Thick material

[Scott]

I was cutting some 1-1/2" thick material this past weekend and it seemed like I had to push too hard and it was very noisy to cut. Material was Basswood and Pine (construction lumber type) I'll have to see what speed the saw is set to. This is on my new Delta saw. Using a skip tooth blade, but I am not sure which size since the saw sat for a long time and I have since forgotten which blade I put in there. It cuts about the speed I suspect it should in thinner material, from 1/4" to 3/4" stock. It was a higher end blade too, not a cheapo.

Anyway, I suspect that I have something setup wrong. Maybe I should go through the setup again before cutting anything else. Make sure the blade is square to the table, etc. Has anyone else experienced the slowness of cutting with these materials at this thickness?

[don in brooklin on]

Basswood should be easier to cut than Pine.  If the pine is construction grade you night have spruce or fur.  SPF

I am currently cutting a bunch of elves feet and it is 1 by 1 1/2 pine and when cutting the 1 1/2 inch way it is slow. 

When cutting the first few I used a Flying Dutchman Ultra Reverse #3.  I only have 30 more to go so I am going to cut the face with #3 and then when I do the 1 1/2 depth I am going to use a #5.

[Billbo49]

Recently I was given a 12x14,2 inch thick of solid oak, I have no idea what I’m going to do with it