I just installed a fresh 40 tooth blade (I don't remember the new blade brand name) into my table saw. I was cutting some hickory and it was burning so I figured it was time to sharpen/clean. But when I was cutting that same hickory at the same rate and everything else I noticed it struggled to cut. The saw has a 15A motor and has never had this problem before.

And I mean bog down; it was dying, I swear. So I stop feeding it and ran back up and fed much, much slower.

The stock was only a 1/2" thick. The blade was 3/8" above the wood and I do what I have always done when cutting (which is pretty much how school taught me last year when in wood-shop).

I did not see any wobble (or at least more than usual, there was always a small amount but never hurt the performance). So I don't know what is happening but I have to feed pretty darn slow compared to before. It may be the cold, since it is winter and I have a shed without heat, but it always just spun right up and had no issue.

Any thoughts?

Note: if I had to guess on feed rate (And I mean GUESS) I would say hard woods take me 4 seconds for a 1" board without bog (now its like 5-7.... ) and softwoods like 2 seconds for a 1" board.

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    Hickory is pretty #$%^ tough... but have you changed anything electrically? Were you running a heater in the shop that was sucking juice? – Aloysius Defenestrate Feb 11 '17 at 5:34
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    You might want to specify for any gearheads with experience of electric motors the approximate temperature inside your shed. Could make a big difference if it's 5°F rather than 35°F. – Graphus Feb 11 '17 at 10:00
  • @AloysiusDefenestrate the only thing that was changed electrically was a bugger breaker. But other than some LED lights, it was the only thing on at the time. – Ljk2000 Feb 11 '17 at 16:12
  • @Graphus I never got a truly good look but it is just a motor with blade just by the quick look. It is about 25-35 through out the week. – Ljk2000 Feb 11 '17 at 16:13
  • Also, it actually matters, especially at this sort of tooth pitch, whether it is intended for ripping or cross-cutting, and whether you are doing rips or crosscuts. How teeth are (or are not) offset, and the size and number of gullets can make a real different in how the fibres are ripped or cut, and how the kerf is cleared. All things considered equal, at 40TPI make sure you have sufficient clearance to let the saw throw the cut material out of the kerf without dragging it back into the kerf. You also don't mention if you have a riving knife installed, which could make a big difference. – jdv Aug 1 '19 at 19:00

Test the same blade on some softwood you've cut before as a control. Still bogging down? It's the saw. Rate of cut the same as you're used to? It's the hickory and you just have to live with how slowly it's cutting. No matter how slow the cut feels you can console yourself with the thought that it is far faster than ripping it by hand with a panel saw!

Your TS's motor is probably not that powerful if it's a smaller, relatively affordable model and the hickory might be particularly tough (remember, wood constantly varies) so there may not be a problem, it could just be how slowly this wood is cutting on this saw.

  • That makes sense. Thanks for the answer. I will try some pine and then oak. Should give me a good idea and will add comment if it is still being a 'drag'. – Ljk2000 Feb 11 '17 at 16:15
  • I was working in there tonight and it handled pine pretty normal. I still noticed a slight drop but I think that is to be expected. – Ljk2000 Feb 12 '17 at 1:09
  • @Glorfindel, I commonly edit spam posts to reduce visibility of the link, which is the very thing the spammer wants to maximise and we want to frustrate :-) This is the first time I've been asked not to. Given any member in good standing can just look at the revision history I don't see it makes any difference to the ability to combat them, in either the short term or the long term. – Graphus Jul 17 '20 at 7:53

If you feel like your saw worked better before you replaced the blade, then I would suspect the blade. You say it's new, but is it a good quality blade? I suggest picking up a new, quality, blade and seeing if there's a difference. I recently went from cursing my contractor's saw for being weak and annoying, to loving it, just by replacing the blade, so I know that can make a huge difference.

Binding of the blade by the wood can also make a difference. Are you using a splitter?

Finally, if your rip fence is not parallel to the saw blade, you will have binding. Check that out using a long and accurate straight edge.

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    Goodness, I did not notice I was zombie posting. Oh well. – Puddles Aug 1 '19 at 17:00
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    "Luuuuuuumber...." moans the shambling hulk as it heads toward the shop. – jdv Jul 16 '20 at 21:45

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