Aligning a TS Blade to 90 degrees

That is great. What an ingenious way to get your blade set to zero.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

Thanks for the tip Brian. I’ll be sure to use this one!

Chunk

-- Chunk

I’ll be making one of these tonight. Thank you!

I went to the shop and found my dial indicator and glued two pieces of Ambrosia Maple together and I’ll finish mine tomorrow.

I’ll take it to the toy workshop tomorrow and finish it there and show the guys my new jig.

Thanks Brian.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

Great Jig, one more to the “must have” list…. I really like it.. Nice Job Brian

-- Norwalk, CA 90650

Thanks for the compliments everyone.

I didn’t point it out in the video, but be sure to off set the two pieces of maple so that the dial indicator and screw (one nearest the indicator) line up. This allows them to both contact the square for alignment when zeroing.

Oddly enough, I submitted this jig a while back to Fine Woodworking magazine’s ‘Methods of Work’ and it was rejected for publication.

-- Brian http://www.garagewoodworks.com

Luv the Delta Sawbuck in the background, in the first shot. I used that thing 15 years ago, to the dismay of my Finish Carpenter compatriots!-but a sharp blade gave you ridiculously long cross-cuts, and way more control over a slidetable set up. I gave it to Dad. Not a peep since then.

-- Clamps are like dollars in the bank, you NEVER can have too many!

That’s funny you noticed that! My brother was throwing it away and I took it from him. I have yet to use it, other than for lumber scrap storage. It needs a new brush in order to run. So far it makes a nice table to put stuff.

-- Brian http://www.garagewoodworks.com

Nice jig, Brian. I will have to build one of these as well.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

What a great idea, thanks for sharing.

Darn you Brian, I just broke down and bought a wixley yesterday. And I already had a dial indicator. Story of my life.

Great idea.

Steve.

Great idea. It’s not often you see something totally new (at least to me). Very cool.

-- PeteMoss

Steve,

Your wixley can easy determine angles less than 90 degrees. If you want my jig to do this you need to do some math and have a dial indicator with at least a 1” range.

Obtain the distance (on center) between the indiactor plunger and screw by measuring with a caliper. To do this put the caliper over the plunger and the screw shaft and measure. Subtract 1/2 the width of the plunger and 1/2 the width of the screw shaft. Now you have the on center distance between the two. To get the angle use triangle arctan math:

Angle = ArcTan[(distance between)/(dial indicator reading)]

This will give you the angle. In the video my jointer fence was off by 0.003” which equals 89.83 degrees or 0.17 degrees off. Not very much at all.

Enjoy!

-- Brian http://www.garagewoodworks.com

What’s the purpose of the second screw, which you didn’t square to the indicator? I assume it’s because three points define a plane but is there anything special about its location or depth in relation to the other screw or the indicator?

Terry,

Good question. I should have mentioned this in the video. I noticed when using this jig that if it rocks too far forward it can effect the reading. The second screw keeps the jig from rocking forward or backwards during measurements, and keeps everything consistent from measurement to measurement. The depth of the two screws should be roughly the same. When zeroing the jig keep the body of the jig in line with the square. (It takes a large deviation out of line to have an effect on the reading). Give it a try and you’ll see what I mean.

-- Brian http://www.garagewoodworks.com

Thanks! I’ll give it a try. :)

If you have a Wixey guage or similar around your shop you may want to consider this solution as well.

http://www.members.shaw.ca/boboswin/public/WixeyBevelgaugeobservations/index.html

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

Bob,

If you already have a Wixey, yes, it will do the job + or – 0.1 degree, which isn’t bad at all. If you have dial indicators laying around this can be made with scrap wood. Who among us doesn’ have scrap wood? :^)

If you don’t have a dial indicator in your shop, in my opinion, your money would be better spent on buying an indicator than a wixey. They just have way too many uses to avoid it. I have two in my shop and it’s not enough. :^)

-- Brian http://www.garagewoodworks.com

Uh … neat!

Very nicely done vid, too. You seemed at ease in front of the camera.

So far, I’m endlessly impressed with my Wixey, as verified by my high quality square, which is—of course—of questionable accuracy ;-)

But … how I’ve lived this long without a runout gauge … is beyond me ;-)

Nicely done! Will be checking out your site.

-- -- Neil

Hi Brian:
I wasn’t trying to dis your gauge idea.
I use one similar to deal with run out in my place. As a matter of fact, I had used one for years before the Wixey was introduced.
I thought that the digital gauges might be a bit more versatile in a shop with a limited budget.

Cheers

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

Bob. I didn’t read your comment as a dis. :^]

if anyone makes this thing please share with the group. If you can improve on it let me know (I’m sure it will happen here). I wonder if screws with smaller heads would be better or small points. Hmmmmmm.

-- Brian http://www.garagewoodworks.com

Brian,

Thanks for the math refresher, but it causes too many flash backs.

I did start thinking about making a modified version with screw points on the rear in order to measure more accurately how parallel my fence is to the blade. I know there are other simple procedures for doing this, but you can’t brag to 3 decimal points with them.

Steve.

GarageWoodworks,
Nice jig and video as well. I’m glad that you presented something, that got Karson in gear so quick! I ahve both the Wixey and the dial indicator in my shop as well. Been using my dial indicator for years, mechanicing and machining brass for rifle cartridges. Just got the Wixey about a year ago. I think I’ll check the accuracy of the Wixey with the dial indicator set up and jig-just so I can see if I can get identical readings. Thanks for the post and the time to make the video. Keep on keeping on!

Sincerely,
Ken McGinnis

-- woodbutcher north carolina

Garageworks,

Woodbutchers post reminded me to say thanks for the video. It really made the whole jig fast to understand.

Steve.

Brian,

I just made one! I used some scrap 3/4 MDF. One wide piece for the base and two pieces on top of that. I did find one benefit from the jig that I hadn’t thought about until I used it. It’s a great way to check to ensure that your square is at 90.

Setup the jig as shown. If you take a reading from one side of your t/s blade, the reading should read exactly opposite from the other side of the blade.

For example. I just checked my saw blade and I’m -.0035 out on the left hand side of the blade. I moved the jig to the other side of the blade and low and behold, +.0035 out. If my square wasn’t exactly at 90, the two sides would indicate two different numbers. The bigger the spread, the further out your square is.

Great tip!

Wow what a crappy picture. :(

-- Chunk

ChunkyC,

Nice! Yours looks taller than mine. You should have greater sensitivity because the dial indicator plunger is further from the bottom screw (if that’s what you used). You will never clank a square up against a blade again! :^)

Thanks for the square checking tip. I hadn’t thought of that.

-- Brian http://www.garagewoodworks.com

I built mine just like yours but only a little taller as you noticed. The further the distance is from the screw and the dial indicator, the better the resolution is, as I’m sure you know.

Now get this, the dial is about 1/64 too high for my rip fence! I really wanted to check that but the dial just barely falls over the top of the laminate on the fence rendering it useless. grr. Time for a taller fence!

-- Chunk

Does this require that the dial indicator is dedicated to the jig? If not, wouldn’t it have to be reset against the square each time used?

-- Dave, Colonie, NY

Dave,

No, it doesn’t have to be dedicated to the jig. If you need it for something else just unscrew it and reattach later. It’s really a snap to zero the jig. I think in the video it takes me less than a minute + or -.

It’s not a bad idea to check the calibration of the jig at the beginning of a woodworking day anyway.

-- Brian http://www.garagewoodworks.com