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2026-08-14
A knife that drifted overnight is scrap by 10:00.
By Mr Retief Nieuwoudt, Kerf notes editor
Fine Highveld dust, resin on the plate, or a hard knock during a blade change will show up first as pinching behind the cut. On melamine, pine, or shutterply, that small change turns a clean rip into burn marks, chatter, or a board that closes on the blade.
Author Mr Retief Nieuwoudt keeps the voice practical. No tapestry metaphors. No robust seamless filler. Just the check that saves a board when Highveld dust or coastal humidity shows up mid-shift.
Dont treat the note as wallpaper. Pin it, photograph the first board, and move on. Kerf notes are short on purpose so they survive a noisy floor.
Read the note next to the relevant blade path and material path before the first rip after break. Check that the knife thickness still suits the blade body and kerf, then confirm it sits centred behind the teeth and below the top arc where required by the saw setup. If you need to flag an odd result through our contact form, name the stock, the saw type and the blade fitted.
Johannesburg shops often fight dry dust that settles around the mounting points and throws a quick visual check off. Durban air can leave light surface corrosion or tackiness that makes adjustment screws feel set when they are not. In the Cape, panel saw crews should watch sheet goods that move slightly as the day warms, because the knife may be correct while the board still closes in the cut.
Use Kerfs when the saw starts leaving fresh witness marks behind the blade, or when the offcut begins to wander toward the knife. That is usually the point to stop, inspect alignment, and compare the symptom with the note. If your stock behaves differently, log the board type and cut direction before moving on.
Start with the machine isolated, then sight down the blade and knife from the outfeed side. Run one straight board and look for polish lines, burn, or a tail that nudges away as it clears the rear teeth. In Kya Sands workshops, that one board tells you more than a long argument after a stack has gone wrong.
After lunch on the coast, wipe the knife and check for drag on veneered board or wet-treated pine. On the Highveld, a quick air blast is not enough if dust has packed around the bracket, so loosen, clean, and reset if the spacing looks uneven. With OSB and chipboard, listen for a harsher note in the cut because that often arrives before visible scorch marks.
When sending details through our contact form, include the city, machine type, blade diameter, and the stock that pinched or burnt. Add whether the knife sat left, right, or too close to the blade body. That gives the next check a useful starting point without guessing from one photo.
TrueCut is a cutter catalogue first. Buy a second disc only when the inspection points to the blade, not when pitch on the plate or a dirty reducer is the actual fault. If the stock family changes on a busy Friday, open another kerf note and reset the checks.
Blade and knife queries can go through our contact form from Kya Sands, Johannesburg.
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