After completing Woodshop 101, I know yellow and pressure-treated pine are banned in the shop. Before buying 2x4 studs from Lowe’s for a tote rack project, I wanted to confirm that their kiln-dried whitewood #2 studs (2-in x 4-in x 96-in) are acceptable for use on the miter saw.
I posted this on Discord first, but I think the woodshop group is more active over here.
Someone like HB needs to weigh in on to be absolutely sure as I’ve only been at DMS for like 8 months. That said, I’m going to toss out my opinion anyway. If I get slapped down, it’ll stick in my mind.
Whitewood, especially kiln dried, should be fine on the miter saw (or the tablesaws). There are 2 concerns, sap and moisture. High sap woods leave gummy sap on the blades and tables which then need to be cleaned to enable them to cut easily, smoothly, and without overheating. High moisture woods can trigger the safety mechanism on the saw stops, which cost over $100 to replace and you also have to clean your underpants as you s*** them when it goes off.
Southern yellow pine is very sappy. And essentially all pressure treated pine is SYP, so it’s both sappy and high moisture, a double whammy. The sap in SYP is obvious when you wipe your finger on the annual rings of the wood. The oils in some exotic woods give you that same feeling. Any wood with that is a wood I wouldn’t cut on a SawStop. Hope that helps.
There isn’t anything wrong with whitewood. Only reason southern yellow pine is banned is because of the sap. It tends to clog the cutters quickly and can cause issues with others when they want to do exotic wood.
No, I’m not not looking to do pressure treated. This is for the home shop, but before buy ~ thirty 8 ft studs, I want to make sure I have my cut plan down,