I'm learning stuff...

As my kitchen upgrade continues, I had the pleasure of ripping about 100 linear feet of 1 x 6 Poplar this weekend. The pieces ranged in length from a few that were over 60" to large number between 25" and 35".

I was using a 40 tooth GP blade, Freud D1040X. The ripping went very smoothly and I got a pretty good edge on all boards, but I did run into an interesting (at least to me) situation.

I learned that the darker the Poplar, the greater the internal tension and the more apt that the kerf was going to close around the splitter. In some cases I wasn't able to rip more than halfway through the board before it would bind up. Early on I was pulling the boards back out (with the saw off, of course) flipping them and coming in from the other end to complete the rip.

I eventually got to the point where I was putting the darker boards aside, ripping the "lighter" ones with the splitter installed, and then (somewhat nervously) ripping the darker ones without the splitter/guard. I don't know for sure that all of the darker ones would have jammed around the splitter, but I can say for certain that none of the lighter ones did.

I have a 24 tooth ripping blade, but it is in serious need of sharpening. (In fact, I dropped it off at a saw and knife shop this morning) The 24 tooth cuts a wider kerf than the D1040X, so I might not have had the binding problem, but I don't think it was sharp enough to have given me such a clean edge. I have read about internal stresses causing kickback and other issues, but this was the first time that I actually experienced it first hand - not kickback, but the closing of the kerf on the splitter.

In any case, the ripping is done, I now have to wait for a decent dado set to magically appear in my shop so that I can start on the grooves and stub-tenons.

In the meantime, I'm going to build a *real* cross-cut sled to replace one I made years ago when I had even less of a clue than I have now. It works, but just barely, and it's not big enough for the MDF panels I'll need for the kitchen doors.