Small tweaks between projects

tvrgeek

Scott
Corporate Member
I am resisting projects until I get my master bath finished, so doing small tweaks in the shop.
Got some ZCI tape. On the band saw, I had to file down the aluminum insert to get the tape flush, but now I won't be losing little bits down into the saw. I made a tall fence and just a strip of tape as a shim, it bolts up right @ 90 degrees. I also was able to get the guide post within a thou of in-line from top to bottom finally. Trick was using a dial indicator to be sure which way and how much the alignment moved when moving the setscrews. More tweaking to be done on the dust collection.

I was surprised on the visual of the correct blade tracking. I thought I was running the bottom of the gullet on the crown center, but using a caliper, I was still about 3mm forward. So, moved it back. Fence is square to the table. Table tweaked for drift. I can rip 18 inches with the guides open and be off by only a couple of thou, so I guess that is pretty good tracking. I am amazed how many Y-tube video's still talk about skewing the fence for tracking! Guess these folks never do a cross-cut. Of course, I also see so many "experts" doing things on table saws I would never dream of. :(

Miter saw is also slightly better, or as good as a Ridgid will get. Again, sanded down an insert so the tape is flush. Fences shimmed to be 90 degrees. The OEM aluminum ones were terrible. Like 3/32 tilt. Table was good though. Lower fence was not bad and sand-able into alignment. I concluded to never do bevel cuts anyway, only strait and strait miters. Verified square with a 5-cut. My new extensions have two tracks. One for a stop and the rear ones to set two setup-stops so I can slide the main stop back and forth to stops. No back fence as it is only at the saw you need a fence. A back fence can mess up cuts on long pieces if they are not perfect. House trim is not perfect and then some.
 

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Westpacx3

Jim
Corporate Member
I was surprised on the visual of the correct blade tracking. I thought I was running the bottom of the gullet on the crown center, but using a caliper, I was still about 3mm forward. So, moved it back. Fence is square to the table. Table tweaked for drift. I can rip 18 inches with the guides open and be off by only a couple of thou, so I guess that is pretty good tracking. I am amazed how many Y-tube video's still talk about skewing the fence for tracking! Guess these folks never do a cross-cut. Of course, I also see so many "experts" doing things on table saws I would never dream of.


I'm new to these and have seen several ideas on this drift adjusting. How are you adjusting the table?. I have a Laguna 14 SUV and the table looks just like yours. I'd be interested in your approach. Right now I have a resaw king blade on there with the teeth centered on the tire and tension pretty tight and it does fairly well after I cut a piece of plywood half way thru and moved my a clamped on high fence over to that point. I moved the table fence out of the way to try this.

Any help is appreciated
 

tvrgeek

Scott
Corporate Member
Here is my method, not invented by me of course. In the words of Tom Lehere, "When in doubt, plagiarize. Let no ones work evade your eyes. That's why God gave you eyes" Or was that Freshman orientation " Copy one is plagiarizing, copy many is research"

Start by watching the Alan Snodgrass video's.
He advocates the bottom of the gullet to be on the crown center. I found this to work. You don't want the teeth supported, just the band.
Align the fence to the table slot. That way a miter gauge works for crosscuts.
With the all the side guides way out, rip a strip along the fence. Rear guide set close of course. Measure with calipers end to end. You can then tweak the table to correct the drift. Fine adjustments can be made by small tracking adjustments. On a strait cut, the side guides should never touch. My Harvey, I can see if one spins. I guess a little harder to see if one is kissing with the ceramics. I set the guides close and use if one spins as a verification. So far, this has worked for both 1/2 and 3/8 bands with only small tracking changes. I have not bought the Laguna carbide blade yet. On my list.
Tension only needs to be tight enough to not flutter, and maybe a tiny bit more.
I think it smart to use something like MDF for the tests as there is no grain to possibly cause a tracking bias. It is smart to joint the edge before every pass to be sure your test piece is not biasing the band. Then the real truth is if you can make a nice 1/16 veneer slice of an 8 inch plank. Measurements aside, that is what we really want.

I see no reason to use a clamp on fence when you already have a fence. Just a taller re-saw face. I made mine bolt on, but one could make it clamp on. I happen to have a couple 5' x 5' sheets of phenolic so I used a bit of that.

Now, I also ( steel bands only) take one swipe by hand down each side of the band with a 600 grit diamond block to remove any burs from sharpening. ( that is actually my idea) I mount the band and use the same block to hone the back of the blade to even out the weld and very carefully run it on about half the width of the side. This seems to give a much smoother cut. No thump-thump-thump. A carbide blade is honed, so it will be default already be much smoother. Hit something hard just once, and a blade may never track again. Super sensitive to set.
 

Westpacx3

Jim
Corporate Member
Well, what a difference one more person can make. I had seen the Snodgrass videos before along with countless others. Read your brief, readjusted my fence to the miter slot, put thwbguides back, left the blade as I did have the center of the tire at the gullet and not the tooth as I had said. Moved the fence and cut this on the first pass. My caliper had my test cut at about a fraction off. 12.94 to 12.87 or so, battery needs changing.

Anyway, your explanation made a difference in how I was looking at it so thanks...
 

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tvrgeek

Scott
Corporate Member
That's why I got dial, not vernier. :) The dial reads 64's so one can interpolate a lot less than that.
 

pop-pop

Man with many vises
Corporate Member

I also have good digitals that read mm, thous, and fractions, but for every day, this is what I use.
I like the lighter weight of the General version of that caliper for everyday measurements. The weak point is the pinion jumps on the rack sometimes and then 0 isn’t at the top. Also, one must keep the jaws away from spinny things on the lathe.
10036F51-9916-49AC-8564-E2D794FD2E0B.jpeg
 

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