Dull Kapex blade after limited with MDF

[Wood Hog]

I bought my Kapex during the sale, haven't used it at all accept to test it worked. Recently I had 1500ft of MDF base board to install and thought the Kapex would be idea. for that, I made about 10 cuts before I realized trying to cut 16ft unwieldy snake like thin boards was never going to be successful with out a stand, so I switched back to my ole faithful 16 year old Dewalt to finish the job. My next job for the Kapex was to cut 42"long by 11 1/4 wide oak stair treads the sliding saw really came in helpful, something I could never have done with ole faithful,however this is where my question begins. When I was cutting the stair tread it appeared as through the blade was dull the saw was slowing down and having a difficult time cutting thorough the oak, I had to slow my cutting down considerably, is it possible to dull a brand new blade from just 10 cuts in MDF, or am I doing something else wrong Thanks for reading and I look forward to your replies.

 

[live4ever]

Which speed setting was the saw on?  Really seems unlikely that 10 cuts in MDF would dull a new blade.

 

[peter halle]

Is is possible that the blade is dulled?  Sure, but I doubt it.  MDF is sawdust (and hidden junk) pressed together with glues under pressure.  Different glues have different hardnesses so mdc bought from one supplier might be different than from another.  I would check and see if your blade is clean first.  Then I would check the quality of the cut on your oak.  If smooth without burn marks then I suspect you might just be experiencing a difference in the hardness of the material.  It will take longer to cut the oak and the motor sound probably will be different as the electronics are working to try and keep the speed constant.  Oh, also check to make sure that the speed control is set to the max.  I certainly have made the mistake of not checking and then after a few cuts and a little head scratching found that I had accidentally moved the speed down from max while moving or setting up the saw.

Just some thoughts.

Peter

 

[Wood Hog]

Ahh good points guys, hadn't even thought of speed control. So used to my 19th century's Dewalt I have know idea what it was set to, actually I feel pretty stupid now you mention it. I'm out of town until Friday I can check that then. Peter as far as the cut quality on oak it did leave a smooth finish but some burn marks.
I'm working on red oak stair rails this weekend so I'll try it again, by the way what should I use to clean my blade with, I normally send my table saw blades off to Forrest when there dull, but that takes foever to get them back.

 

[tjbnwi]

CMT blade cleaner.

If I recall correctly Forrest will not sharpen the Festool blades. Send them to Leitz for service.

Link to their service center locations. Call the center you'll be sending the blade to for specific instructions. I have an account with Leitz so it is an easy process for me. They sharpen Forrest blades, and any other tooling I've sent to them.

http://www.leitztooling.com/locations.htm

Tom

 

[peter halle]

Some burning might be expected as long as the cut is smooth I generally don't worry.  Cut feed speed - especially while you are getting used to the saw - might be a factor.

Regarding Forrest and resharpening Festool blades - it has been reported here that Forrest isn't sharpening Festool blades any more because of the variable spacing on the teeth.  Before you send in a Festool blade you might want to check directly with them to see if your blade can be sharpened by them.  I would hate to see you send in a blade and then get it back without it being sharpened.  Just an FYI.

Peter

Edit:  Tom types faster than I do - sorry for the repeat.

 

[Wood Hog]

Thanks about the Forrest tip, I'll try Leitz for my festool blades. So just to clarify why would it have a hard time going through oak that's only 1" thick. Is  my speed to fast or to slow, or dull blade or a combination of the both. I really can't see how the blade could have dulled on MDF after just 10 cuts or less, but I'm no expert.  I'm sure the first time I practiced cut on it, it sliced like butter, but then again that may have been 3/4 pine, I can't remember.

 

[tbellemare]

It sounds like your blade is dirty. Pine can make that happen pretty quickly...

Tom