Iguanadon

Thanks for the Welcome, thoughts and suggestions. I've ordered various Flying Dutchman blades to try out and have some various hardwoods also on the way. The learning experience continues. I'll also tinker with RPM speeds. I look forward to taking advantage of the community brain trust.

Hi Everyone, I’m hoping to gain some knowledge from those more practiced and skilled. The basics… using Dewalt DW788 and enjoy making dinosaur “puzzles†out of ¾†pine. Here is a snapshot taken of a batch I made for the first grade classes at the local elementary school last week. http://content.screencast.com/users/Iguanadon/folders/Jing/media/3443d738-a51a-4001-b352-d7272b1da8f5/2016-03-14_1255.png So, using soft pine, not having any issues at all as I’ve made over 50 of these so far. All pieces slide in and out nicely from either direction, however… I decided I wanted to start making some “nicer†versions using hardwood. Using ¾†oak, no problems, but I got hold of some beautiful black walnut and the first one I tried cutting, I thought everything was going well, until I tried to put the pieces together… they slide out in one direction but not the other. After being perplexed for a bit, because I knew my blade was a perfect 90 degrees, I realized I’m bending/flexing the blade as I’m cutting the harder wood and of course that’s causing all sorts of issues. No matter how slow I think I’m going, I’m having this issue and can clearly see the imperfection when studying the cutouts. I’m using Olson PGT blades. With the pine I'm using the 7R because I’m painting them by dipping the pieces in watered down paint and they swell slightly from the liquid. With the oak and black walnut I use the 5R blade because it’s a bit thinner and I don’t paint the oak and want the pieces to have minimal gaps. I guess I know that the answer is either “slow down even more while cuttingâ€, even though I think no matter how slow I go while making the sharp turns, I’ll never be able to stop putting side pressure on the blade, or possibly use thicker blades in which case I’d like suggestions of what blades to try. Or, if there is some secret that someone can share with me, I’d be very appreciative. Otherwise I guess I’ll take a half step back with the hardness of wood I’m using until my skill level rises. Thanks in advance, Scott