PALS and Table Saw Alignment

[tim walker]

Installing the PALS system for alignment on my contractors Powermatic saw. It mentions nothing about loosening the front bolts, but it seems I have to. I am .040" out of alingment and I have tighetened the PALS to where it won''t move anymore.

Can someone confirm I need to looesen the front bolts?

Thanks all, Tim in houston

[Doug Shepard]

It's been years since I went through the same thing on a Craftsman contractor saw, but I think I remember having to loosen the front bolts as well. The other thing I had to do, which might not affect your Powermatic: I couldn't leave both adjusters permanently installed. The one on the side of the blade bevel travel interfered with being able to tilt the blade all the way over to 45 degress. Both were used to get the saw into alignment, but when it was trued up, I then removed the adjuster on that side and re-installed the original bolt. It was still easier getting the saw adjusted correctly with them than without them.

[Tyler Howell]

Yes "Friction Tight" as my old teletype instructor use to say.

[scott spencer]

A couple of years ago I ran into the same situation when I owned a GI contractor that's very similar to your PM. Small adjustments to the back can be made according to the instructions. Sounds like you'll need to loosen the front bolts a bit and try to center them in the bolt slots to get the alignment closer, then adjust the rears with PALS according to instructions.

Don't over loosen the bolts or the whole carriage can come down...of course if they're too tight, nothing will move. You might even want to slightly snug one of the rears while moving the front. Measure from your miter slots to give youo a reference. Once done, the PALS should help hold the alignment better.

[Jim DeLaney]

ONe more thing - Remove your zero-clearance insert (ZCI) before attempting any trunnion adjustment. If you leave it in, you can either bend the blade, or prevent achieving proper alighment (or both).

After adjustment, the blade will likely cut a new slot in the ZCI. If the adjustment turns out to be a large one, you may need a new ZCI.

[Vaughn McMillan]

OK, I give. What does PALS mean? The SMC Acronym List didn't have it.

- Vaughn

[Doug Shepard]

OK, I give. What does PALS mean? The SMC Acronym List didn't have it.

- Vaughn

Precision Alignment and Locking System ("PALS").

It's the manufacturers acronym
http://www.in-lineindustries.com/saw_pals.html

[scott spencer]

OK, I give. What does PALS mean? The SMC Acronym List didn't have it.

- Vaughn PALS ...Buddies, chums, friends, comrades, people you enjoy hanging out with who've got your back and will stick with you through thick and thin ....;)

[Reg Mitchell]

If memory serves me correctly, which it dose not at times, I loosened only one of the front bolts of the front trunion. and replaced the ones in the rear with the threaded ones supplyed. In this way the front will sorta pivet on the one screw instead of scooting sideways and still being out of alinement. you need, from my understanding, at least one stationary point, in the front, to line the rear trunions to the front ones. and alineing the 2 trunions to the miterslot. That is the way i did mine and with the use of a dial indicator in the slot i got it to within .001 and that was close enough for me.
Next I alined the fence to the same miterslot so it too would be inline with the saw blade,
It worked wonders for the cut. :)