Table saw heeling

[Francisco DelValle]

Hi there,

Been at this on and off for 2 weeks now. I have a Ridgid R4512 table saw that is not heeling properly; it consistently is out of alignment by 1/16".

I align the saw's trunnions (bolted to top, not cabinet) to my left miter slot using a combination square and the "pick one tooth" method. To align the blade, I loosen all trunnion bolts and move the rear trunnion to the right (when facing the rear of the saw). When the combination square is equidistant from the slot to the blade (front and rear) I tighten each bolt a little until they are all tight making sure as I am doing it that tightening doesn't move the blade out of alignment. I then make sure the blade is at 90" parallel (using a digital gauge).

A little while ago, I performed the above.... again. This time, I figured I would eliminate the wood not being square as the culprit so I took a board and cut it square using my miter saw. I measured all sides and they were the same length. I took that board to my table saw and cut each side in succession. I numbered each cut as I made it. When I was done, cut #4 was 1/16" wider than cut #2 (turning the board counter-clockwise). As usual, my square becomes a trapezoid. I see that squaring stock on the miter saw didn't provide any advantage.

Any ideas or suggestions on how to fix this? All ideas are welcomed. Thanks for reading.

Frank

[Lee Schierer]

Are you sure your miter gauge is set square to the miter slot bar?

As far as alignment of your saw goes, I had a terrible time getting my craftsman saw aligned until I figured out that the lock washers were pulling the bolts right back to their original positions. I had to rotate the star washers half a tooth so they would bit fresh and not drag the saw out of position again. I highly recommend you visit a nearby Harbor Freight store and pick up a dial indicator for $15. Mount it to your miter gauge with a block of wood and a couple of wood screws. It will be more accurate than your current method and you can see how much you are shifting the blade in real time. ou can also watch to see if it moves as you tighten the bolts.

[johnny means]

Francisco, it seems a little unclear what you are trying to do. It sounds like you are trying to use the 5 cut method to measure something. The 5 cut method is used to square miter gauges, crosscut sleds, outriggers on sliders, radial arm saws and other adjustable crosscutting equipment. It would not be something you would use to adjust the blade direction on a table saw. If you could describe more clearly what you are trying to achieve, I'm sure you will get plenty of good advice and resources here.

[Rod Sheridan]

First issue is that measuring the lengths of the cut sides has nothing to do with square, I'm sure you've seen a regular trapezoid?

Aligning the saw blade to the mitre slot is correct.

To set the mitre gauge to square you need to use the five cut method and measure the final cutoff piece with a micrometer or vernier caliper............Rod.

[Loren Woirhaye]

It does sound like it's the miter gauge that is a little off to me.