How important is table saw levelness front to back?

[Kevin Smira]

So, I just set up my new Grizzly G0833P (I initially was going to go with a SS, but decided on a diff route in case you read an earlier post of mine and are now confused) and am getting it all dialed in now. I have it level left to right dead nuts on from the center table out both the left and right extension wings. I have it mounted on a mobile base and in order for me to get it level front to back, I have to adjust the leveling feet on the mobile base so much that when I "flip" the casters down to move it, I can't because the leveling feet are too far out. Any advice?

Thanks,
Kevin

[Matthew Curtis]

I don't think level is important at all as long as the tabel is flat and the fence is square to the blade.

[Dustin Bullard]

As long as you have the blade square to the table and have the saw on a reasonably flat surface you should be fine having the whole saw tilt slightly in any direction. As the G0833P is a hybrid saw with the trunnions mounted to the table and you don't have any legs on the extension wings, having the table out of level shouldn't make any difference. As long as you don't have it so tilted that things can potentially slide/roll off I wouldn't stress. Chances are that your floors are not perfectly level anyways.

[Mike Ontko]

Having a level table surface might only be a concern if you're using a Wixey, iGauging, or similar digital angle finder to determine the actual angle of the blade. But as long as you zero out the angle finder first by setting it on the table surface...and you've already confirmed that the bland and table are square to each other, then you should be good to go.

[Dan Friedrichs]

I can't imagine why it matters if your table saw is level or not...

[Doug Dawson]

So, I just set up my new Grizzly G0833P (I initially was going to go with a SS, but decided on a diff route in case you read an earlier post of mine and are now confused) and am getting it all dialed in now. I have it level left to right dead nuts on from the center table out both the left and right extension wings. I have it mounted on a mobile base and in order for me to get it level front to back, I have to adjust the leveling feet on the mobile base so much that when I "flip" the casters down to move it, I can't because the leveling feet are too far out. Any advice?


The uneven table surface may affect using an outfeed table, giving it a tendency to lift the board one way or the other.

What mobile base are you using? BTW, the Sawstop Industrial Mobile Base (which BTW is awesome) can be used on non-Sawstop saws as well, with a little jigging. BTW BTW, the Sawstops can also be had with a really nice folding outfeed table.

[Jim Becker]

If you have a shop with a sloped floor, such as is the case with many garages that are repurposed/used for woodworking activities, it's "generally best" to have the tool either perpendicular to the slope or with the slope...not angled across it...for best results including accommodating things like outfeed support. It gets funky sometimes if you don't do that in my experience. (my shop floor is sloped) Level doesn't matter so much relative to cutting but it can have an impact if you set things that roll on the top... ;)

[glenn bradley]

I do level all my machines that are fixed. For mobile machines I do have marks on the floor and put certain machines in the same place each time and they are leveled for these spots. When not in those spots I do not worry about it. Perhaps yo could have a strip of 1/4" or 1/2" plywood you set under the feet before lowering?

[Patrick Kane]

Unless you have some type of sliding table attachment, it wont matter much. With a slider it does matter, because the table will go one way or the other when you might not want it to. I generally try to level all my tools within reason. The slider i spent 20 mins on until it was good in every direction.

[Kevin Smira]

Thanks all. I’ll check it out in a week or so...I have to have knee surgery on Friday due to some jackwagon that didn’t know how to ski and he ran me over. I think that I’ll just level it to the “non-sloped” portion of the garage.

[Bill Dufour]

Level does not matter. far more precision machines are used on ships at sea including lathes that are straight and parallel well beyond 1/1000" in 5 feet. A table saw just needs to be coplaner and the blade perpendicular.
I doubt if you have a level or straight edge accurate enough to properly level a machine tool. If you paid under $200 a foot your level is not accurate enough to worry about it for wood working accuracy. Level and straightness will also depend on climate control in the shop. If you turn off the climate control when the shop is shut down I would not worry about the level of the machine to much. Do you wear gloves to handle wood and measuring tools at all times?
Bill D.

[Mike Cutler]

As stated, it really only comes into effect with an outfeed table, and even with that, the out feed table can have levelers installed on it and made to be in the same plane as the table saw top surface.
My garage floor is definitely not even. It slopes to the side on all four sides and is basically "pillow shaped". I use a combination of plywood, the levelers on the mobil bases, and motor shims to level out the machines. Even though they're on mobil bases, they rarely ever move.
The floor underneath my 15" planer drops 3/8", in the width of the planer. The planer sits on top of plywood plywood strips, 1 strip of 3/8" ply on the inboard side, two strips of 3/8" ply on the outboard(wall)side. Kind of crude,but you do what you have do sometimes.
Don't drive yourself nuts and go crazy. The most important thing is that they're solid and don't "wiggle around" on whatever "leveling system" you arrive at.

[Jacob Reverb]

I have a "wavy" concrete floor in my shop, and I spent 20 min or so leveling the feet under my TS with a couple of wedged-shaped shims just to get it level and stable.

But I don't think it "matters," except in the sense that it gives more confidence to "the nut behind the bolt."

[Prashun Patel]

Stable and flat is all that matters.

Just make sure you rig the outfeed support to be in plane with the table saw top. Duh.

[Charles Lent]

Having a level table surface might only be a concern if you're using a Wixey, iGauging, or similar digital angle finder to determine the actual angle of the blade. But as long as you zero out the angle finder first by setting it on the table surface...and you've already confirmed that the bland and table are square to each other, then you should be good to go.

When using a Wixey or IGauging type blade angle gauge you start by setting the gauge on the table and zeroing it, then putting it on the blade. The angle reading is the angle difference between the table and blade. You can then adjust the blade for any angle desired. As long as you zero the gauge as the first step it doesn't matter how un-level the saw table is.

My shop floor is anything but level. It doesn't matter, as long as the gauges are used correctly.

Charley

[Jim Morgan]

Level to the world doesn't matter within reason, as others have noted. However, a table that is out of level with respect to the blade can cause burning, binding, or kickback when cutting at other than a 90° angle.

[Doug Dawson]

Level to the world doesn't matter within reason, as others have noted.

Nobody has mentioned the elephant in the room. If your equipment is not level, it leads to a vague sense of unease, that something is not right with the world. It can cause your sawing to be uneven, and your panels to be canted. It is the beginning of German Expressionism in your work. Slippery slope.

[Mark Bolton]

This may be buried in some info I didn't read in other posts but the level thing really doesnt matter out feed table or not (anyone would know the outer has to be on the same plane as the saws table) but the only reason I worry about level is more so with regards to elevation. Every tool in my shop that is in relation to each other has their table height at exactly the same elevation. So if I'm cutting something long on the slider (10ft) and it over travels a nearby tool, it clears. In effect every tool in the shop becomes an oufeed table for every other tool that's within distance.

If the saw was out of level the material would over or undershoot a potential obstruction.

In all but the most spacious of shops this can be advantageous because theres nothing worse than being 6" away from completing an operation and the tip of your work hits a downstream tool.

[johnny means]

Front to back level is crucial. Being out of level makes the nickle test virtually impossible. :rolleyes:

[Mike Cutler]

Front to back level is crucial. Being out of level makes the nickle test virtually impossible. :rolleyes:

Well thank you Johnny, coffee just went up my nose.:p