Straight rip fence

[garybushey]

On my Delta saw I used the miter gauge that came with the saw and placed a speed square on it to check to see if the rip fence was straight and it wasn't. It appears that the back end was about 1/16 to 1/8 further left than the front end when the fence is locked down. I tried to adjust the two plastic screws that are part of the fence to get it straight but nothing I did seemed to improve it any.

First question would be how accurate is this setup I am using to determine if my fence is parellel to the miter slot? Should I just bit the bullet and buy one of those precision gauge? Could it be that my miter gauge is not accurate? How would I tell?

Thanks

 

[Glennbear]

It has been my experience when doing machine set ups that the fewer "moving pieces" you use the more accurate your setup. To negate any error induced by the miter gauge check the fence alignment by lowering the blade below the table and sliding the fence close enough so that you can use your square directly registered on the miter slot. There are two schools of thought on fence to blade alignment, some folks prefer dead paralellism for the length of the fence (my personal preference) and others use a very slight offset with the theory that an offset after the cut is irrelevant to accuracy and tends to prevent pinching and kickback. :wsmile:

 

[garybushey]

Thanks for the tip.

I did some further checks and it does appear that my miter gauge is about 1/2 degree off so that would cause my issue. Now I just need to figure out how to get my saw blade perfectly straight to the miter slot :gar-Bi

 

[Tarhead]

Care & Repair of Shop Machines by John White should be a required reference in every shop with shop equipment. There's an excellent section on setting up a tablesaw, alignment of the blade to miter slot starting on page 73 (pg 61 has instructions and photos using 2 scraps of Baltic Birch plywood). Add a $6 HF dial indicator and you're in business.:gar-Bi. You'll need to buy the book for the full details.


http://books.google.com/books?id=dS...&resnum=1&ved=0CEIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

[Bill Clemmons]

Gary, I don't have the John White book (although I should) so my method may be the same thing Mark is referring to.

I use a 3/4" thick board, about 18-24" long by 2-4" wide, and wedge it into the right hand miter slot. Then I bring my fence up to the board on the right side and lock it down. This will tell you if your fence is aligned w/ the miter slot.

As Glenn pointed out, you can align your fence either dead straight, or w/ a slight run-out (no more than 1/64" to the right (front to back). You definitely DO NOT want a right-to-left run-out. This will cause the wood to bind between the blade and fence and lead to kick-back.

For blade alignment, I use the left hand miter slot and a dial indicator. In theory, the left and right miter slots are in perfect alignment. If they aren't, you've got a bigger problem than fence or blade alignment. :BangHead:

HTH

Bill

 

[merrill77]

First question would be how accurate is this setup I am using to determine if my fence is parellel to the miter slot? Should I just bit the bullet and buy one of those precision gauge? Could it be that my miter gauge is not accurate? How would I tell?

It might be perfectly accurate - impossible to say from here. But in general, OEM miter gauges are not particularly accurate. If it has adjustments, then you can fix that.

I do my TS setup as follows (which I'm sure I read in a magazine somewhere):

1. Align blade to miter slots - use something that slides in the miters slot to determine if the blade is perfectly parallel to them. Typically, a dial indicator mounted on a scrap attached to a miter bar (possibly the one that came with your miter gauge). If they aren't aligned, then you've got to get inside the saw and figure out how to adjust.
2. Align the fence to the slots. One way is to put a board in the slot and move the fence over against it. Ideally, it should be perfectly parallel, though some prefer to have the fence a tiny bit farther away from the back side of the blade. Adjust the fence alignment as needed to get them parallel.
3. Now you can calibrate your miter gauge using a square and either the miter slot or the fenc. You didn't ask about the gauge, but it probably needs adjustment if it came with the saw :>

Hope that helps!
Chris