ENOUGH BS! Here's how high your table saw blade should be.

if you ask 10 woodworkers how high above the surface of a board a table saw blade should be set you're likely to get about 10 different answers that's because the true answer is it depends it depends on what you're cutting how you're cutting it and even how many of your fingers you're willing to sacrifice in the process so let's take a few minutes to discuss how the height of your saw blade can affect the work you're doing some folks say that the distance between the top of the board and the top of the teeth on the blade should be equal to how deeply you're willing to be cut they reason that if the teeth barely break the surface of the wood your hand is far less likely to come into contact with them should workpiece kick back and pull your hand toward the blade this is a valid argument remember this guy if that saw blade had been set a little bit higher he'd have lost a finger for sure but others will point out that the lower the blade is set the more the teeth will push the wood back toward you as opposed to the teeth of a fully raised blade which are pushing almost directly upward at the back of the blade and downward at the front of the blade for this reason they claim that a higher blade is less likely to cause kickback in theory this argument makes sense but in actual practice the most common and dangerous type of kickback occurs when the back teeth on the blade lift the workpiece upward and pull it and possibly your hand on top of the blade itself the back teeth of a fully razor blade can still do that and when they do there will be a lot more of the blade above the table to cut you of course this assumes who aren't using your blade guard if you are using the blade guard as you should be your fingers will be protected from the blade no matter its height and the built-in splitter will protect you from kickback so you're left free to raise the blade to whatever height produces the best cut so how does blade height affect cut quality the lower the blade is set the more of the teeth are in the kerf at a given time and the lower the angle at which those teeth contact the board creating a less aggressive cut that requires a slower feed rate in some materials this all adds up to more Frick and heat and potentially more scorching or your workpiece raising the blade reduces the number of teeth inside the kerf during the cut and these teeth now strike the wood and a more aggressive angle which may cut some materials a bit faster and reduce heat buildup and scorching but the more aggressive cut can also leave more blade marks behind and since the teeth exit the wood at nearly a straight downward motion you may end up with more taro on the underside of the workpiece especially if you don't have a proper zero clearance throat insert remember a while back we made a video about making your own zero clearance throat inserts with built in splitters so it protects you from kickback and from taro I'll link to those in the notes below this video if you weigh all the pros and the cons the chances of kickback the potential for heat buildup in the kerf the angle at which the teeth contact the wood and the potential for tear out you'll find that the optimal blade height in most situations is when the teeth fully clear the top of the board so that the bottom of the gullet is just exposed above the workpiece incidentally this is the height many blade manufacturers expect you to set your blade and they design their blades accordingly some blades are designed with specific tooth angles called positive and negative rakes if you raise or lower your blade you effectively change the way the teeth contact the wood and the blade may not work as intended that doesn't mean you shouldn't raise or lower your blade if the situation calls for it though if you're getting scorch marks you may raise it up a little bit if you're getting a lot of tear out you may lower it a bit if you're cutting thin plywood a higher blade may help keep it down on top of the saw during the cut if you're cutting acrylic you may want to lower the blade height to reduce chipping but not so much that you increase heat so the bottom line is understanding how the saw blades teeth affect your work will help you to make the right choice for your blade your material in your situation and I hope this video has helped we couldn't do what we do without folks like the bushy family over at clear Vue cyclones not only do they make the best dust collection cycle is on the market but they're woodworkers supporting woodworkers they're the sponsor of this video and I really hope you'll thank them by visiting their website and using our discount code below this video wait don't go yet if you're new here please subscribe and remember to ring the bell I would really appreciate that give us a thumbs up or better yet leave us a comment I always read them and be sure to check out the latest issue of stumpy nubs woodworking journal it's always packed with tips tricks and tutorials designed to make you a better wood record

Channel: Stumpy Nubs

Views: 458,616

Keywords: woodworking, stumpy nubs, tips, workbench, table saw, scroll saw, drill press, quick tip, band saw, bandsaw, lumber, hack, hand plane, sharpening, tormek, worksharp, diamond stone, water stone, wood turning, bowls, lathe

Id: JL8-1bmt7XY

Length: 4min 57sec (297 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 21 2019