Kevin Schlossberg
09-06-2012, 12:13 AM
Let me preface this by saying that I am a novice woodworker and I probably could have saved myself a world of grief by checking for proper alignment when purchasing the saw. Alas, at the time I didn't have the proper guages to do so (nor did I even realize I'd have to do this) so this has been a frustrating learning experience for me.
I've been trying to make 15 degree cuts on 2x4s using my Incra Miter 1000HD. I noticed that the 15 degrees weren't matching up top to bottom, which led me to believe that the saw blade was out of alignment. Woodcraft had a 15% off sale this weekend, so I headed over and purchased an A-LINE-IT alignment gauge. Lo and behold, the back of the blade was off from the front by +.015 - quick research here on the creek and on other sites told me that the blade should be perfectly parallel back to front, but .003" was "good enough" for most people. So, I endeavored to put it in alignment. Thus begins my tale of woe.
The JET Manual recommends that you measure the distance the trunions need to be moved, the flip the saw over, 'adjust' and then turn the saw back over. Yeah, right, like that was going to happen - I'd already installed a 52" capable Incra fence on the thing, along with a router table extension, there was no way I was going to rip all that off when I couldn't even figure out an accurate way to move the trunions precisely! So, it was time to get a low chair, bend over, and contort myself into getting the trusty old socket wrench (12mm bit) and included open ended wrench (13mm) over the nuts and bolts. Front and rear right sides of the trunions were a snap to get to. Front left was completely impossible to reach. Left rear took a great deal of contortion and the wrench kept slipping off. To make things worse, I needed a socket extension, so off to sears I went. When I got back, after a lot of sweating, cursing and repeated loosening / tightening of the three trunion bolts I could reach, I got the saw "good enough" - .003 deflection front to rear after 4 hours or so of frustration, measuring multiple areas of the blade.
Ok, now time to check and see if this held true with a different blade. Should be simple - press the arbor lock button on the top of the table, put included box wrench on arbor nut, twist and PING, arbor lock is stripped out. Ok, shouldn't be a problem, one of my open ended wrenches should get to the flats of the other side of the arbor... and they don't. Because they are all imperial. And too thick to fit down in there. Ok, no problem, broke out the calipers and measured: 17mm. Off to Home Depot, making sure to take along the included arbor wrench to make sure that the metric wrenches I was buying weren't too thick. HD wrenches are good to go, so I returned back to the shop, switched out the blade, cursed JET for making such a "feature" that broke so easily, tightened arbor nut, and... the saw was off true.
Ok, whatever. I'm getting pretty good at adjusting trunions now, so I true it up again. Switch out blades back to the factory one - pretty much in true now, just off by .005. I notice that when I'm tightening the trunions, it's going out of true by a couple .001ths. New HD wrenches make adjusting the trunions a lot easier since they are closed end and therefore aren't slipping off constantly.
Do some more research, read A-LINE-ITs web instructions saying I should have lowered the blade by 1/4" or so from max height and it makes a difference. Apparently max height torques the blade. Spend another hour or so with interruptions truing up the blade. Watch the A-LINE-IT gauge move .002 when tightening the left rear trunion repeatedly, so I compensate for that. At last, perfectly straight front to back! HALLELUJAH!
"Hey, maybe I should check the blade to see if it's at 90 degrees" - naturally it isn't. This is actually an easy fix - Unlock blade lock, and just back out the set screw in the table top. Squares align perfectly to it, no daylight visible between them and the blade.
For giggles I check the runout again and.... .015 difference between front and back. WTF. Then I get a moment of inspiration and try measuring the difference between when the blade lock is on and off. I turn the lock off and zero the A-LINE-IT. Front, off: 0.00. Front on: 0.07. Back off: .015 (guessing, at home so I don't have my notes). Back on: 0.027 :(
At this point I'm going to head back to woodcraft tomorrow and get a digital blade angle gauge. I'm going to make sure the blade is perpendicular first, then work the trunions one more time. I found this interesting thing from the people that make the A-LINE-IT gauge - http://in-lineindustries.com/saw_pals.html
I'm tempted to buy the thing and see if it works to make moving the trunions easier. I'm wishing I'd spent an extra 1500 on a cabinet saw at this point.
I'm also tempted not to use the blade lock again since it puts an unpredictable amount of torque onto the blade and causes it to go out of alignment to various degrees. Note to self - next time check alignment and such BEFORE installing accessories.
I could really use some feedback here.
I've been trying to make 15 degree cuts on 2x4s using my Incra Miter 1000HD. I noticed that the 15 degrees weren't matching up top to bottom, which led me to believe that the saw blade was out of alignment. Woodcraft had a 15% off sale this weekend, so I headed over and purchased an A-LINE-IT alignment gauge. Lo and behold, the back of the blade was off from the front by +.015 - quick research here on the creek and on other sites told me that the blade should be perfectly parallel back to front, but .003" was "good enough" for most people. So, I endeavored to put it in alignment. Thus begins my tale of woe.
The JET Manual recommends that you measure the distance the trunions need to be moved, the flip the saw over, 'adjust' and then turn the saw back over. Yeah, right, like that was going to happen - I'd already installed a 52" capable Incra fence on the thing, along with a router table extension, there was no way I was going to rip all that off when I couldn't even figure out an accurate way to move the trunions precisely! So, it was time to get a low chair, bend over, and contort myself into getting the trusty old socket wrench (12mm bit) and included open ended wrench (13mm) over the nuts and bolts. Front and rear right sides of the trunions were a snap to get to. Front left was completely impossible to reach. Left rear took a great deal of contortion and the wrench kept slipping off. To make things worse, I needed a socket extension, so off to sears I went. When I got back, after a lot of sweating, cursing and repeated loosening / tightening of the three trunion bolts I could reach, I got the saw "good enough" - .003 deflection front to rear after 4 hours or so of frustration, measuring multiple areas of the blade.
Ok, now time to check and see if this held true with a different blade. Should be simple - press the arbor lock button on the top of the table, put included box wrench on arbor nut, twist and PING, arbor lock is stripped out. Ok, shouldn't be a problem, one of my open ended wrenches should get to the flats of the other side of the arbor... and they don't. Because they are all imperial. And too thick to fit down in there. Ok, no problem, broke out the calipers and measured: 17mm. Off to Home Depot, making sure to take along the included arbor wrench to make sure that the metric wrenches I was buying weren't too thick. HD wrenches are good to go, so I returned back to the shop, switched out the blade, cursed JET for making such a "feature" that broke so easily, tightened arbor nut, and... the saw was off true.
Ok, whatever. I'm getting pretty good at adjusting trunions now, so I true it up again. Switch out blades back to the factory one - pretty much in true now, just off by .005. I notice that when I'm tightening the trunions, it's going out of true by a couple .001ths. New HD wrenches make adjusting the trunions a lot easier since they are closed end and therefore aren't slipping off constantly.
Do some more research, read A-LINE-ITs web instructions saying I should have lowered the blade by 1/4" or so from max height and it makes a difference. Apparently max height torques the blade. Spend another hour or so with interruptions truing up the blade. Watch the A-LINE-IT gauge move .002 when tightening the left rear trunion repeatedly, so I compensate for that. At last, perfectly straight front to back! HALLELUJAH!
"Hey, maybe I should check the blade to see if it's at 90 degrees" - naturally it isn't. This is actually an easy fix - Unlock blade lock, and just back out the set screw in the table top. Squares align perfectly to it, no daylight visible between them and the blade.
For giggles I check the runout again and.... .015 difference between front and back. WTF. Then I get a moment of inspiration and try measuring the difference between when the blade lock is on and off. I turn the lock off and zero the A-LINE-IT. Front, off: 0.00. Front on: 0.07. Back off: .015 (guessing, at home so I don't have my notes). Back on: 0.027 :(
At this point I'm going to head back to woodcraft tomorrow and get a digital blade angle gauge. I'm going to make sure the blade is perpendicular first, then work the trunions one more time. I found this interesting thing from the people that make the A-LINE-IT gauge - http://in-lineindustries.com/saw_pals.html
I'm tempted to buy the thing and see if it works to make moving the trunions easier. I'm wishing I'd spent an extra 1500 on a cabinet saw at this point.
I'm also tempted not to use the blade lock again since it puts an unpredictable amount of torque onto the blade and causes it to go out of alignment to various degrees. Note to self - next time check alignment and such BEFORE installing accessories.
I could really use some feedback here.