TS alignment for a newb

[Jason Zahn]

I recently purchased a Ridgid R4512, and while I realize it isn't the greatest saw in the world, it's a huge step up from my crappy little TS I had before, and it gets me in the direction I want to go on my limited budget.

I'm in the process of trying to get everything trued up, and am looking for some advice.

My initial thought was to align the blade to the miter slot, and the align the fence to miter slot, however, after reading some literature on the subject it seems more involved than what I had figured (surprise, surprise!!), and I think I've effectively confused myself!

Can proper alignment be achieved through the use of a combination square, or is it pretty much required that I purchase a dial indicator or surface gauge in order to do it accurately?

I'd be interested and thankful if some of you could share your tips, tricks, etc., and also the tools you use to accomplish the task.

Sorry in advance for the redundancy that comes from newbie questions!

[Kevin Cehelsky]

Jason,

When I purchased my TS, I used this link to setup my blade and fence. Worked great for me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eikAX0pDKX4

Good luck.

-Kevin

[Darius Ferlas]

Jason, I have an older Ridgid (TS3650) and when I initially took to setting up miter slots parallel to the blade as the first step, and I did it using a square. Eventually I bought a dial indicator and it turned out I was pretty close to what I wanted - about 0.002" wider on the back side of the blade. So the conclusion is that yes, it can be done, but I'm not sure whether I was that good or that lucky.

The next step was setting up the fence parallel to the miter slots. This can be easily done without the dial indicator, but be aware that Ridgid's fence may not be the truest fence there is. Mine is off a little but good enough.

[Jason Zahn]

Kevin- thanks for the link.

Darius, thanks for the info. Excuse my ignorance, but what do you find is the best way to 'mount' or affix the dial indicator when aligning blade to miter slot?

Maybe I'll splurge for the Delta T2 fence at some point in time...I agree it appears the Rigid isn't the greatest, but it's OK.

[Ray Newman]

The last time I aligned my Uni-saw, I utilized my Starrett 12” combination square and a mechanic’s feeler gauge. Believe I paid about US$15.00 for the feeler gauge. Handy item to have at times. The saw just went through a 800 mile inter-state move and I wanted to be certain it was still “dead nuts on”.

Did the usual sequence of events: marked the tooth, slid the square tightly into the miter gauge slot closest to the blade, then adjusted the blade until a .004” feeler gauge rubbed against the tooth and blade.

Rotated theblade and same tooth to the rear and tried the same feeler gauge, which was a loose fit. I then proceeded to tap the table top until there was the same clearance on the same tooth for and aft with the same feeler gauge. After a few tries, I stopped at .002"clearence on the tooth in both positions.

[Huck Schwee]

I have the R4512 and I set mine up with the big box combo square. Just take your time and you'll get there. I have thought about the dial indicator setup but my cuts have been very straight. I did my first cutting board a few weeks ago and if you are misaligned there, it would definitely show up. No problems for mine and that included using some 8/4 Hickory. That is some tough stuff but the Ridgid barely slowed down.

[Jason Zahn]

Huck and Ray:

Thanks for the additional information. It seems that I've got it pretty good with the combo square, but I'd like to verify that.

I suppose either a dial indicator or feeler gauge, although I'm not experienced with either, would help do so.