aligning ts fence

[brent warner]

Jet saw w/ exacta fence. I had to take the rect. tubing off to install my cast router ext. table. it has been a good twelve years since i set up the saw, and i don't remember how to check if the fence is square to the blade. how to?
thanks,brent :o

[Gerald Jensen]

You can get close (not precise) with a combination square and the miter track on your table.

First, make sure the table is square to the blade, then put the flat side of the comination square in the front of the track nearest the fence and lock the scale. As you slide the square along the track, you can see any deviation from square.

There are a bunch of table saw tuneup videos on the web ... WOOD magazine has one, as well as the Wood Whisper (http://thewoodwhisperer.com/episode-55-tablesaw-setuptuneup-pt-1/) that go into detail. For my own shop, I built a jig that has a dial gauge with a magnetic base that rides in the miter track.

[Chris Tsutsui]

Without any tools, I found that you can push the fence so it's aligned and perfectly flush with the miter slot. Then run your finger inside the miter slot so it's feeling any uneveness with the fence.

If your fingers can't feel anything then the fence is decently aligned with the miter slot.

To check if the fence is aligned with the blade. Raise the blade, then take a block of hardwood or something and adjust the fence so the wood barely touches one tooth of the blade closest to the table top. Rotate the blade and move that tooth to the other side and slide the wood to see if the clearance is the same.

If you've got a dial gauge then you can secure that to a jig and probably get better results.

The table saw manual I have shows how to use a combination square, though I don't really like using that.

[Lee Schierer]

You want to align your fence with the miter slot and you want to align your blade to the same miter slot. For $20 at harbor freight you can pick up a dial indicator, mount it to a block of wood with a wood screw and clamp that block to your miter gauge. You can use the same set up to align the blade to the miter slot. You should get within .005" or less without too much trouble.

Unless you know your combination square is trully square, you could be wasting your time with that method.

[Tom Hintz]

I also have a table saw alignment story/video at the link below. Incidentally, this story has led all others on my site in traffic the last two weeks for some reason.

http://www.newwoodworker.com/basic/tsalign.html

[Bob Wingard]

You want to align your fence with the miter slot and you want to align your blade to the same miter slot.

NOPE .. .. .. everything aligns to the blade .. .. ..

[Tom Hintz]

NOPE .. .. .. everything aligns to the blade .. .. ..

You know that every table saw manufacturer on the planet backs aligning to the miter slot right? If you align everything to the blade and the blade is not absolutely perfectly parallel to the miter slots, everything you set using it as the reference will be off.

[Lee Schierer]

NOPE .. .. .. everything aligns to the blade .. .. ..

Of all the pieces of a saw, the one part that cannot be changed is the location of the miter slot in the table surface. All other features can be moved; therefore the blade must get aligned to the miter slot and the fence to the miter slot. This may mean moving the table top around on some models to get the blade aligned to the miter slot.

[Myk Rian]

For $20 at harbor freight you can pick up a dial indicator, mount it to a block of wood with a wood screw and clamp that block to your miter gauge.
That's what I do. No need to get fancy with it.

[Matthew Dunne]

Unless you know your combination square is trully square, you could be wasting your time with that method.

Do you think so? I’m a newbie and I use that method, just as Gerald described it. If it’s unreliable, I’d like to know. (That what I come here!)

Here’s my thinking: It seems to me that the combination square is really just acting as a gauge. It measure the distance from the slot to the fence at the front of the table, and then at the back (and at all points in between, if you like).

I don’t see how the squareness of the square matters – if the angle is, say, 89 degrees in the first measurement, it will also be 89 degrees in the second measurement. It should give you an accurate comparison of distance. (Though the absolute measurement might be off.)

[Rod Sheridan]

Y
Unless you know your combination square is trully square, you could be wasting your time with that method.

Lee, why would the squareness of the square be important?

It's merely being used as a gauge block to see if the front and back of the blade are parallel with the mitre slot. If you use the same point on the square both times, it shouldn't matter.

Regards, Rod.

[george wilson]

The miter slot must be used as the datum reference to all other alignments.

[johnny means]

NOPE .. .. .. everything aligns to the blade .. .. ..

Okay, I've got my fence parallel to the blade... now if I could just find those miter slot adjustment screws.:confused:

[Chris Tsutsui]

If you align the blade so it's parallel to the fence, but the miter slot isn't. Then if you use the miter slot for anything then it will likely cause burns or worse yet, kick back.

The fence is difficult or sometimes can't be adjusted so I would align it with the miter slot first.

The blade has a lot of better adjustments so I would align that with the fence next.

I also forgot to mention to check the camber or tilt angle of the blade to make sure it's 90 degrees to the table top. And also adjust the measurement indicator on the fence.

[glenn bradley]

NOPE .. .. .. everything aligns to the blade .. .. ..

I always align the blade to the right miter slot and then the fence to the same slot. If you align to the blade you are aligning to an adjustable reference; the slot never moves.

I made one of these (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=111878) and it does quite well for a few bucks.

[brent warner]

WOW, just needed my memory jogged yesterday, didn't mean to stir up a bees nest :D I used a 18 in. straight edge and a digital caliper, only had to tweak it a bit.
thanks again, brent

[Bob Wingard]

Yeppers .. I've read about how you should align to the miter slot .. and I still tend to disagree with their logic.

What role does the miter slot play when using the saw to rip ?? ?? NONE

What role does the fence play when crosscutting ?? ?? NONE

I still contend that one should align the blade to the miter slot for accurate & safe crosscuts AND that the fence should be aligned to the blade for safe rips.

In reference to an earlier post about not being able to locate their miter slot adjustment screws .. oh well .. as they say .. it's difficult to have a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent !! !! !! Since the miter slot is "fixed" .. of course you should align the blade to it first. Then, I always have, and always will align my fence to the blade, and I also always toe-out the fence slightly to avoid burning & kickbacks. I don't measure the toe-out down to the 0.001" as it doesn't matter WHAT the number is .. I just toe it out a little bit at a time until there is no evidence that the teeth rising up from under the table are dragging the back of the cut.

This all amounts, functionally to about the same thing as the method of aligning everything to the slot. I just prefer to call it aligning or intentional misaligning with respect to the blade, since the blade is the only thing both types of cut have in common.