Another TS alignment question

[Phil Koundakjian]

I have a Delta TS 34-410. Downloaded the manual .. I have followed all if not most the posting regarding the alignment of the blade. I installed PALS but the adjustment on the right side is fully extended towards the inside and I still am off 1/8 inch. The blade angles towards the fence causing poor cuts and and am afraid it will cause kickback. The manual does not address alignment effectively as people on this site do.



Should I loosen the two trunion bolts that are closer to the front of the TS and make adjustments? Any idea what I need to do to align the saw blade?

I’ve thought of selling the TS and upgrading, but I don’t feel right passing the problem onto someone else.

[Tom Henderson2]

I have a Delta TS 34-410. Downloaded the manual .. I have followed all if not most the posting regarding the alignment of the blade. I installed PALS but the adjustment on the right side is fully extended towards the inside and I still am off 1/8 inch. The blade angles towards the fence causing poor cuts and and am afraid it will cause kickback. The manual does not address alignment effectively as people on this site do.



Should I loosen the two trunion bolts that are closer to the front of the TS and make adjustments? Any idea what I need to do to align the saw blade?

I’ve thought of selling the TS and upgrading, but I don’t feel right passing the problem onto someone else.

We need to start at the beginning.....

Have you aligned the blade to the miter slot? That should be your first step. Describe how you achieved that, to begin with.

Step 2 is to align the fence to the miter slot.

-TH

[Bruce Wrenn]

Do a Google search for "Tie Bars on a Delta Contractor's Saw." Look in the DeWalt site. Last week, mine went out of alignment. Cuts were horrible. After aligning bars, and then aligning the blade to miter slot, I was within 0.001". Close enough for me.

[Phil Koundakjian]

Thanks Bruce .. Will give it a try this weekend .. if the weather gets a little warmer.

Tom the fence is parallel to the miter slots. The blade I can't get to be parallel to the miter slot. I loosened one of the back left trunion bolt (looking from the motor side) and then I used the PALS to make adjustments. It did not come close to the desired alignment. I thought of using a block of wood and small sledge hammer ... as seen on some web site .. to "knock" the trunions to move to the right side, but I chickened out.

[glenn bradley]

Hi Phil, you mention two bolts at the front so I will assume your Delta has four total and not five like some saws (one centered in the front that is a pill to get to). When using the PALs an example of how I did it is as follows. This assumes I just backed the two rear bolts out and installed the PALs:



Loosen all bolts just a bit

remember the weight of your trunnions is on the bolt heads, don't "over loosen").


Snug all bolts but one front bolt, tighten it enough to act as a pivot point
Back your PALs lateral adjustment screws off all the way allowing free movement
Roughly adjust the trunnions to where the blade is reasonably parallel but, you still have adjustment room, right to left, at the rear.

if you cannot achieve this, loosen the snugged bolt and shift the whole trunnion assembly over a bit to get your bolts (and the PAL studs) more centered in the oblong trunnion holes.



Once you have the blade reasonably parallel but, still have adjustment room left to right at the rear -AND- you have one front bolt snug and one front bolt tight enough to act as a pivot

Snug the rear bolts but not so tight that the PALs can't move the trunnions.
Use the PALs to fine tune the blade to miter slot position as close to perfect as you can get at 90*
Tighten all trunnion bolts and re-check

It is common for adjustment to shift as you torque the trunnion against the table underside. Don't get discouraged this will take a little time . . . breathe . . .


If the adjustment shifts, loosen the rear two bolts and one front bolt.
Back the other front bolt of just a bit to act as a pivot point and use the PALs to compensate for the direction of the shift while applying torque.
Re-torque all bolts and re-check
Repeat as necessary or until you get as close as you are going to

Now after making some test cuts and feeling good, go inside and chill for a bit and basque in the reward of a job well done. You will smile every time you use your saw from now on.

[Phil Koundakjian]

[QUOTE=glenn bradley;1324223]


Loosen all bolts just a bit

remember the weight of your trunnions is on the bolt heads, don't "over loosen").


Snug all bolt but one front bolt, tighten it enough to act as a pivot point

That seems one of my problems that I did not loosen the back two bolts.

Great advice from all ..

[brian lundy]

go to this site -it will give excellent info on blade alignment
http//tablesawalignment.com/blog/?cat=22
sorry, don't know how to insert link

[Dan Friedrichs]

Glenn's advice is great.

Don't overtighten, either, though - I once snapped a bolt off doing that. I had to remove the entire trunnion assembly, remove the table from the saw, remove the wings from the table, flip the table over, and gently tap the broken bolt piece out of the hole. :mad: