Need help with my table saw

[Bobby O'Neal]

I have an older Craftsman saw. Being a relative noob still, I don't know all the ins and outs of it as it was a hand me down with no literature attached. I am not getting perfectly square cuts. I noticed while making some mitered 45s that it was a touch off. When i took my combo square and slashed a pencil line for the cut and then lined the blade up on the line I could watch as the blade didn't track on the line exactly. At the begining of the cut it was at the right of the line, ever so slightly, and then tracked over to the left of the pencil mark. There are some allen heads in the table surrounding the "exact i cut" marker and I'm not sure what these adjust. All that to say, I dont know how to adjust this and I'm also not sure if these allens are it.

Thanks

Bobby

[George Bokros]

Those allen screws allow you to adjust the exact i cut. Does your saw cut a good square 90 degree cut? Check your miter gauge with a good square first. If it is square then test it at a 45. If that is okay then it sounds like the blade is not parallel to the miter slots. If so that means you need to adjust the trunnions that the table is mounted to. I suggest you get some PALs. They mount to the trunnion and allow you to adjust the table using a wrench.

[glenn bradley]

Can you give us a pic of the whole saw. Maybe a model number too if possible. I had an older C-man saw and dad is now happily using it. I added the usual after-market fix ups: PALs, zero clearance inserts, link belt, machined pulleys, decent fence, decent miter gauge, etc. I also wrapped up a 90# bag of ready-crete in plastic and set it in the base for mass. That saw did a real nice job for me for quite awhile. Dad replaced the ready-crete with some surplus slabs of 1" steel plate and sealed up some of the openings to assist in dust collection.

[David Christopher]

I would also suggest that you make sure that your combo square is really square... I have a couple of combo squares that are not square

[Bill Huber]

I would start at the bottom and work up. Take your time and do it right the first time.

Take the belt off and check the arbor bearings.
Then put the belt on and make sure you have a good blade on the saw and check the miter slot to blade for parallel.
Then I would check the fence to blade and make sure its parallel.
Then check you miter gauge for 90 and 45 degrees.

Now after you have everything set and are ready to do some cutting put some 320 sand paper on the face of your miter gauge.
Now go make some saw dust.

[Bruce Volden]

Go and find yourself one of those inexpensive plastic engineers layout squares (also has a 45 degree side) I have found them to be VERY accurate. My $0.02.

Bruce


I would also suggest that you make sure that your combo square is really square... I have a couple of combo squares that are not square

[Steve Schoene]

Contractor type saws can offer challenges in getting the blade and table aligned with both beveled and vertical blade. The PALs tool recommended earlier are good ideas to help with the fine adjustments. But, that may not be enough--you may have to shim the table to adjust it's plane relative to the trunnions. I'm glad I have a cabinet saw, since this shimming process is not intuitive to me. But there are descriptions of how to do this both on line and in a number of books.

[Bobby O'Neal]

here is what I'm working with. No belt, direct drive. I made a few more cuts and I'm getting good cuts a 90. I am thinking its either the miter gauge (Osborne) or technique. I am going to rewax the top and tweak the miter gauge some tommorrow and see what happens.

[Lee Schierer]

I have a Craftsman saw and I can assure you that they don't come well aligned from the factory. You need to do a saw tune up and align the blade to the miter slot and get a decent blade. Rockler sells Freud carbide tipped blades which are very good for about $40. You'll want a dedicated rip blade 24 tooth and a dedicated crosscut blade 60+ tooth for that saw.

You may also want to start looking for a new saw as the bearings on direct drive saw motors don't last for long. The Sears miter gauges are also hard to get adjusted to be perfectly at 90. A set of plastic drafting triangles will be your best friend.

[Bobby O'Neal]

I have a Craftsman saw and I can assure you that they don't come well aligned from the factory. You need to do a saw tune up and align the blade to the miter slot and get a decent blade. Rockler sells Freud carbide tipped blades which are very good for about $40. You'll want a dedicated rip blade 24 tooth and a dedicated crosscut blade 60+ tooth for that saw.

You may also want to start looking for a new saw as the bearings on direct drive saw motors don't last for long. The Sears miter gauges are also hard to get adjusted to be perfectly at 90. A set of plastic drafting triangles will be your best friend.

Well I hope to have eliminated some of these issues already. I don't use the Sears miter gauge and I've got a good Freud blade in it. The blade is lined up well with the miter slots as well. I feel like I've likely narrowed it down to technique. At least, I hope that's it. I am going to do some waxing and more practice cuts and see if I can work it out. I did some testing last night to make sure the blade, table, miter slots, and miter gauge were all getting along and they seemed to be.
Also, the saw is about 20 years old and it sat idle for at least 10-12 of those years so I'm not sure how much wear the bearings have seen. Thanks for the input, Lee. How old is your saw? Contractor saw?

[glenn bradley]

here is what I'm working with. No belt, direct drive. I made a few more cuts and I'm getting good cuts a 90. I am thinking its either the miter gauge (Osborne) or technique. I am going to rewax the top and tweak the miter gauge some tommorrow and see what happens.

This will help you with confirming your miter gauge is correct: http://www.thewoodshop.20m.com/five_cut_method_swf.htm

[Jerome Hanby]

Plus 1 on the PALS. If my Craftsman ever starts showing signs that the trunnions need adjusting, I'll be installing them in mine. Hopefully I'll finish the refurb on mu Unisaw before that becomes necessary :D


Those allen screws allow you to adjust the exact i cut. Does your saw cut a good square 90 degree cut? Check your miter gauge with a good square first. If it is square then test it at a 45. If that is okay then it sounds like the blade is not parallel to the miter slots. If so that means you need to adjust the trunnions that the table is mounted to. I suggest you get some PALs. They mount to the trunnion and allow you to adjust the table using a wrench.

[Jerome Hanby]

I think I misread the original post, I was thinking bevel cut not miter for some reason. based on the other information you've posted, sounds like your Osbourne isn't quite dialed in. The suggestion to get some of those plastic drafting squares for checking is a first rate suggestion.

[Bill Huber]

I guess it would be kind of hard to take the belt off and check the bearing.....:D

I have the EB-3 and it is very good, you do have the no slip stuff on the face, if not that is your problem right off the bat.

The drafting squares are a very handy thing to have and I use one all the time. I have a 16" that I use to check the EB-3, I put 3 strips of wood on mine to help pick it up and it also helps when you are move it around on the table. The strips are about 1/2" square and 6" long, and are held on with some double back tape.

If you PM me I have a set of PALs that should fit that saw if you want them you can have them.

[Norman Hitt]

I would start at the bottom and work up. Take your time and do it right the first time.

Take the belt off and check the arbor bearings.
Then put the belt on and make sure you have a good blade on the saw and check the miter slot to blade for parallel.
Then I would check the fence to blade and make sure its parallel.
Then check you miter gauge for 90 and 45 degrees.

Now after you have everything set and are ready to do some cutting put some 320 sand paper on the face of your miter gauge.
Now go make some saw dust.

Aaaaaah, but there is ONE more setup step that everyone leaves out.

After checking (and setting if necessary) that the blade is exactly parallel to the miter slot with the blade set at 0* tilt, (90* to the table), then you need to crank the blade over to 45* and recheck that the blade is still parallel to the miter slot at this setting. "IF" fit is not parallel to the miter slot then shimming between the arbor bracket and the table will be required
.
To shim, if the blade is closer to the miter slot at the infeed of the blade, then the shims must go at the outfeed side arbor bracket, and conversely, if the blade is closer to the miter slot at the outfeed side of the blade, the shims must go at the infeed side arbor bracket.

How the shims work: The shims basically raise the table in respect to the blade (on whichever end of the blade the shims are installed), and as you raise the table in relation to the blade when it is tilted, it decreases the distance from the blade to the miter slot on that end of the blade.

After shimming is correctly done and the blade is parallel to the miter slot at the 45* tilt setting, you must then recheck that the blade is still parallel to the miter slot with the blade set at 90* to the table (which can get out of adjustment because you have had to loosen the arbor bracket bolts on ONE of them to install the shims), and if not parallel at 90*, readjust that setting and then check the 45* setting again.

It may take a little trial and error to get the exact thickness of shims and then a little back & forth checking between the 45* and 90* blade positions, but it will be well worth it in the end.

Good Luck.