TS Setup Question

[John Yogus]

Sorry for another TS setup question, but I couldn't find an answer to this on the search. This is a general question for future reference that popped into my head while messing around in the basement this evening so the numbers are made up. Let's say you set up the saw and the blade to miter slot is .002 off. Then you check the fence to same miter slot and it is another .002 off in the same direction. Does this mean that the overall setup is somewhere between .000 and .004 off or do the numbers somehow compound to be further off? Is being off in the same direction better than being off in the opposite direction? Since the distance that is spanned by the fence and blade are different, I can't seem to make sense of this in my head. I hope I asked this correctly.

[keith jensen]

I've been thinking a lot about these alignment problems since I've struggled with my bevel cuts today.

My thought is that as long as you measured the fence in the same location north/south in the miter slots then you have created two lines which are parallel to each other out to infinity. The miter slot being the only line that would ever intersect the line made by the blade and the line made by the fence. This would make more sense if I modeled it in 2D.

So, if you are ripping lumber, the blade and the fence are parallel.

If you are cross cutting (no fence interaction) than your crosscut is going to be off by .002" over the distance that you measured.

My $.02.

Watch out when you move to a bevel cut....this is where my dilemma lies right now.

[Tom Veatch]

John, if the miter slot is skew to the blade by some angle, and if the fence is skew to the miter slot by some angle in the same direction, the skew between the fence and the blade is the sum of the angles. If the fence is skew to the miter slot in the opposite direction, then the skew between the fence and the blade is the difference of the angles. That's the better condition for rip cuts as Keith indicated.

But if you're talking about skews on the order of .002 inches over the diameter of the saw blade, my suggestion is to forget it and make some sawdust.

[Lee Schierer]

If you are cross cutting (no fence interaction) than your crosscut is going to be off by .002" over the distance that you measured.

If the blade is skewed relative to the miter slot by just a small amount, .002, then cross cuts are not skewed, the kerf is simply wider than it should be and you will get teeth marks and possibly burning. Your end cut should still be 90 degrees, only not as smooth a cut as it would be without the blade skew.