Tony Zona
08-24-2020, 11:53 AM
Aligning my Delta contractors table saw turned into a puzzle.
I aligned this saw a long, long time ago, only to discover just recently that I must have done something terribly wrong because I recently could not rip 45 degrees with the original throat plate. The blade teeth would hit the original red throat plate. I figured I apparently had moved the entire trunnion to the right out of ignorance.
I spent the better part of Friday through Monday aligning, and that’s too long a story to write about now. I even got the 45 degree rip aligned, which surprised me. I learned about this part of the alignment only recently. When I checked it last week, the 45 degree rip had been out by more than a blade width before I started. Clearly I have not used the saw to rip 45s or I might have noticed.
This alignment ultimately involved having to remove the rear trunnion and elongating the bolt holes to allow a lot more movement to the left. (I forgot to write down how much I increased the lateral hole size with a die grinder.) I also had to disconnect the blade tilt wheel to be able to move the front of the trunnion more to the left, also.
I would like the thoughts of those of you who have experience in this alignment.
The blade is now within a couple thousandths parallel to the miter slot in both 90 degrees to the table and 45 degrees. That part was a success, and maybe even a fluke to get it that close. And . . . the saw blade rises exactly into the zero-clearance throat plate I had before all the aligning.
But the blade teeth still touch the original red throat plate and cannot cut a 45 rip.
How did I go through all this and end up in the same place?
Of course, though, I will make a 45-degree throat plate like I already had for 90-degree cuts. If I would have done that at the start I would not have known about checking the blade alignment for 45-degree rip cutting. So, I’m thinking I have an overall gain, but still a puzzle.
I aligned this saw a long, long time ago, only to discover just recently that I must have done something terribly wrong because I recently could not rip 45 degrees with the original throat plate. The blade teeth would hit the original red throat plate. I figured I apparently had moved the entire trunnion to the right out of ignorance.
I spent the better part of Friday through Monday aligning, and that’s too long a story to write about now. I even got the 45 degree rip aligned, which surprised me. I learned about this part of the alignment only recently. When I checked it last week, the 45 degree rip had been out by more than a blade width before I started. Clearly I have not used the saw to rip 45s or I might have noticed.
This alignment ultimately involved having to remove the rear trunnion and elongating the bolt holes to allow a lot more movement to the left. (I forgot to write down how much I increased the lateral hole size with a die grinder.) I also had to disconnect the blade tilt wheel to be able to move the front of the trunnion more to the left, also.
I would like the thoughts of those of you who have experience in this alignment.
The blade is now within a couple thousandths parallel to the miter slot in both 90 degrees to the table and 45 degrees. That part was a success, and maybe even a fluke to get it that close. And . . . the saw blade rises exactly into the zero-clearance throat plate I had before all the aligning.
But the blade teeth still touch the original red throat plate and cannot cut a 45 rip.
How did I go through all this and end up in the same place?
Of course, though, I will make a 45-degree throat plate like I already had for 90-degree cuts. If I would have done that at the start I would not have known about checking the blade alignment for 45-degree rip cutting. So, I’m thinking I have an overall gain, but still a puzzle.