# Need Help Heeling (Paralleling) blade on Ridgid R4512 Table Saw



## ChrisK622 (Dec 26, 2011)

I am still a novice, but really enjoy woodworking and improving with every new project.
Just purchased my Ridgid R4512 about two months ago and love it. Started a new bookshelf project and noticed my blade is 1/16th out of parallel, measuring from the miter gauge slot. I did as the instruction books says and loosened the 4 bolts on the bottom of the unit and moved the back of the blade until it was square. When I re-tightened the bolts, it went back to the old position.
I tried to adjust my fence, but that did not work too good either. I ripped my wood and am not square. This is concerning me because I was having so much fun and my wife really wants a few projects done. 
At the end of the day, I can't make a square cut.


----------



## Lifesaver2000 (Nov 17, 2009)

Hi Chris. I don't have a 4512, but have a Craftsman 21833. This is a very similar saw, and I believe the adjustment is very similar. I will give you a few points that I have picked up. I can't promise you can get everything perfect, but I will say that my saw is well within the recommended tolerances as best as I can measure.

First, on the blade to miter slot alignment. On the top of the saw, there are two allen screws recessed into the top. These are the 45 and 90 degree bevel stops. These should be backed off while doing any alignment. The 90 degree one especially has caused a lot of problems for people in preventing them from getting the blade adjusted as far as they need it to go. Backing this off (I don't remember which way to turn the screw, you will have to check your manual) will allow you plenty of room for adjustment.

Next, be sure you are NOT making your adjustments with the blade at its absolute full height. If you crank the blade all the way up, it will "rack" the blade to a slight angle when the crank handle stops. This isn't a phenomenon isolated just to this saw though. I was reading the manual for the SawStop professional cabinet saw the other day, and it recommended also that the adjustments not be made with the blade at the full height for the same reason. If it can happen in a $3000+ saw, I don't think having it in a $450 saw is surprising. I suggest making the adjustments with the blade down about a half inch from maximum, and if you know you will normally only be cutting 3/4 to 8/4 stock, then maybe even adjust it with the blade height at two inches.

When making the adjustment, be sure that you loosen three screws off, and then just slightly loosen the fourth. Even the three loose screws don't need to be actually backed out loose, just enough to allow movement. That way there isn't much movement when you tighten them. It might even be useful to slightly go past the zero point in your adjustment, so that when you tighten the screws it moves to where you want.

As for the fence, there is a recent thread about the fence on this saw, you might look there for some hints. I am not sure if the 4512 fence is exactly like mine, but I did not have any trouble adjusting it when I first got the saw, and have never had to readjust it.

Hope some of this helps.


----------



## knotscott (Feb 27, 2009)

Lifesaver's tips are excellent. When you retighten the trunnion bolts, don't tighten each one fully one at a time. To prevent unwanted movement, tighten each one a little at a time, progressing towards fully tightening them.

What prevented you from getting the fence aligned with the blade?


----------



## ChrisK622 (Dec 26, 2011)

Guys
Thanks. Your advise did the trick and I am back in business. 
I wish the world had more people in it that is so willing to help.
Thanks again and will send pictures when done.


----------



## Lifesaver2000 (Nov 17, 2009)

Great news Chris. Glad to be of help


----------



## kommon_sense (Dec 28, 2011)

Great tips! I just purchased a 4512. Finished setting it up last night and found the saw blade is 0.036" out of alignment with the mitre slot. Manual doesn't mention any of the tips you guys mentioned, so you saved me a lot of headache and frustration!!!


----------



## 731Loadmaster (Dec 28, 2014)

Thanks guys for all your assistance, however I'm still having a huge problem getting mine to become true. I have done all the items that are in the instructions and I slacked off all but one bolt and that one was loosened. It would appear that the trunnion nearest the access panel are not moving at all, and the one's father back underneath the front end has room but will not move at all.
My blade is off by an 1/8th of an inch which is incredibly frustrating. I do have the updated model II and have no issues going up or down I just cant get mine lined up to the miter track.

Frustrated in Colorado Springs.


----------



## Chocdog (Aug 31, 2014)

I have a Rigid 2424. I bought it new in the late 90's. I think it has been a great saw. I can run it with a nickle on it edge. With that said, it is a bear to tune, like most contractor saws. Last year I put a pair of pals on it. They are pretty helpful in adjusting the trunion, however when tightening the bolts, even when alienating sequence, the trunnion would creep ever so slightly at the end. I then put 2-3 steel washers on each bolt and put lithium grease grease between the washers. Man, that did the trick. It would allow the bolts to be fully tightened and allow enough slip so that the trunnion would not get pinched and move before the bolts were tight. Blade is .0005 - .0008 to the miter slot.
That took some time but without the pals and washers I would never expect to be less than .002-.0015


----------



## RobS888 (May 7, 2013)

How are you trying to move the trunions? I loosened the 2 bolts closest to the back panel and I think the front left. I then used a big clamp and slowly moved it over with tightening and measuring, then retightening. I found that aligning the blade to the left miter gauge and the fence to the right was pretty bad, I had to be sure to align them both on the left. I got very good at aligning them to <.010, but raising or lowering the blade heeled it over toward the fence and bound up any rip cuts.

It used to trip a breaker when it bound up. I used the raise it after lowering the blade to remove backlash, but still it moved. I eventually gave it to the restore and got a sawstop.


----------



## 731Loadmaster (Dec 28, 2014)

I finally got it to work! Used the woodworking clamp and got it within eyeshot…tomorrow I'll have the caliper gauge to fine tune it. 
Woodworking time!!!


----------



## MikeSpanky (Sep 1, 2014)

Have the same saw. It was out only .035 when I checked it but got worse in a couple of weeks. Found out one of the trunnion bolts was a little loose. I tried using a square but it was not accurate enough. Bought a digital angel gauge and had no trouble at all. I have to do this maintenance routine about every 2-3 months to keep it tuned up.


----------



## 731Loadmaster (Dec 28, 2014)

I just purchased the dial indicator and rigged up a miter gauge mount….the difference came out to 0.015" off. I am proud to be only this far off compared to the start. parts are coming soon to make it better, but right now, I am on to making an outfeed table extension, router wing, and many, many projects….thanks all for your help

Wolf


----------



## Jackspratt (Dec 15, 2018)

Hi Guys. Enjoyed reading this series of posts. I have trouble with aligning my table saw blade forever. I have adjusted the blade on a couple of occasions per the instructions in the manual (front and back trunion bolts) but found the blade returns to its original position. I am currently working with a maple board and experienced the worst burn marks on my material. I knew there was a problem as feeding the boards through the saw was more difficult than normal.

The suggestions above I will try - but what is a "pal"? What tolerance should I hope to achieve with my model of saw (Ridgid TS3660)? I saw a note elsewhere that it should be 1/1000 in. Is this my objective? I am currently out by 2/100 in.
thanks in advance!
Jackspratt


----------



## JimHisself (Oct 21, 2018)

This is quite interesting to me.

To wit:

I have contacted Ridgid's "customer support". They are TRULY clueless, truly. The claim their ARE no issues with ANY version (new or old) of the R4512 saw.

I see where this is going now.

Are you aware that Ridgid has a LIFETIME warranty for these saws? I'm almost certain this is why they claim there is no issue. They have WAY too many saws out to be able to bear the repairs.


----------



## PCDub (Sep 24, 2017)

PALS is a table saw alignment system-see it here


----------



## JimHisself (Oct 21, 2018)

> This is quite interesting to me.
> 
> To wit:
> 
> ...


WOW. I sure screwed up the English language and it's grammar with THAT post.


----------



## Jackspratt (Dec 15, 2018)

Happy New Year's to you all! Sorry for the long time to reply on progress on the table saw alignment issues. As it turned out, a neighbour of mine (who was an aircraft mechanic/tech) took interest in my plight. He determined the rear trunnion could achieve the desired adjustment until we adjusted the front trunnion. We loosened the front trunnion and used a large screwdriver to force the trunnion to move left. We secured it and went back to the rear-we now had enough room for the lever to get the blade to parallel (0/1000 of an inch). This was very exciting!!! 
My next challenge is to figure out the rip fence. It is unpredictable in terms of its alignment.


----------



## CaptainKlutz (Apr 23, 2014)

> My next challenge is to figure out the rip fence. It is unpredictable in terms of its alignment.
> - Jackspratt


FWIW - Have owned a couple of older Ridgid TS2424 TS, and the rip fence has various complaints in WWW about repeatability. The 4512 fence appears to almost same design, so what I learned may help to you?

What I determined to be issue was this: 
- The fence clamps between front and back rails. This can translate into a problem where any deviation in width between rails may change the fence angular location as you clamp it across the entire length.
- The aluminum rails used on contractor saw are easy to bend. If the front/back of saw table is not perfectly flat, you can/will bend the rail slightly (thousandths of inch) at any transition in flatness as you tighten the attachment bolts.

I was able to 'fix' all my repeatability issues with 2 changes:

1) Added a 1.5×1.5×0.125 angle iron to back of my saw table, and under the back fence rail.
I shimmed this angle iron so that front to back dimension was same along entire saw top. This provided a flatter clamping surface and removed the any angular variation created by uneven clamping surface. It also gives me a place to mount a out feed table. 

2) Proper Technique
The fence registers via two nylon contact pads on front rail and one clamp on back rail. To get consistent results, you MUST push the fence against the front rail, BEFORE clamping down fence down into position. If the back of fence contacts first, your front pads can/will shift slightly as tighten clamp, and/or you can clamp the fence out of square to front rail.

With the added back rail, and proper technique, never seen any issues with non-square rip cuts on my Ridgid saws. Hope this helps.

As always, YMMV.


----------

