Powermatic Table Saw runout using Master Plate

[William Allen]

Hi all,

I'm getting ready to build my workbench, the culmination of 8 years of collecting tropical hardwood dunnage. I finally have a tablesaw up to the task of ripping and cutting my materials -- a Powermatic 63 with a 20amp motor.

I have a question about my set up. I'm using a Master Plate and having a hard time getting runout less than .006" between the front and rear edges of the plate. Anyone's thoughts on whether or not that's a realistically accurate discrepancy?

I've read other threads about using the miter gauge, etc., and the gauge I'm using has slop in it so I'm going to replace it with an incra gauge. Any recommendations? I'm leaning toward one with graduations of 1 degree.

Thanks!

[Ruhi Arslan]

Let me be the first one to say; welcome to the board. Obviously, you've been lurking around but because this is the first post....
Are you measuring "runout" or the distance between miter slot and the blade from the front to rear? If later, you need to adjust your table top. This is just a quick answer and I am sure there will be more detailed and accurate answers to follow.

[Greg Peterson]

Welcome aboard. Run out and blade parallelism are two different matters. It sounds like your blade is not parallel to the miter slots. This adjustment is made by loosening the trunnions and moving them until the blade is within acceptable tolerances of parallelism.

Time does not allow my to offer greater detail, but this is a common matter on contractor saws. There are numerous threads on the subject and I am confident someone will chime in with more info. Google PAL's.

[Philip Rodriquez]

+1 for PALS... but a block of wood and a hammer can also get you there (careful). Contrctor saws are hard to get adjusted because every time you tighten a nut, it moves the whole thing. It is just a PITA!

You should shoot for +/-.003"

[glenn bradley]

I put PALs on my old contractor and they went with it. Great invention for those wanting to raise the contractor stlye saw to the next level. I have also done OK with a block of wood and a mallet for a friend on his Delta. If you do a search here using the words 'alignment' and 'contractor' you will find some really detailed threads.

[William Allen]

Thanks for the correction. I mis-posted. My runout is negligible -- approx. .0005" yet I struggle with getting the miterslot parallel with the blade. The closest I can get is .005" -- that's without spending an entire Sunday afternoon on it (maybe my time expected set-up times are unrealistic?). That's even with a PALS set-up. I'll research through more threads and try again tomorrow for .003" or less.

BTW I have been a lurker, primarily pulling info down off the forums and searching the SC Classifieds for Type 11 Stanley planes. I really haven't done much woodworking recently, primarily due to a lack of a reliable table saw but now that I have one and picked up a DeWalt planer I'll be getting back into the swing of things.

Thanks again,

Will