Why so much smoke? new bt

[ezland00]

I just got my bt3100 Saw less than a month. i have no problem cutting 3/4" particle board. Just last weekend, i try to rip some 2x4's down to 3-1/4" and receiving lots of burning smoke. i didn't when very fast, it took me 3-4mins. to cut each peice. This doesn't look normal is it?

[LCHIEN]

Burning occurs from two things -
too Slow feed rate
Improper alignment.

If you feed too slowly the edge of the blade rubs against the edge of the wood causing a lot of friction and burning, even tho the force may not be great the repeated and prolong contact will heat it up and burn. The solution is to feed faster so this does not happen. Feed fast enough that the motor does not labor to the point of wanting to stall. For a 2x4 you will hear the motor slow quite a bit. I swould say 3-4 minutes is WAYYY too slow a feed. More like 15 seconds for a 6' 2x4. I think offhand feed around 1-2-3 seconds per foot. Also plan your feed technique and infeed and outfeed supports and pushsticks. If you pause or stop then the wood will burn there.

Alignment - if the rip fence is not parallel with the blade and in fact skewed, the back of the blade will make contact with one or the other side of the cut in a significant way leading to rough cuts (you can see the swirl marks plainly) and possible aggravating of burning with slow feeds.

Sometimes if the wood is thick and hard then a slow feed is all you can do so you must make sure the alignment is optimal. In the worst case of not being able to feed fast enough then you need more motor power.
With the BT you should easily be able to rip a pine 2x4 the thin way.

I think your biggest problem is the feed rate.

[LarryG]

Another clue is contained in the statement that the saw was previously used to cut particleboard. Particleboard consists of sawdust, wood chips, and glue. If any of that glue built up on the blade, smoking (accompanied by a burning odor) can result when it gets hot again.

So if your blade isn't nice and shiny, try cleaning it and see if that helps.

A possible related problem is that materials like particleboard and MDF are h3ll on blades. Could be the blade has been significantly dulled, depending on how much particleboard was cut.

[bigsteel15]

Also, if you have a blade that is optimal for cutting particle board and plywood it isn't necesarily great for ripping stock.

[Russianwolf]

another possibility is the 2x4 itself.

If it had a high moisture content you could have been seeing steam, not smoke.

Also the 2x4's that I have around here have alot of internal tension and can pinch the blade if you aren't using the splitter, this can also cause burning. Were you going slow by choice or was the wood that hard to feed?

[ezland00]

thanks for great tips.

The smoke is coming from the bottom of the table saw. i'll have someone take a picture while i'm cutting the 2x4's. i need to cut 20 of them but i only did 4 because of smoke.

i did try to push the 2x4's faster, but the motor doesn't sound too good. I'll try all the tips and see how it come out

thanks once again.
EZ

[meika123]

All the other responses were great advise, as usual. My only comment would be to try to isolate the problem. Try another blade and see what happens with it. Just remember, the more teeth per inch (TPI) the finer the cut. A 24 tooth blade is the best for ripping. But the 36t factory blade that came with my saw did an outstanding job of both ripping and crosscutting. HTH

Dave in NC

[venkatbo]

Then there are these combo blades... just to add more spice to the mix :-)


/venkat