Cutting OSB am I doing something wrong?

[OutbackL130]

I'm a metal fabricator by trade and have less experience in wood working. Few weeks ago I was cutting OSB with a circ saw to put up in my shop and I had trouble with the OSB binding my saw blade. This does not happen everytime and I have cut plenty of osb in the past with ease.

When it starts binding if I slow down the saw wants to kick back or bind worse. If I would push harder then the saw kept going but made a wobbly cut. I thought the blade was bad so I picked up a new one for cuttin osb. Tonight I was cutting some to make shelving and the same thing happened as before even with a new blade. I had the scrap side hanging off my cutting table and a helper trying to hold it. Any help would be appreciated!

 

[yelbike]

Weird! Make sure the blades going through the cut straight. Ensure the front of the blade and the back of the blade line up in the cut. Also check the play in the bearings. Again weird.

 

[john40981]

this might sound dumb but what is OSB??

 

[Degolyerent]

Wobbly cuts come from blade getting to hot. It could be wrong type blade, bad cutting technique, or bad base plate on saw(bent). It is building to much heat on blade for some reason. Blade needs to protrude through the material by a full tooth.
John

 

[Harvey9]

this might sound dumb but what is OSB??

OSB = Oriented Strand Board, engineered wood.

 

[downsizingnow48]

Things to check for kickback and wobbly cut in more or less an order of likelihood to causing the problem. First, have a good quality carbide tooth blade. Bad blades warp. Second, adjust blade so it is just deep enough to cut the material with a tooth showing at the bottom. Too deep adjustment makes the blade work inefficiently (overheat=wobbly cut) and also causes binding and kickback. Third, arrange several 2x4s on each side of the cut so the sheet is well supported on both sides and can fall away just a bit from the blade as it is cut. OSB is floppy and easy to bind. On this item, unless the helper really knows what he/she is doing, can easily contribute to the problem of binding. The last thing to check is if the saw is worn out (blade should be rock solid). A worn out saw can not cut well.

 

[k0ua]

On this item, unless the helper really knows what he/she is doing, can easily contribute to the problem of binding

This has been the number one cause in my experience.

 

[Scooby074]

this might sound dumb but what is OSB??

Chipboard.

 

[LD1]

Ditto on the type of sawblade. Some sawblades have no set in the teeth. Made for cutting plastics and such. They dont work well with wood as they dont cut any wider than the blade, and will bind. A good carbide blade made for wood has set in the teeth, so it actually cuts a little wider than the width of the blade for relief.

Ditto on the helper making things worse too. Is this only happening once you have cut about 1/2 way or more through??

 

[ishiboo]

I used to look like an idiot cutting OSB/plywood - got a new saw and it's a world of difference. If the saw is not tracking straight, you end up trying to adjust it by "turning" the saw and that's where a lot of bindup occurs. Make sure you are going with the flow and not attempting to guide it all over - you have very minimal adjustment with 6.5" of a blade in the wood.