Squaring Your Miter Gauge

[GarageWoodworks]

Hey gang,

I made a short video that describes how I align my miter gauge to 90 degrees using a dial indicator and a good quality square. Let me know what you think.

Click Me

Regards.
Brian

 

[McRabbet]

It is a pretty good video, Brian -- my main criticism is with your lighting -- the glare off the dial indicator face is so bright that one cannot see the needle movement, even with the inset window. In addition, you mention that the first setting "is under 90 degrees..." -- but that doesn't help much since most miter gauges indicate less than 90 degrees on each side of the 90 degree mark. You might want to reference which side of 90 the needle was located relative to the 90 degree mark. Just some suggestions. BTW, I have the Grizzly mag base/dial indicator set and it is a very helpful setup tool.

 

[GarageWoodworks]

It is a pretty good video, Brian -- my main criticism is with your lighting -- the glare off the dial indicator face is so bright that one cannot see the needle movement, even with the inset window. In addition, you mention that the first setting "is under 90 degrees..." -- but that doesn't help much since most miter gauges indicate less than 90 degrees on each side of the 90 degree mark. You might want to reference which side of 90 the needle was located relative to the 90 degree mark. Just some suggestions. BTW, I have the Grizzly mag base/dial indicator set and it is a very helpful setup tool.

Yes, that was a problem. It's not really glare that was the problem, but the quality of the camera. When I zoomed in tight the dial face was clear, but my gauge and square was out of frame. I either needed a high def camera or a second camera that was zoomed in. On my computer I CAN see the dial when it is moving. Otherwise it was very difficult to see. I did my best with what I have.

In reference to my "is under 90 degrees". I was measuring the angle from the right and had an initial angle that was <90. See below:

|_ <--- measure side. Angle is 90 degrees.
\__ <----measure side. Angle is greater than 90 degrees.
/__ <--- measure side. Angle is less than 90 degrees.


Angle becomes less than 90 degrees if measuring from left side ----> \__
Angle becomes greater than 90 degrees if measuring from left side----> /__
90 degrees is still 90 degrees regardless of the side you measure from ----> |_

"You might want to reference which side..." Your reference is the side you measure the angle from.


"most miter gauges indicate less than 90 degrees on each side of the 90 degree mark."

I think they make them that way because miter gauges can be used from either side of the blade (most saws have two miter tracks, one on each side of the blade).

 

[bob vaughan]

I liked that. Yes there was some glare on the gauge face, but I could still tell when things were behaving themselves.

Making a video yourself is no small task. For every minute of run time, there's at least 10 minutes of prep time.

 

[GarageWoodworks]

I liked that. Yes there was some glare on the gauge face, but I could still tell when things were behaving themselves.

Making a video yourself is no small task. For every minute of run time, there's at least 10 minutes of prep time.

And 20 minutes of outtakes. :tinysmile_cry_t:

 

[froglips]

When do you put up a Bloopers Track??

Great suggestion. I applaud your effort.

I do have to be one of those people who ask, where did you get that beefy square?

Jim

 

[GarageWoodworks]

When do you put up a Bloopers Track??

Great suggestion. I applaud your effort.

I do have to be one of those people who ask, where did you get that beefy square?

Jim

I got mine from Ed Bennett Tools (http://www.ts-aligner.com/accessories.htm)

Thanks!

 

[RandyJ]

Great tip, Brian!:thumbs_up Simple and fast.

Thanks for sharing with your fellow NCWWers.:eusa_clap

 

[GarageWoodworks]

Hey gang,

I made a short video that describes how I align my miter gauge to 90 degrees using a dial indicator and a good quality square. Let me know what you think.

Click Me

Regards.
Brian

Ok. I re-shot a problem area in the video where it was difficult to see the face of the dial indicator. Please let me know what you think.

Regards,
Brian :gar-La;

 

[TheLazyC]

Looks good to me, except it would work on my granite top table saw.

 

[McRabbet]

Ok. I re-shot a problem area in the video where it was difficult to see the face of the dial indicator. Please let me know what you think.

Regards,
Brian :gar-La;

Much clearer video! :eusa_clap:eusa_clap:eusa_clap