Advice for many rip cuts project

[jhelfer]

So, I'm building a yurt, which is a round tent-like structure whose walls are wooden lattice.

I need *A Lot* of these slats to make the structure (well over a hundred), so I am planning on cutting down 2x6's to make the 3/8"x1-1/2"x8' slats. I have two questions.

Would it be a good idea to pick up a thin-kerf rip blade for this project ? And about how many of these rips can I get away with before I should let the motor cool off a bit?

Thanks for any advice!
-Jim

[LarryG]

A thin kerf blade will work a saw's motor less, but a purpose-built rip blade (24T, usually) would likely help more than the small reduction in kerf size would make. If you don't have a rip blade, you might use this as a good excuse to buy one; and if you do that, you might as well get a TK. BTW, if you have a BT3x00 with the stock blade, you already have a TK blade.

Impossible to say how many cuts you can make without giving the saw a breather: that would depend on the motor's horsepower, the feed rate, and the wood's species and density -- and there can be considerable variation in density even among boards of the same species. About all you can do is let your senses guide you ... if the motor seems to be laboring and you're having to reduce the feed rate a lot, it's time to take a break.

As a matter of curiosity, is there a reason you couldn't rip these strips from 3/8" plywood?

[pelligrini]

If you don't already have a rip blade I would reccomend getting one. I picked up a Oshlun 24T Rip blade during Holbren's router bit closeout and it really made a world of difference when I tried it out ripping a bunch of maple floor pieces and some other 2x material.

[dkerfoot]

I was amazed at how much of a difference a 24 tooth thin kerf rip blade (Freud LU87R010) made. Rips through hard maple like buddah.

[jhelfer]

Cool. I'm just cutting 2x6's into strips, but I'll be doing a bunch of them!

[jhelfer]

Thanks for giving me and excuse to buy a new blade!

As for plywood, apparently it's been tried and didn't really perform well.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Mediev.../message/24050

[Tom Slick]

I don't have a recommendation on duty cycle for the saw but I'd recommend letting the saw run unloaded for 30 seconds or so after doing alot of cutting. that will allow the cooling fan to help get rid of some of the heat. when you just turn it off the heat stays in the motor.

What saw are you using?

[jhelfer]

I'm using a BT3100 that's a couple years old. Sorry, should have mentioned that.

[cgallery]

Out of all my blades (and I'm no Scott Spencer but I do have blades from Forrest, Leitz, Freud, DeWalt, and I'm sure some others I've forgotten), the DeWalts require, by far, the lowest amount of feed pressure. If I had a lot of ripping to do I'd get one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...etsreviews2-20

[poolhound]

I have the HD freud DIablo version it works great, I think it was only around $25.

Another option if all you are doing is bulk ripping less than 2" thick is to use a 7 1/4" circ saw blade. I think the diablos are less than 10".

If you are ripping up these 2x6s you should be prepared for most of them to warp as the pressure is released and the internal moisture drys out. If they are all going to be nailed down it may not be an issue.

[jhelfer]

They be pretty much immediately bolted into a lattice-structure at 5-6 points along the length, so it should be OK.

[pelligrini]

How are you going to rip all those strips?

I have had some good success with narrow rips using a couple Grippers. They're not exactly cheap, but I like using them. I do have a really bad habit of not using the blade guard. Hopefully that will change once my Sharkguard arrives.

[Sawatzky]

I would be sure to use featherboards on a cut like that to keep the work tight against the fence. Also make sure you use a push stick.

[charliex]

What everyone else said. If you are using construction grade softwood (pine, spruce, fir ) be sure to use the riving knife. As you rip this stuff it will warp and bind the blade if you don't. (DAMHIKT) putting excess strain on the motor and increasing the potential for kick-back.

[George Cole]

As I have posted in the past I found that a dedicated circuit actually freed up the saw. I greatly reduced laboring motor.
Just what I found the hard way.