Mythbusting!

[Amateur Al]

Hi

I've been told a few things and want to check whether they're true..

• You should never lift a table saw by its table, even a cast iron one could bend.
  Red Freud blades can leave red paint marks on your work.
  Oak is high in moisture and rusts your blades/tools within minutes of cutting it.

Is there any truth in these?
Thanks.

 

[Lons]

* yep don't use the table as at best you risk pulling it out of alignment, a bit stupid when you've spent time fine tuning the damn thing.

* Never noticed my Freud blades shedding paint though I guess they must. Not an issue unless the cut from the saw is finished surface. Mine never is!

* As far as I know it has nothing to do with moisture but does react with steel. I believe it is the tannic acid content. Some other woods are also an issue, chestnut if I remember is one.

 

[Trevanion]

Yes, Yes, Yes.

A table saw isn't too bad and you won't bend the table but it is bad practice to lift any machine by its bed if it's possible to avoid it, sometimes it isn't possible. Planer Thicknessers, for example, are notorious for going out of alignment when lifted by the surfacing tables so these are best lifted by having pieces of wood run underneath the thicknessing bed.

I've seen the red coating on work from a Freud blade before, this only happens if the workpiece rubs the saw plate however and that really shouldn't happen in normal circumstances.

Oak is high in tannin, not moisture. Tannins attack iron and steel and will leave it black and rusted, so it's best not to leave bare oak or shavings on cast iron or any ferrous metal surface.

 

[Amateur Al]

And so I learn! Thank you both for explaining.

 

[Noel]

Hi

I've been told a few things and want to check whether they're true..

• You should never lift a table saw by its table, even a cast iron one could bend.
  Red Freud blades can leave red paint marks on your work.
  Oak is high in moisture and rusts your blades/tools within minutes of cutting it.

Is there any truth in these?
Thanks.

CI unlikely to bend, certainly on the heavier models, but alignment an issue but not always

Sometimes but as mentioned, good set-up will reduce instances of this

Complete and utter non-truth.

 

[RobinBHM]

Cast iron wont bend, straps around the table are a standard way to lift a cast top table saw.

But it may alter alignment.

Kiln dried oak wont leave a rust mark unless there is damp around.

Ive machined green oak before and that leaves rust marks almost immediately.

If you glue up oak with pva, sash clamps will rust where they touch the glue and mark the timber.

Ive often seen black marks outside on oak where somebody has used an angle grindrr to cut steel.

 

[transatlantic]

The only time you'll get the red paint come off the Feud blade is if the work piece binds, which is really a much bigger problem!

 

[custard]

You never lift a planer or a planer/thicknesser by the tables, doesn't matter if it's cast iron or aluminium, you just don't do it.

A saw table tends to have a top that overhangs less than a planer, so it may be safe to lift by the top, but to be safe the lifting straps should be as close to the chassis of the saw as possible.

Oak is a special case because it has high tannin levels (many timbers contain tannin, it's just that Oak contains lots of tannin!). This gives rise to all sorts of stories about its proclivity to rust tools. Basically if you're working with dry wood and follow normal good practise procedures then there's no need to worry.

I don't normally use Frued tooling, but I've worked in workshops where it was used and I never saw any red staining. Frued's a big and established tooling manufacturer, if there was an obvious problem like that then rest assured that they'd fix it!

 

[SammyQ]

It largely depends too on the underbracing (webbing) below a cast iron or aluminium table. And on whether you have bolt-on wings or side tables, versus one-piece. My Elecktra Beckum planer in sturdy aluminium is easy to put out of whack, but my Wadkin AGS is virtually bombproof, provided you lift by the central table. Lifting by the two wings stands a good chance of tearing out the three non-tensile bolts beneath each as 400lbs plus/200Kg acts through a substantial moment of force...
Try putting a 'clock' probe onto a machine table, vertically downwards, then hoick the nearest edge gently upwards, not aiming to.lift it, just pressure it. You may get a surprise, even with cast iron, but definitively with aluminium. DAMHIKT.

Sam