Tolerances? - Tablesaw specifically

First of all you want your blade perfectly aligned with the slots on the table. I also align my fence to the slot
and not the blade.

I get the blade to slot as close as I can. If you can’t get it perfect, err on the side of the rear of the blade
away from the fence. IF you mess with it long enough you should be able to get it within .001” (one
thousands).

On my fence I like to have it about .015 (15 thousands) farther away from the blade at the back.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

Fine woodworking has this saw tune up article. I’m not sure if it’ll work if your a non-member, but try it.

Gary is correct about aligning your blade with the miter slots.

-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1

Jeff,

One of the things you may want to look at is the PALS kit from In-Line Industries: in-lineindustries.com. It makes adjusting the trunnion much easier (for some saws). I have a craftsman saw and I found it is difficult to get it set up correctly. But it does help some. By far the linked belt did more to improve the saw’s performance, but this is digressing.

One thing to also consider is the blade itself. If your blade is warped it will add to your alignment problems. With my saw I typically can get the blade within 0.002 of the fence. There are some who advocate purposely setting the blade alignment slightly away from the fence rather than in perfect alignment with the fence in order to let the back of the blade clear as the piece is pushed through the blade. My set up like is this but it is by accident and not done purposefully.

Good luck.

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

Got my PALS in the mail, after determining that I’m 1/16(!) closer to the fence at the rear of the blade. Can’t wait for warmer weather for the big fix. It’s -2° today…

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

What do you consider “warmer”, Doug?

-- North Texas

I’m making my alignment check as follows;

First, I’m checking the blade-to-miter slot alignment, I do it by clamping a long straight edge to the blade and checking the distances at each end of the table top. I call it “Static alignment”.

Then, I take my half sled, and cut a test piece. After the test piece passes the front teeth, I continue to push slowly while listening to the noise of the back teeth. I call it “Dynamic alignment”

If I hear a “cutting” noise, I know that I have to turn the blade more clockwise.

If I don’t hear any noise, I know that I have to turn the blade counter clockwise.

If I hear a “scratching” noise (I mean, the back teeth are kind of scratching the test piece) I know that the alignment is good.

For the fence alignment, I make the same test. Yes, it takes some time to do it but I did it only ones and now, I’m just checking the alignment…so far (almost 2 years), so good.

niki

Thanks Niki. I’ve ignored noises in testing for alignment. I’ll have to give it a shot and see if I can discern the differences as you’ve mentioned.

-- Jeff, South Carolina

Here’s a book worth having on hand: Mastering Woodworking Machines by Mark Duginske. You can probably get it relatively inexpensively, since it’s fairly old, but has some pretty useful and timeless information. He discusses ALL aspects of table saw tune-up.

He says blade runout should total no more than .012”, and I believe that includes the allowance of no more that .003” of runout for the flange and the arbor.

The blade needs to be dead parallel to the miter slots and you need to take blade runout into consideration when checking or making adjustment/s to this factor.

The answer to your question re: distance from blade to the fence (at the rear)...some people say the fence should be dead on to front and back of blade. Duginske’s in the camp (and so am I) that in practice you want the fence about .015” away at the back (that’s 1/64”). Use a feeler gauge to check a test cut. A dollar bill is about .004” thick, so if you fold it twice you’ll have it.

So, really it is all in thousandths…

And, all in all, given the numbers you presented, sounds like you’re set up pretty well.

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

I spent half a day on Friday re-tuning my table saw (Delta) and fence, it has been about 18 months since the last time (I use them Daily). The blade to the mitre track is 0.001! (1 thousands of an inch) and the fence is 0.0° to the mitre track (dead on).

I am not sure about Dorje’s idea about the back of the blade being further away from the back of the fence, I can see some logic, it may help to stop binding and burning. I would suggest trying both dead on and slightly ascew. it only takes a few seconds to adjust the fence.

But make sure that the Blade is dead-on to the Mitre track. Do not forget to take into account any inaccuracies on the saw blade (mark the blade and rotate the blade and use the same point for making the fore/aft measurements. You will know its worthwhile when you have better cuts.

-- Tony - All things are possible, just some things are more difficult than others! - SKYPE: Heron2005 (http://www.poydatjatuolit.fi)

While I can agree with the slight canting of the rear of the blade, and often do so myself, it does have one big drawback. On a right-tilt saw, you need to move the fence left of the blade to do a bevel rip, and this would necessitate re-setting the fence. If you never use the bevel rip function, it is perfectly ok to use the offset method.

That makes sense re: the right tilt bevel cut…

Tony – it’s not my idea, it’s just what I’ve learned and used. I’ve also heard a lot of people say to tune it dead on. That makes sense too, so long as you’re certain the measurements are good. I was just trying to give Jeff the info that he originally asked for: i.e., what the “suggested deflection” amount was that he had read about. It sounded from the original post that he was planning to set up his saw with the fence canted out a hair.

Jeff – correct me if I’m wrong!

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA