OF THE BLADE FOR ANY REASON UNTIL THE BLADE HAS STOPPED.:no:

 bill


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## chirpfarm (Jan 30, 2012)

woodnthings said:


> The best results start with a very sharp blade free of gum and pitch.
> 
> The fence must be parallel to the miter slot and the blade must be parallel to the miter slot and therefore they are parallel to one another.
> 
> ...


I was using the factory splitter and replaced the stock blade with this combo blade (which is clean and hasn't even cut 100' yet): 



. I've been very happy with the blade, and a limited hobby budget is keeping me to the combo instead of dedicated blades. No featherboard yet. Is there some sort of jig for making straight rips in tough wood? Like I said, know problems when cross-cutting the glue-up into strips, so it seems to be an issue with the grain of the rip pulling away. The wood stays tight all the way through the blade, but somehow pulls away after. Will the thin kerf blad follow the grain more than a regular kerf?


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

I have used a 40 tooth Diablo for ripping with excellent results for rips in 1" thick stock and for hundreds if not a few thousand feet.
A 50 tooth thin kerf is pushing the limits especially in thick stock in my opinion. I use the 50 and 60 tooth for cross cutting only and generally for stock under 1".

So, if all else is up to par, then the blade is the culprit....again just my opinion. I have a 24 tooth thin kerf Diablo set up for ripping thicker stock and it works fine. They are not expensive around $30.00 at the Depot. That's all I can recommend.  bill


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

The stock should ride against the fence with no deviation. That's where your concentration should be, not looking at the blade. A 24T or 32T positive hook blade will work best. Set up a featherboard. Try raising the blade to a higher position. It may look scary, but I run my blade fairly high.









 







.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*another possibility...*

You must have a jointed, absolutely straight edge against the fence to start with, if not you will be making cuts which are slightly curved. :thumbdown: bill


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## DaveTTC (May 25, 2012)

I attach picture illustrating how I feed timber into the saw. Depending on size of what you are cutting you will want to have a transition to push sticks and or blocks (or maybe use them for the entire process) 

Against popular, I have been known to taper the feed so that the work marginally binds as I feed it in. In other words I might have the back end of the fence measure 1mm smaller than the feed end.

Dave The Turning Cowboy


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## DaveTTC (May 25, 2012)

cabinetman said:


> The stock should ride against the fence with no deviation. That's where your concentration should be, not looking at the blade. A 24T or 32T positive hook blade will work best. Set up a featherboard. Try raising the blade to a higher position. It may look scary, but I run my blade fairly high.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Definitely agree with cabinetman. Your primary focus should be on the fence. Of course as you get closer to the blade you want to make sure your fingers, push sticks etc are not going to come in contact with the blade.

Dave The Turning Cowboy


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## Mandres (Sep 6, 2011)

You should be applying pressure with your hand to hold the piece squarely against the fence. It should not be able to pull away at all. For pieces that aren't wide enough to use your hand you should set up a featherboard.


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## BigBadBuford (Jan 13, 2012)

I have a Ridgid TS2400 which is similar to your saw and had the same problem. Mine was due to the factory splitter. When you store the splitter on the on-board storage you have to twist it to fit it in (at least on the TS2400) which was slightly tweaking it. I spent some time making sure it was straight and perfectly in line with the blade and parallel with the fence and it fixed the issue.


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

cabinetman said:


> The stock should ride against the fence with no deviation. That's where your concentration should be, not looking at the blade. A 24T or 32T positive hook blade will work best. Set up a featherboard. Try raising the blade to a higher position. It may look scary, but I run my blade fairly high.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


"Set up a featherboard."

That is the key.

G


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Not in my shop*



GeorgeC said:


> "Set up a featherboard."
> 
> *That is the key.* G


In all my years of woodworking on the tablesaw I can't remember any time I used a featherboard. :no: 
A properly set up fence, a properly adjusted splitter, a sharp clean blade, a proper push shoe and I "let her rip".

Even with a straight line sled the edge can be maintained against the fence if you focus on it, rather than the blade.

I do use them on the router table where any deviation away from the fence will cause a blip in the profile which will have to be sanded out later.  bill


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

GeorgeC said:


> "Set up a featherboard."
> 
> That is the key.
> 
> G


Yes, a featherboard is almost a necessity for accurate cuts at times. It can also be a preventive measure against kickback.










 







.


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## chirpfarm (Jan 30, 2012)

I've been meaning to get a featherboard for a while, but haven't. I really don't know what I can do other than a featherboard or something like that; I have straight cuts when ripping plywood or cross-cutting the glue-up, but ripping the board lumber is getting me.


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## chirpfarm (Jan 30, 2012)

I forgot to add, the lumber I'm using is some kiln-tried stuff from a hardwood dealer, and the edge isn't jointed but is definately straighter than what I'm cutting. I even tried pre-cross-cutting the stuff down to about 20" lengths before ripping to help eliminate the effect of any bow in the wood, and it still pulled away.


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## DaveTTC (May 25, 2012)

chirpfarm said:


> I've been meaning to get a featherboard for a while, but haven't. I really don't know what I can do other than a featherboard or something like that; I have straight cuts when ripping plywood or cross-cutting the glue-up, but ripping the board lumber is getting me.


You might like this site. 20 plans, you can make your own. 

http://www.toolcrib.com/blog/2009/08/20-featherboard-plans-your-fingers-will-thank-you

Dave The Turning Cowboy


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*it must be straight*

The table saw will repeat a curve in the board even though the fence is straight, but the board is curved against the fence. A convex curve will give you exactly what you are experiencing. 

Sight down the board for a curve and use a straight edge like a 48" aluminum level for reference. No light should show between the board and the edge of the level. A hand plane will remove the curve if you have no jointer. Work on either end of a convex curve or in the center on a concave curve.  bill


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## chirpfarm (Jan 30, 2012)

woodnthings said:


> The table saw will repeat a curve in the board even though the fence is straight, but the board is curved against the fence. A convex curve will give you exactly what you are experiencing.
> 
> Sight down the board for a curve and use a straight edge like a 48" aluminum level for reference. No light should show between the board and the edge of the level. A hand plane will remove the curve if you have no jointer. Work on either end of a convex curve or in the center on a concave curve.  bill


I'm confident in the straightness of the wood; it sits tight along the length of my fence without issue, and the 20" chunks also sat tight on the cast table of the TS. Once I start ripping it closes up around the back of the splitter. Once it starts pulling away like that, the gap creeps its way back up towards the blade as I keep cutting, leading to crooked rips.


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

Sometimes a board will close in on the blade during a rip cut as forces inside the wood are released. For this the only cure is a splitter or a riving knife to prevent the board from contacting the rear of the blade.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*OK Now we're getting somewhere*

You have "reaction wood" in that it moves when you saw into it because of internal stresses. It's tough to deal with but here's what I would do. Immediately after cutting far enough into the board stop the saw and insert a thin wedge to keep the kerf open. 
Another approach would be to cut it a 1/8" extra wide, then trim off the the excess to your needed dimension.

I don't suppose you have a jointer based on your other thread, but that would be the best way to get straight edges. :yes: bill


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## chirpfarm (Jan 30, 2012)

woodnthings said:


> You have "reaction wood" in that it moves when you saw into it because of internal stresses. It's tough to deal with but here's what I would do. Immediately after cutting far enough into the board stop the saw and insert a thin wedge to keep the kerf open.
> Another approach would be to cut it a 1/8" extra wide, then trim off the the excess to your needed dimension.
> 
> I don't suppose you have a jointer based on your other thread, but that would be the best way to get straight edges. :yes: bill


That's kind of what I was afraid of. Guess I'll have to check out that jointer. I was just hoping that there was something I was doing wrong or a jig I could use to fix it, but based on everything I've read in this thread, I've been doing it right. Thanks for the help.


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## Hunter (May 10, 2012)

You probably need to consider a ripping blade. But before you spend any money try making a feather board. It's pretty easy and it can make a big difference.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*that won't help*



Hunter said:


> You probably need to consider a ripping blade. But before you spend any money try making a feather board. It's pretty easy and it can make a big difference.


Since a feather board can only be located in front of the blades teeth it won't assure the wood won't pull away at the rear. It's really the wood being relieved of it's internal stresses that's causing it to pull away.  bill


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

chirpfarm said:


> I've been meaning to get a featherboard for a while, but haven't. I really don't know what I can do other than a featherboard or something like that; I have straight cuts when ripping plywood or cross-cutting the glue-up, but ripping the board lumber is getting me.


The problem may be just with the wood you are using. You said the plywood cuts straight. You might try a totally different type of solid wood. Some wood will "walk" when being ripped, which is just a characteristic caused by grain stresses and variations.

Adding to the problem, it's likely you may be unconsciously trying to rectify the passing of the wood by overcoming the movement while it's being cut. I would first try a piece of a different stock of wood before making any changes to the saw. Under some conditions, a riving knife or splitter can be a detriment in that the wood could get bound against the edge if it so moves that way.

Wood with a straight edge used against the fence should be the best start for a good cut.









 







.


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## DaveTTC (May 25, 2012)

Yes my experience backs up the words of cabinetman

I was working with a piece of 4 x 4 some years ago. A mate need a profile close to 2 x 2, so decided to rip this beautiful straight piece into 4. 1/2 way thru the 1st cut the timber was binding on the blade so tight I could hardly push the saw thru anymore. I had now wrecked a perfectly good piece of timber, there was no way I was gonna stop now. I cut it in 4, profiled it and nailed it up at my mates house. The pieces were so warped they were almost impossible to use, but we did.

Yes machining timber can cause it to warp

Dave The Turning Cowboy


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

woodnthings said:


> Since a feather board can only be located in front of the blades teeth it won't assure the wood won't pull away at the rear. It's really the wood being relieved of it's internal stresses that's causing it to pull away.  bill


It will not effect the cut if it pulls away at the rear as long as this motion does not change the front relationship or cause binding. I will sometimes even set the fence a hair farther from the blade at the rear.

George


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## Mr woodman (Dec 7, 2020)

chirpfarm said:


> I've been meaning to get a featherboard for a while, but haven't. I really don't know what I can do other than a featherboard or something like that; I have straight cuts when ripping plywood or cross-cutting the glue-up, but ripping the board lumber is getting me.


I have a similar problem, I've been trying to rip 2x4 down the middle to make 1x4 and when my fence is on the left it pulls away at the back end about an 8th of an inch. I can't seem to stop it. But when I put the fence on the right of the blade it doesn't do it. But I'm still getting messy uneven cuts.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

You guys need to put the splitters back on the saws. Riving knives work also, but normally come on newer saws.
NEVER put a feather board behind the front of the blade, in the "red zone" of the insert, as it will force the wood into the back of the spinning blade which then cause it to ride up and over, a KICKBACK!.

The splitters keep the workpiece lightly registered/pressed against the rear of the fence as your cut progresses. I never knew about this until 25 years ago and had removed mine. They stay on the saw all the time now! 🙃


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