Things that make you go Hmmmmmmm

[bigdaddyjohn]

In all honesty, I haven't used my bt3100 all that much. Recently, I have started to change that and so I come to you, the bt3 brethren for help.

Last night I started ripping 3/4" strips from 1-1/2" thick popular. I don't know the moisture content but the stuff is hard and old. I found it in my garage when converting it to my shop.

Anyway, while feeding the stock, the saw slowed considerably. If I slowed the feed rate, the tone of the saw speed increased but I then had burns in my wood.

The blade seems sharp and is the stock Freud blade (have had the saw for 4 years but just now getting enough toys, ahem tools, to go along with it.

I have the saw plugged into a 20 amp circuit, 12/2 with ground, going into my circuit panel. Nothing else is on the circuit as the 8 foot run from the circuit panel ends at that outlet.

Is this unusual for this saw?

Thanks,
Bigdaddyjohn

[LCHIEN]

that's pretty much classical, you need to run a tool at a slow enough feed rate that doesn't overload the motor - it's normal to slow down some but if it slows too much then the current will increase and burn out the windings. If you feed too slowly then the wood gets burned.

basically you want unlimited motor power to be able to rip as fast as possible and the fast moving wood will not burn. Since motor power is always limited, then you need enough margin to have a non-critical feed rate so you suffer neither problem.

If you can't feed slow enough to keep the motor from overloading and still keep it from burning then you are in a quandry.

I hear you, when you said you think you have gotten a heavy cord and dedicated circuit and its properly wired.
Personally I think you should be able to saw 1-1/2 inch poplar. Poplar is far from the hardest, baddest wood out there.

Two things that can help are
a dedicated ripping blade (like a 24-tooth thin kerf) will be better (faster feeding)
and possibly properly aligning the rip fence/splitter so there's no drag.
Maybe cleaning the blade might help some.

Also , maybe taking a 15 amp load like a portable heater or hair dryer (something you can run at full load safely) and putting it at the saw outlet and checking the voltage while running the load. Should be at least 110Volts at the saw, if not then you have a too small wire or bad lossy connection somewhere. Even if you wired it properly those problems can cause a serious loss and loss of power. if it drops to 100 volts you will have lost about 40% of your power.

[bigdaddyjohn]

Thanks for the advice and sympathy. I just wired the outlet recently but did happen to recheck it. Wiring is perfect. No dedicated blade anytime soon as i just bought a dado set (two as a matter of fact, another story).

Just thought maybe I was missing something. Sounds like it's typical.

[Stytooner]

It's typical to a point. This is a typical thing for guys that are fairly new to a saw like this. Even if they have had experience with other saws and induction motors, the universal motor on the BT acts differently. It turns faster for one thing. This is no load speed. During actual cutting, the speed would slow and be on par with an induction motor. It slows to the high torque point. This is the optimal speed to have the blade running at. It will take some time to figure out what the saw sounds like at optimal speed and torque.
If you slow the saw too much, burning is possible and likely. One way to deter burning is to make certain the rip fence and riving knife are aligned well as Loring mentioned. If you are using the guard, you may also be getting some binding from the pawls on this size strip.
Once everything is setup right and you have some footage ripped under your belt, the problem should just go away. I don't experience these issues since I became familiar with how the saw operates.
It is a very capable saw that can be extremely accurate. It is however, pretty unique in just about every way.
The stock blade should eventually produce burn free cuts even in maple for you.

[scorrpio]

I haven't seen the old stock Freud blade - my BT3 already had chinese version. When the blade was still new, I needed to rip a few 2x4s in half, and found stock blade bogging down occasionally - or burning. Then, I replaced it with a Ridge Carbide TS2000. Also a combo blade, but with far more aggressive teeth and deeper gullets. The difference was amazing - it sliced those 2x4s like butter. I since used that blade to cut oak, poplar, maple, and others - up to 2" thick - with no problems.

[cgallery]

One other option to consider is cutting the wood in two passes. Raise the blade halfway, make a pass. Raise it the rest of the way, finish the cut.

With a sharp blade in my BT3000 cutting 1-1/2" poplar in a single pass would be no problem. With a so-so blade, I'd probably have to slow down the feed rate quite a bit.

[LCHIEN]

Thanks for the advice and sympathy. I just wired the outlet recently but did happen to recheck it. Wiring is perfect. No dedicated blade anytime soon as i just bought a dado set (two as a matter of fact, another story).

Just thought maybe I was missing something. Sounds like it's typical.

Good ripping blades are not real expensive because they have 1/2 to 1/3 the teeth of a good cross-cut blade. Most big hardware stores will have a 24-T ripper 10" for around $25, brand new and sharp.

[pecker]

If the wood is not flat on the bottom face and on the edge that rides along the fence, you will have those problems also.

[Garasaki]

I be ripping 2 1/2" hard maple burn free on mine.

But I use a 25 dollar TK rip blade, and the feed rate is very slow.

You should check this thread out over on woodnet

Good blades, good price

I also immediately thought of "cleaning your blade" when I read your story. It makes a surprising difference.

With a good blade and properly aligned saw (fence especially) you should have no trouble producing burn free rips on the BT3k.

[bigdaddyjohn]

Tanks

Well, it's the middle of the night and it's finally slow enough at work to check the website.

Blade is clean and I mill the wood via jointer and planer, Face then Edge. It was square.

In the past, I have always been impressed with the Freud blade and thought it cut remarkably smooth but had always noticed the speed slow down. The notes on the Universal motor makes since. I have never slowed so much that it stalls. Varying the rate of speed changes whether it burns or not. Just wanted to make sure I was Hearing, what I should be hearing.

Thanks
John

[Greg.B]

You said the stock is square but is your rip fence properly aligned ? That could be the issue as noted above.

[jabe]

Get a dedicated 24 T rip blade. Have your blades sharpened & cleaned regularly. I use "Awesome" full strength to clean my blades, it's environmentally freindly and cheap. I spray it on and let it soak 10 min. then lightly brush the teeth with an old tooth brush and wash it off with tap water. Wipe it dry and spray on WD-40 if you're going to store it or I wax it with Johnson paste wax.