re: Help

It can also be as simple as an out of align table saw.

I helped an associate out in his cabinet shop about twenty years ago. He had a 3 hp Unisaw like mine, but a decade or so older. He complained the quality of the sharpening job he’d just had done on a blade, because it was working hard to get through oak 2x’s.

I brought a set up gauge I’d designed and checked the blade to table alignment. He said he’d just set the saw up using a tape! It was out over 1/16". Once the top was tightened back down, we checked the fence. It was out 1/8" in the same direction (so was also out 1/16"). So we set that too.

Once the saw was aligned, he tossed on the same test oak 2x and was shocked at the difference in the ease of the cut. Essentially, his 1/8" blade had been running more like a 1/4" dado.

My method of set up is:

1) Raise the blade fully;
2) Use an Try-square or something that can adjust and run in the track, push the ruler up against one tooth on the operator side and lock it.
3) Spin the tooth you just set up off of to the back
4) Move your Try-square to the back and note the difference, if any.
5) If there is gap, or the alignment gauge gets tight, loosen the table top from the base and move it that gazillionith of an inch, then re-tighten and re-test, continuing until you’re happy with it.