When ripping hardwoods (such as oak) on your table saw or radial-arm saw, you may notice that the saw blade has a tendency to leave burn marks on the stock. How can you get rid of these saw blade burns?
While there are a few different methods for getting rid of them, the best solution is not to get them in the first place. In How to Eliminate Saw Blade Burns, we provide a list of items to check on your saw to lessen the chance that you'll burn your stock, as well as a couple of methods for cleaning up the stock if you do get a saw blade burn on your wood. I was recently speaking with another woodworker who was building a woodworking project with oak, but was getting a lot of saw blade burns on the oak after cutting with his table saw. He wanted some tips for cleaning up the saw blade burns. While it isn't all that difficult to get rid of saw blade burns, such as the one on the image below, it's better not to get the burn marks in the first place. How? Begin by checking your saw blade. Make sure that the blade is sharp, clean and free of pitch. A dull blade will slow the rate at which the stock can be pushed through the saw. Pushing the stock through the saw too slowly is a common cause of saw blade burn. Next, check the alignment of your saw blade. If the blade is not perfectly parallel to your fence, you're more likely to get burning. While you're at it, check your splitter (behind the blade) and make sure it is perfectly aligned with the blade and parallel to the fence. Without a splitter, the two halves your wood stock may be inclined to pinch together behind the cut, binding against the blade and causing burns. If you have burns on your stock that you need to remove, you can try sanding them out, but you might have a bit more luck using a wood plane or a sharp, flat scraper. However, if you make the proper adjustments to your saw before you begin the project, you'll decrease the chances that you'll have to deal with saw blade burns.
