Cutting thick wood

[cwooddog]

Whenever I try to cut thick hardwoods, 1" to 1 and a half, i get a cut that is not square. What am I doing wrong?

[Wooden Lace]

Hi, sounds like several things could be the problem.  Try one at a time and see what helps.  Either your table isn't squared to the blade, or you're pushing too fast, or you're using too small of a blade, or not enough tension.  Sometimes it takes a bit of detective work to solve the problem, but in my experience, one - or more - of these fixes should work.

Good luck,
Nancy

[Wooden Lace]

Hello again,  just thought of 2 more things that can cause your problem.  If you are "pulling" the wood around corners, instead of pushing the wood into the blade from the front, that'll do it.  Lastly, a dull blade won't cut as true as a sharp one.

 I know some scrollers try to get every last cut from a blade before changing to a new one, but that just causes uneven cuts and fuzzies or tear-out on the back.
Best of luck,
Nancy

[cwooddog]

Thanks Nancy. I was using a new#9 blade on 1"Stock (1/2"maple,1/2"walnut). I was moving slowly on a slighty curved cut. When I fininshed the maple (the lower wood), had a curve to the cut, not square. So when i Tried to line up the walnut and maple in a checkerboard style the joints were not tight. Ill try the tension and check to make sure by blade is square to the table. Thanks again.