What happened to my table saw alignment?!

Maybe the table moved in the legs. Maybe this is causing something to block the trunnion adjustment/movement

-- Kip Northern Illinois ( If you don't know where your goin any road will take you there) George Harrison

What a coincidence. I just finished writing a paper on how to align a problem saw that might help you. I haven’t figured out how to get it on LJ yet but if you send me a personal message with your email address I’ll send you a copy of it. (It’s a PDF file.) It also has references to other helpful sites.

-- Joe

Loosen off the top and start over.

Bob

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

Hmmm could a long bolt from the new fence be blocking something?? maybe up against one of the trunnions??? .. . Please post what you find, I’m sure everybody will be interested in knowing

-- Fred, Springfield, Ma

Well, after trying to fix it for about 3 hours straight, I gave up. The bolts that connect the trunions to the table top don’t appear to be able to move anywhere. There is a threaded hole in the table top that does not allow any movement, and the hole that the bolts go through in the trunions appear to be the exact size for the bolts. I think the company (AMT) copied other company’s trunion design but failed to allow for any play for adjustments. None of the rest of the under-table assembly appears to have any adjustments.

The saw was made in the 80’s by a company that was not in business long. It was made in China, which is really bad for one made in the 80’s I think. There are no manuals or spare parts. I am thinking of just getting a new saw.

The only fix I can think of is to drill the trunion holes wider to allow for some play so I can adjust more.

Thoughts?

You have a very similar problem to what I had. While my saw had some movement, it wasn’t great enough to achieve alignment. The final solution was to turn the saw upside down, remove the trunnions and file out the holes to allow for more adjustment. I just finished two weeks ago and got it exactly on with the blade at 90 degrees, and within 0.002 with the blade at 45 degrees.

You don’t need a manual, all the contractor saws built in the last 50 years are basically identical. They were originally designed to build houses and be hauled around so accuracy was not a big deal, but with a little sweat they can be fixed.

There is another problem inherent with the trunnion mounting system and that is they typically use inexpensive soft flat washers beneath the mounting bolts. The washers deform into the trunnion hole overtime (like a saucer) which then makes it difficult to move the trunnion. Besides that, if you do get the trunnion to move, it will just slip back into it’s original place when you tighten the bolts.

Besides enlarging (slotting) the holes I think a product called PAL’S (less than $25.00) is the hot stuff to make it easy to adjust the trunnions.

-- Joe

Did you try taking the fence off to see if that would fix it?
Did you try disassembling the saw to confirm that the problem was that there was no play in the slot? Someone used it for 30 or 40 years so I’m guessing the saw should work well.

“All that was done was it was set down on it’s side”

Me thinks this may be when the shifting and mis-alignment happened. Take a look at where the stress was placed as the saw was set on its side and how that may have caused the mis-alignment. All that weight going from horizontal to vertical could be the culprit.

-- I can so I wood but why are my learning curves always circles

akosephg knows what he is talking about. If he can’t help you fix it it can’t be fixed!

-- Sometimes when I am building something and it is out of square, I just bend my square.

If it moved out of alignment then common sense says it can be moved back. :-] as someone above said check the bolts for the new rails. One bolt may be too long by just a hair and pushed the trunions or table out of wack. If you remove the upgrades you just installed then see if it can be adjusted. also check to see that you didnt over tighten anything in the proccess. remember tight is tight. I tend to turn into a gorilla at times and need reminding!

skeez

-- hey honey! watch this!

Wow. Everything has changed in the past 24 hours. My wife is amazing. (You can imagine what happened.)

So the past 2 days I have been very frustrated and unhappy. My table saw, the heart of my wood shop, is unusable and despite hours working on it, I cannot seem to fix it. I can fix everything else I put my hands on, but not this. So this morning, my wife says I can get a new table saw. I literally hopped up and down and hollered a few times.

We are not rich, so I have been “scavenging” to put together a shop based on what deals I could find at garage sales, estate sales and craigslist. I was proud of my old table saw, but that is a relative pride, since it had many many flaws that I have overlooked. I was proud since it was a great saw considering I had the budget for only a cheap bench-top. It is a 20-year old saw, beat up, missing some parts, made by a company that no longer exists so there is no chance of parts or manuals… So to have the chance to own a brand-new cabinet saw… my mind is still blowing. Accurate, smooth cuts. No rust or gouges in the tabletop. Attachable blade-guards. Enclosed cabinet for dust collections. drool

My wife said that over the past year, since we bought our house, we have purchased her various appliances to make her life easier. (We bought an older house that had old/bad/missing appliances) Nice cloths washer, stove, etc. The most recent was a new dishwasher that I installed. (Which was a neat little project, since we have no space for a dishwasher and 22” old-style kitchen cabinets.) So, I should also have a “new appliance”.

I just got back from my local woodworking shop (The Sawdust Shop in San Jose, CA). I just ordered a Steel City 3 HP 50” fence cabinet table saw. I got the granite table top and the riving knife. It should be delivered to my garage sometime next week!

WOOHOO!

Here is what I got, but the 50” version instead of the 30”
Steel City

Anyone want to buy a 12” AMT table saw? The alignment is a little off, but that should not be a problem. :)

U R a lucky man!

Congrats.

-- Scott - Chico California http://chicowoodnut.home.comcast.net

We are all waiting for you to pass the cigars out…...I like Arturo Fuente Gran Reserva >:)

-- //FC - Round Rock, TX - "Experience is what you get just after you need it"