Tablesaw alignment questions - Is this acceptable? Or should I get finicky?

[Howard Rosenberg]

My Delta CS has been driving me crazy lately so I went over everything with a fine tooth comb today.

Here's what I found (A) working from the left-hand mitre slot (B) the 10" blade is out by .003 (C) at the rear of the saw (D) towards the right-hand mitre slot.

Not tragic - it's less than a regular sheet of computer paper.

Working from the right-hand slot, the fence toes out .003 (I'll check the blade in relation to the right-hand mitre slot tomorrow).

So far, nothing overly terrible.

But my very old Incra V27 miter gauge is off by almost an entire degree! Which actually explains a lot....

I just checked Incra's website. They list clear, simple instructions for re-seating the face square to the blade. So that's tomorrow's mission.

So (A) assume nothing!

And (B) am I correct in assuming a .003 variance over a 10" blade is acceptable? Or would you suggest I chase this variance down?

[Cameron Wood]

Three thousandths is pretty subtle, especially if CS stands for contractor saw. Isn't the miter gauge something that would be checked more routinely?

What has been driving you crazy about the saw?

[Bruce Wrenn]

My Delta CS has been driving me crazy lately so I went over everything with a fine tooth comb today.

Here's what I found (A) working from the left-hand mitre slot (B) the 10" blade is out by .003 (C) at the rear of the saw (D) towards the right-hand mitre slot.

Not tragic - it's less than a regular sheet of computer paper.

Working from the right-hand slot, the fence toes out .003 (I'll check the blade in relation to the right-hand mitre slot tomorrow).

So far, nothing overly terrible.

But my very old Incra V27 miter gauge is off by almost an entire degree! Which actually explains a lot....

I just checked Incra's website. They list clear, simple instructions for re-seating the face square to the blade. So that's tomorrow's mission.

So (A) assume nothing!

And (B) am I correct in assuming a .003 variance over a 10" blade is acceptable? Or would you suggest I chase this variance down?


After getting everything perfect, lift the motor and let it back down. Most likely your perfect measurements will be no more. Your .003 over the blade is only .0015 over the front half of the blade where the cutting is done. How thick is a human hair? Are you getting scoring marks on your rip cuts? Remember it's a contractor's saw, designed to be moved from job to job, not a cabinet saw. Other than one panel cutter, I seldom, if ever, use the right miter slot.

[Brian Tymchak]

...What has been driving you crazy about the saw?

^^^^ Yes, this needs more detail to speculate on what may be an issue.

[John Kananis]

.003 isn't much at all. If you want to get better on a contractor's saw, you'll have to use a PALS system. I once put one on a delta cs that was just taking up room in the shop and wanted to sell - and it really helped get the blade dead balls on.

[Aaron Inami]

Here's what I found (A) working from the left-hand mitre slot (B) the 10" blade is out by .003 (C) at the rear of the saw (D) towards the right-hand mitre slot.


If the blade is angled toward the right hand miter slot, you may be risking kick back since the distance between the blade and fence are narrowing. This can cause the wood to bind and be snagged by the saw blade.

Generally, you want the blade to be angled away from the fence as you push the wood through the machine. It's hard to tell by your description. A .003" difference is fine, as long as the distance between blade and fence "opens up" instead of "narrows down".

[Howard Rosenberg]

Thanks for all your replies.

I think I'm going to install my PALS CS alignment kit and set the blade parallel to the mitre slots and then start crawling toward resolving the other issues.

[Edward Weber]

Align your saw blade and miter gauge but measure the cut, it's what actually matter in the end.

[Johnny Barr]

I remember when I got my Sawstop the blade alignment was 0.010" out. I contacted them and they said that was within tolerance. I wasn't happy so adjusted it to about 0.002. It was cutting fine at 0.010" and I didn't notice any (or much) difference when I changed it but it did make me sleep better at night.
So 0.003" is fine.

[George Makra]

I think your over thinking this.
Things change from day to day.
Take your car it will not run the same from day to day. That change can be measured, but is it enough to worry about?

One point not bought up is that Forest Blade recommend that the fence be wider on the back side of the fence by a couple thou to allow for blade thermal expansion.

[Curt Harms]

Thanks for all your replies.

I think I'm going to install my PALS CS alignment kit and set the blade parallel to the mitre slots and then start crawling toward resolving the other issues.

If you're working to align the blade to both miter slots, you might check that the miter slots are parallel to one another. Sometimes they're not.

[Edward Weber]

Also, saw blades are not the best to use for alignment. Freud, CMT and others make aliment/calibration discs for initial setup. Nothing more than a thick, precisely machined disc, but it does the job without having to measure in between teeth and relief/anti-vibration holes, etc.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Also, saw blades are not the best to use for alignment. Freud, CMT and others make aliment/calibration discs for initial setup. Nothing more than a thick, precisely machined disc, but it does the job without having to measure in between teeth and relief/anti-vibration holes, etc.


John White in his book "Care and Repair of Shop Machines recommends a saw blade for an alignment surface. Use a single tooth, marked with a Sharpie to check distances both front and rear. On a CS, remove the drive belt when taking these measurements.

[Howard Rosenberg]

Hello everyone!

Thank you for your help / observations / comments / questions.

I'm going to revisit these problems and lay them out more clearly for more insight, but two things have jumped out at me -
- take off the belt to measure the blade's performance
- (from another forum) check the blade from the RH mitre slot to make sure they're parallel

I'll look forward to keeping you posted!

Many thanks.