Binding at the splitter

[Dutchboy]

I have a Jet Cabinet saw with a Forest WWII blade and a bessy. splitter that is fitted with a Sharkguard. As I am feeding the wood through I get a fair amount of resistance once I hit the splitter. This is the case with both the bessy and Sharkguard splitter. I also get some burning on the non fence side plus my cut can be off 1/32 on a 2 ft board. I have tuned up my table saw. Can I use the thin kerf splitter with that blade? Any other suggestions. Thanks, Alvin

[Robert Adams]

Sounds like wood with stresses in it. One of the reasons splitters tend to annoy me. I would give the thinner splitter a try as a thin one is still better than none(sometimes...)

[jteneyck]

Are you sure everything is parallel? Blade and fence with miter slot, and splitter in line with the blade? I know it sounds obvious but if the splitter is narrower than the blade it should not be causing your problem unless the wood is moving or something is out of alignment. Does the problem happen if you rip a piece of plywood or MDF? If so, something is definitely out of alignment.

John

[Stytooner]

It does sound like an alignment issue. When a splitter is aligned, it will be non obtrusive for a cut. That is unless it is reactionary wood, in which case the splitter is doing it's job. Preventing that wood from closing on the back teeth of the blade and then sending it to your front teeth.
Check it not only for parallelism, but 90 degrees vertically. A discrepancy in either direction can cause binding.
Check the actual width of the kerf the saw is cutting. Insure the splitter is narrower than that and true. Lastly use some paste wax on the splitter to both keep it clean and slick up the surface. Some high resin wood can leave sticky residue on the splitter or riving knife that will tend to grab stock being cut.
A properly aligned and maintained splitter or riving knife can save your life. It's worth the effort.

[Steve N]

I agree it's likely alignment, but just to check, grab a piece of any other wood than what you are having trouble with. If it goes through smoothly maybe it is the wood.

[handi]

Burning on one side of the cut only speaks to alignment of the fence.

Splitter binding can be caused by the splitter being thicker than the blade. A standard splitter tends to be .090" thick. Plenty thin for a full kerf blade, but only 0.003 thicker than a thin kerf blade. And probably thicker than a sharpened thin kerf blade. With those tolerances, it does not take much mis-alignment to bind up.

In order to get clean smooth cuts on BOTH sides of the kerf, the fence must be absolutely parallel with the blade.

Ralph

[Arlin Eastman]

I had that problem when I first got my saw and I had to sit down to figure out why.

I then seen the splitter was not in line with the saw blade and had to move it over after checking with a straight edge from the blade to the splitter.

Arlin

[Ken Vick]

Sometimes you have to shim the splitter so that it lines up with the blade. I do on my Unisaw. it is a very thin shim in my case but if it is not there, the wood drags on the splitter. Ken