Acceptable tolerances on table saw

[Dean Egnater]

So I just bought an xpoint set up gauge. A little bit mickey mouse but sufficient to my purposes.

I was able to get my fence accurate within .001 inch to the miter slots.

But the saw blade is .004 out of alignment to the miter slots (the back edge tilted away from the fence).

I have no idea if this good/bad/or indifferent.

What would be "within specs"?

For what it is worth I own a Ridgid 3650 and I think fixing that .004 is going to be a major PITA.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Dean,

First you are working with wood. Wood is much more dynamic than metal or most plastics. When you cut wood you are releasing internal stresses. 1/8" = 0.125"....1/16" = 0.0625".... 1/32" = 0.03125" 1/64" = 0.015625"
and you are worried about 0.004"? I wouldn't waste much time on it.


There is a philosophy that you have the rear of the fence just slightly farther away from the blade to prevent binding the material you are cutting between the back of the blade and the fence.

I use a TS3650 too. For the money, I think it is a good saw.

[Dan Friedrichs]

Dean, how are you measuring the blade? Blades typically have some variation in them, so to accurately measure the blade-to-miter-slot, you need to make a little mark on the blade and measure off that mark (rotating the blade to measure at the "front" and "back").

If it's actually 0.004" facing away from the fence, though, I'd say that's perfect - leave it alone :) If it were 0.004" INTO the fence, I'd take the time to adjust...

[keith ouellette]

I found that adjustment very easy to make and I took out about .009 runout and it made a difference in the way the cut looked. I can't remember where its at now but I know its not perfect.

Be4fore you do try to change it, if you are thinking of it, make sure you actually have that error you found. Any tiny thing like a tiny bit of pressure in the wrong direction can alter your reading so check carefully. No the same exact thing in the front as you do in the back when taking a reading.

But all and all its really easy to change if you want to. At least it was on my jet cabinet.

[Dean Egnater]

Just cut up some heavily figured mahogany....saw was much smoother after fence adjustment....leaving .004 runout alone.

[scott spencer]

0.001 for the fence is excellent, 0.004 isn't bad and it's off in the best direction. That saw should be fairly easy to adjust though, as it has the cam adjustment mechanism for the rear trunnion brackets. The bolts on the front brackets are a pain to reach.

[glenn bradley]

Just cut up some heavily figured mahogany....saw was much smoother after fence adjustment....leaving .004 runout alone.

Dean, you beat me to it. I was about to ask how is it cutting. If you are getting satisfactory results, you're good. Just as an example; on my saw, if I am around .001" I generally get no tooth marks along the edge of the cut. As I move farther outside that position, I will see saw tooth marks which make the hopes of a glue-line rip impossible. I enjoy going straight from the saw to a glue up so I work towards that result.

My material, technique, blade, setup, etc. all contribute to the end result. Don't get too hung up on the numbers. In the end, your results are what count. Having said all that; this does not ALWAYS hold true. Because, as Ken said . . . let's all say it together . . . "Wood Moves".