Tuning sawstop sliding crosscut table

[greg wood]

I'm seeking help on our to tune my sawstop siding crosscut table. The issue lies with getting a perfect 90 degree angle to the blade for the sliders fence. I have been making cabinets and basically done the normal measure to the front of the blade, then to the to the back of the blade. While this works ok for most cuts I am making some large base tables and when doing cuts that are 34" (std base cabinet height), even being slightly out can result in a couple of mm's off from top to bottom. This throws the entire cabinet off.

I have tried to use my 12" carpenters square but it's just not long enough.

The only way I know to tune is to have a 3' x 3' square that I can use to check each end to the blade. But where/how to get something perfectly square in the 3' to 4' range?

[eugene thomas]

If miter slot is square to blade use that to square sliding table.

[eugene thomas]

Try ed to edit my post...hate cell net anyway square should of been parallel.

[Jeff Bartley]

Greg,
Google search the '5-cut' method, a square won't get you anywhere as close as using the 5-cut method.......it's genius!

[greg wood]

Greg,
Google search the '5-cut' method, a square won't get you anywhere as close as using the 5-cut method.......it's genius!

Jeff,
Thanks but what I am talking about is a slider that similar to an excalibur. It sets to the left of the blade (normal guide would be to the right). The fence rotates to do angles. The issue I am having is there is no dead stop at 0 degrees. Trying to set the view finder on zero is not accurate enough on long cuts.

See picture I have attached.

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[Peter Aeschliman]

Jeff is right that the 5 cut method would be the best way to square up your sliding table IF it had a positive stop.

Honestly I don't meant to rub it in, but this was a huge design blunder by sawstop. It really leaves me scratching my head...

I would start thinking about ways to fabricate your own positive stops for it. The challenges are that:

1) since it's designed such that you can position the fence anywhere along the table with the T-slots, you'd have to make two points of reference for your fence to make sure it's in the same exact position every time you install it.

2) The stops need to be below the surface of the table when the sliding table isn't in use. So they need to flip up somehow.

3) They need to be micro-adjustable. My excalibur uses a simple bolt with double nuts on it.

Maybe you could use t-slot wedges, kind of like this:

http://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/05841010

Permanently mount two of them in two of the t-slots in the table, and come up with removable, adjustable stops can mount to the wedges each time in install your fence. Or, maybe you could put one wedge in the left-most slot, and permanently mount the other stop to the saw table or fence. I dunno, just thinking out loud.

I cannot think of a more reliable way to get perfect 90's every time you install your fence.

[Cyrus Brewster 7]

Greg,

Don't worry about the '5 cut' method - use that as a test once set up.

I have a Dewalt slider on my Grizzly TS. The set up should be no different. First, left miter needs to be parallel with the blade. Second, and more important, the table needs to slide perfectly parallel to the left miter slot. Meaning that any one point on the sliding table should register the same distance to the miter slot on the TS table - both front and rear when slid.

Once that is set you simply need to square the fence to the miter slot. I was lucky enough several years ago to score a Woodpeckers 12" carpenter's triangle for $45. It is now a One-Time Tool for $130! Works perfect. You could probably fabricate one that would work just as well. Although I think HF has 12" aluminum ones - just bring something to verify 90 deg.

Anyway, this has worked for me for the over 3 years since I added the slider to my TS. It actually sets up a perfect 45 deg too. I had a difficult time trusting it at first but now it is wonderful.

[Chuck Nickerson]

I made something with 3/4" MDF that does the job. Picture a 2' x 2' piece of MDF, square as you can make it. Now glue a 3/4" MDF piece along one edge, hanging down 5/16". To use, drop the hanging piece into the miter slot and square the fence to the board's edge.

[Jeff Bartley]

Greg,
I'm with Peter: you need to fabricate some positive stops. And it doesn't matter what it is, sliding table, sled, simple miter guage; the 5-cut test works for all and is the most accurate way to tune up a cross cut. The 5-cut method is your friend!
If I was in your shoes I'd fab up some positive stops, do the 5-cut method, and see where you stand. If you're unable to tune it into accuracy with that I'd start looking at parallelism with the blade. If the slide is skewed to the right it'll burn the work piece, if skewed to the left you might not notice anything in the cut.
If you want to measure the parallelism I'd use a caliper from one edge of the miter gauge to a tooth on the front of the blade, then rotate the blade to the back and measure there. Then measure from the same edge of the miter gauge to the slider.
I wouldn't be surprised if you needed to use some shim stock one or more of the mounting points of the slider. Good luck and let everyone know what worked!

[Bob Potter]

Greg
If you go to the Hammer site and watch the video on there C3-31 combination machine. After the woodworker get's done cross cutting on the slider he flips a stop out of the way that keeps the fence at 90 degree's and than removes the fence. The flip stop is mounted on the slider. If you watch the video you see what I mean and what the there were saying. Hope this helps,Bob

[greg wood]

Well I did use the 5 cut method to get it squared up once. Then I took a 2.5' x 2.5' square piece of scrap and made a jig with a track that sits into the miter slot. Then cut a 45 on it after it was done. The woodpecker triangle would have been much easier and better but I guess I will have to wait until the next one-time production.

[Rod Sheridan]

Greg
If you go to the Hammer site and watch the video on there C3-31 combination machine. After the woodworker get's done cross cutting on the slider he flips a stop out of the way that keeps the fence at 90 degree's and than removes the fence. The flip stop is mounted on the slider. If you watch the video you see what I mean and what the there were saying. Hope this helps,Bob

I have a Hammer slider, and yes, that's what is done for the 90 degree stop on the short crosscut fence. There is also a stop in the table to locate the "mitre slot" end of the fence as obviously a table mounted stop only works if the gauge is in the exact same spot each time.

If you want any photographs I could take some and post them..................Regards, Rod.

[John K Jordan]

I don't know about the mechanics of your hardware, but one way to lock in a miter device in general is to square it then drill a hole and use a pin to provide a positive stop, preferably some distance from the pivot.. Or tap the hole and insert a bolt when needed.

My Robland slider (on PM66) has an adjustable 90 deg stop that works pretty well. It is simply a bolt with a locking nut fastened to a bracket positioned some distance from the pivot. Pivot the fence until the back contacts the head of the adjustment bolt. Another bolt rides in a slot in the table and locks the fence at zero (or any angle) with a wing nut under the table. I used the 5-cut method to set the adjustment bolt once.

JKJ