Is the splitter too big on TS3660?

[taa800]

I'm having a problem feeding my workpiece through my table saw. Every time it gets to the splitter, I can't move it any further. I can seem to cut 1/4 inch thick pieces ok (although there is a little bit of hesitation when it first hits the splitter), but I'm trying to cut a 3/4 inch piece of mdf. I'm using the splitter/guard assembly that comes with the saw. It seems that the splitter is thicker than the blade, and that's causing my problem. I've read a couple other posts on this forum about this, and they say to check the guard alignment and overall alignment of my saw. All of my alignments seem to be right on. I also read one where a guy lost a couple of fingers and that scares the heck out of me. I'm not going to take the blade guard off. I'm trying to cut a 2' x 4' piece of mdf to 32'' long using the rip fence. Should I not be doing this?
Any help or suggestions are appreciated.

Todd

[kirkroy]

My blade was narrower than the splitter. Ridgid replaced the blade...

[taa800]

How did you go about getting a new blade? Did you go back to Home Depot?

[BadgerDave]

The stock blade pretty much sucks anyways so why not just replace it with a better blade. That will solve your problem but not necessarily make you feel good about it. Any blade that Ridgid would send you would probably have a thicker kerf but it still will be a low quality blade.

To answer you question, no, the splitter isn't too thick. The problem lies with the blade.

[kirkroy]

I just used the web site (www.ridgid.com). However, even before buying the saw I had the intent of putting a freud blade on there. I did want ridgid to supply a blade that actually works on the saw, though, for those cuts I don't want to use a good blade on...

[ACP]

I have not had this problem with my TS 3660. How long ago did you get yours? I bought mine in January.

[taa800]

I got mine late last year. I read another forum post about this and saw that a number of people had this issue. I measured the thicknesses and found my blade to be about 0.01 inch less than the splitter. I got a Craftsman blade based on a review I saw in Wood magazine, so I measured that blade and found it to be about that much thicker than the splitter. I'll put that on tomorrow and that should solve my issue. I wouldn't have thought that they would sell a saw where the blade was thinner than the splitter. Overall, it's a nice saw, but that makes me scratch my head wondering what they were thinking.

[MarkSJohnson]

My 3660 has only been tuned for a few days, and I've only made a few cuts...without the guard.

What irks me about getting a new blade is that I bought a Forrest WWII thin kerf just two weeks before buying the Ridgid. I'm going to pick up a full kerf Forrest WWII this weekend, but it bugs me that I feel I have to re-buy a reasonably pricey item that I just bought...

I know that in the end it'll be a very nice setup, though. :rolleyes:

[kirkroy]

Why wouldn't the WWII thin kerf work fine with the stock splitter? I'm using a thin kerf blade on mine and I know lots of folks have the WWII thin kerf specifically on the TS3660...

[BadgerDave]

kirkroy is correct, there is no reason why that thin kerf WWII won't work on your 3660. No need to go out and buy a regular kerf blade.

[Hacksaw123]

I had the same problem, but I only "thought" the splitter was too wide. It turned out to be an alignment problem. Armed with a dial indicator, I set out to re-align my blade, fence, and splitter. It took about an hour of fooling around but I finally got everything parallel with everything else. Now there are no problems. Cuts are now effortless (and safer). Before aligning, the wood would get bound at the back of the fence because the fence and the blade were closer together at the back. This caused the kerf in the wood to catch on the splitter.

The first time I aligned everything I used only a measuring tape. A dial indicator and digital calipers the second time made a huge difference. I think Home Depot should have an alignment kit with accurate measuring devices to either loan or rent to table saw buyers.

[mike gager]

mine is just fine

have you made sure your splitter is set up and aligned properly???

have you measured the thickness?

[hewood]

My 3660 has only been tuned for a few days, and I've only made a few cuts...without the guard.

What irks me about getting a new blade is that I bought a Forrest WWII thin kerf just two weeks before buying the Ridgid. I'm going to pick up a full kerf Forrest WWII this weekend, but it bugs me that I feel I have to re-buy a reasonably pricey item that I just bought...

I know that in the end it'll be a very nice setup, though. :rolleyes:

The problem is with the current stock Ridgid blade, not the splitter. The current stock blade is ultra thin. The splitter is a ~ 0.087" and has a tapered front, which is essentially the same width as most stock splitters on a saw of this type, so a standard thin kerf blade of 0.090" or more will work fine.

There's no need to swap your thin kerf WWII for a full kerf...the TK is a better choice IMO, as it'll take less wood and labor your saw less, which allows for ripping of thicker materials with lower strain on the motor.

[Altima 3.5]

I took off my stock blade because of this problem and replaced it with a better blade. However, I did have them send a replacementand the blade they send is cheep.

[wkwong11]

If anyone wants to confirm it for themselves, just make a cut, lower the blade and try slide the cut into the splitter.

You can hardly squeeze it through on mine. I opted to change the blade (which I was going to do anyways). I still used a Ridgid blade, but a 90T instead of the 40T it came with. Works like a charm now.