TS Blade Alignment Question

[Dave Richards]

Actually, this is more a product question. Has anyone ever used the PALS alignment tools from In-Line Industries? If so, what do you think?

[Jim Becker]

No experience (I sold my contractors' style saw before I had the chance to try them) but Jerry's system is pretty well respected. It also helps avoid some "bad-words" when dealing with the trunnion bolts on these saws as they sometimes have a mind of their own. IMHO, PALs is a good investment based on anecdotal evidence from many positive posts. I can't remember even one negative one...

[Jim Hinze]

Actually, this is more a product question. Has anyone ever used the PALS alignment tools from In-Line Industries? If so, what do you think?

I just recently installed them on my delta tilting arbor saw. I like them very much. It makes it much easier to set the alignment and hold it while tightening down the trunions.

[Chris Livingston]

I made these for my cabinet saw before I had bought my A-Line-It with the video showing the PALS. I have them on all 4 corners of my 12" 5hp saw and it takes aout 2 minutes to get it perfectly in line with the miter slot. If the PALS will fit your saw they are worth it.

http://home.comcast.net/~onawa.dbltap/pictures/Top_adjust1.JPG

[Dave Richards]

Thanks guys.

Chris, after looking at your picture I guess I could probably make my own, huh? I was thinking of putting them on both the front and the rear.

[Bart Leetch]

They worked great on my contractors saw, they go on the rear trunnion. You should have a jamb nut on the allen screw to tighten down against the bracket.

I can see where it would even help make the job easier on a cabinet saw.

Oh by the way Chris don't seal up all the holes in your Grizzly saw you need air flow into the cabinet for the DC system to pull chips out of the saw. Remember a vacuum moves nothing. :)

[JayStPeter]

IMHO, PALs is a good investment based on anecdotal evidence from many positive posts. I can't remember even one negative one...

OK, I'll give a negative. On my old Craftsman, I had to readjust the stupid thing every couple months. So, I bought the PALS system to help. But, I couldn't get the trunnions to align with the PALS system. All four corners had to be at their limits for my saw to be aligned. For some reason the PALS system wouldn't allow the front to travel to their limits. I wound up using small clamps and various brackets and pieces of metal to hold everything in place while I tightened it down. I would've had to remove the trunnion and widen some bolt holes to get it to work.
I will, however, say that the concept is pretty good. A better saw would probably be well served. I don't remember the price, but I remember thinking it was pretty pricey for two pieces of bent metal (with a hole and a threaded hole) and two screws with lock nuts. But, it would've been worth it had it worked for me.
All things considered, I'd try to manually adjust the saw and see if it stays. If so, don't bother spending your money. If not, give it a shot. No sense paying to solve a problem that doesn't exist.


Jay

[Dave Richards]

Thanks for the advice guys. Will be giving it a bit more thought. Might just dredge up some scraps and make my own.

[Chris Livingston]

don't seal up all the holes in your Grizzly saw you need air flow into the cabinet for the DC system to pull chips out of the saw. Remember a vacuum moves nothing. :)
Don't worry Bart, I didn't, just the gap where the table met the base. I was loosing a lot of air through it and not getting the cabinet totally clear. Now it works great. No more damp clumped together saw dust in the corners for me.

[Butch Collins]

I too had the PALS system on a Craftman Contractor saw. I had one heck of a time aligning and keeping that saw aligned until I bought the PALS system. After having the system on the saw for a while I tried to tilt the blade to 45 degrees something I don't do very often, and discovered I could only get to 25 to 30 degrees. The PALS alignment system had a hard hit on the blade guard mounting bracket. Not just the blade guard but the actual mounting bracket, so if you removed it you had to re-aligned the bracket in order to re-use the blade guard again. Guess how long that lasted .:mad: My solution: sell one Craftsman tablesaw and buy one Jet Supersaw :D Now, life is good :)