"DerbyDad03" wrote in message

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've used a fair amount of poplar and have never encountered that problem.
I'm fixing to need another 150-200 board feet of it so hope I never do

The only times I have ever had a kerf close up is when ripping white wood
2x4s for this and that. I just stick a wedge in the kerf.

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.

I made one just for ripping panels out of mel board. I can do any length,
up to 36" wide. Two runners, white oak.

--

dadiOH
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