Just Raise it a Quater or So, Silly

It's Yo Birthday, Supafreak!

  You know what bad girls like me get on their birthday?! And when I say bad girl, you know what I mean? I mean superfreak! I'm a superfreak. (I'm super freaky - yow) We get anything we want 'cause we're super freaky.
 Anticipating today's extra special treats and activities, I've been thinking about what else, wood! I'm all about finesse. For all my years in "the business" I know the optimal ways to give and get the most pleasurable outcome when I'm intimately engaged with a nice stiff hunk of wood. Oops, pardon my drool!
 Now,I can't tell you how to do it because everyone is a little different but I can tell you how to get there. The way to achieve the ultimate, harmonious climax is to consider the following factors. Safety first? It's more a consideration for the less experienced and it just sucks to begin with but even I draw the line somewhere. If it looks gnarly, please protect yourself!
 Consider the thickness and hardness of the wood you're about to handle; is it hard yet flexible? Thin and long or scary thick? Think about all it's built up internal stress! Always be ready for the sudden release because sometimes you can't tell when it's going to pop. And pay attention to your rate of feed. Rate of feed. I think I just got wet.
 Rate of feed is linked to the thickness of that pretty piece you're handling. I'm sure it can be explained mathematically but basically it means the thicker the wood, the slower you can take it. I'm not embarrassed to admit that I can take it thick and fast. It's just what happens when it's your job.
 Of course, results are the bottom line and all I have to say about that is people love my bottom line. Lucky for me!



I remember reading somewhere, that one should keep the height of a table saw blade a quarter inch above the wood being cut. Like if you're cutting something 3/4 thick, the blade should be set at one inch. That's just fine when the saw has hold-downs and guards or is under a power feeder. Otherwise, it's bull. The only good thing about it could be - if you get cut, it probably won't be as deep. Maybe.

The best height of the blade is dependant on more than just the thickness of the wood. You have to consider its hardness, the flexibility of it, the speed you're pushing it, and the wood's own internal stress which, when cut into, can either pinch the blade or split itself in two. Maybe the scariest risk to having the blade so low is that you end up suddenly pushing the wood OVER the blade, then you are at the mercy of your own inertia and reflexes.
If you've ever cut plastic laminate, you know it's ridiculously wrong to use that 1/4" rule of thumb. Raising the blade nearly all the way up will hold the thin material down. It works the same way with thicker materials, too.

So, assuming a sharp blade on a well kept machine, there's safety, thickness, hardness, flexibility, internal stresses, rate of feed and desired results. Oh, and there's your attention span. (My first and worse cut was due to a lapse of attention.) There is an optimum balance between all those factors that seems to put the best blade height a good half inch or more above the material in most cases.