Rip Fence and Rip Capacity

Published at Tuesday, January 15th 2019. by Adelisa Legrand in Industrial Machinery.

Blade Teeth. Blade teeth the more teeth on a blade, the smoother the cut. The majority of blades have between 24 and 80 teeth, expect for blades specifically designed to cut through certain materials. Why would you go with more or fewer teeth? More teeth ensures that the cut is smoother, but it also means the cutting will be done more slowly. Fewer teeth means faster cutting, but the cut will be rougher. A word to the wise: Do NOT EVER attempt to make the cutting faster by pushing the wood onto the blade. The only thing this will do is cause kickback, which will eject the wood back at you at a high rate of speed and potentially hurt you severely. So just be patient.

Fence and Miter Gouge Considerations Explained. Table saws are used primarily for ripping lumber, and in order to rip wood down to the desired width every table saw needs a fence. It's one of the most crucial components, so I thought the information below would come in handy for a lot of you.

see also

Optimizing Cross Cut Saw

Table Inserts. throat plate Table inserts, or throat plates as they are usually called are nothing more than thin pieces of metal or wood, mounted around the blade and leveled with the surface of the table. This prevents small pieces of wood from falling inside the arbor.

After you have penciled in a line where you want the cross-cut to be made, align it with the blade. With the saw turned on guide the miter gouge forward until the cut is made while making sure the board is firmly in place against the straight edge of the miter gouge. One of the simplest cuts a miter gouge allows you to make is a square cross-cut. Simply set the miter gouge at 90 degrees or zero (depending on the markings), and push the board toward the blade. The result will be a board that is cut square. You can also make angled cuts by setting the miter gouge at an angle of up to 45 degrees.

There are some differences between T-square fences found on table saws. Some of them make use of bolts in order to mount the fence tube to the T-square head which is more like a characteristic of lighter duty fences found on hybrid and contractor saws. Heavy-duty fences found on cabinet saws have the fence tube welded to the T-square head.

On/Off Switch. The on/off switchThese days, table saws come with an on/off switch that allows for easy access should the situation call for it. Usually these switches are located at the front of the saw, and preferably the off button should be large enough to be operated using your entire hand (protected of course), elbow, or even your knee. The easier it is to switch the table saw off, the better.

In the past, table saw blades were meant to cut only wood, but they are now able to cut through metal, plastic, and other materials. Mind you, most blades are still fabricated out of metal, but some also feature special alloys and materials in the teeth, and various carbon composites for the body. Before deciding on a blade, you need to look at several characteristics such as its diameter, the material it's made of, the material it's designed to cut, number of teeth, maximum speed, and price, among others. Of course, the blade needs to match your table saw as well. Now, let's see how you do all that.

Gallery of Rip Fence and Rip Capacity