Tuning up a Dewalt Benchtop saw

[Jay Knoll]

So, as I was walking around the woodworking show in Orlando I noticed that many of the demonstrators were using little saws, one the same Dewalt 10" bench top that I use, with super accurate cuts.

Of course we all know that the demo machines are tuned to a "T" and very ever readjusted (at least that is my assumption) once they are dead on. Never the less I thought I'd try to get some better performance out of my saw. I'm running a Forrest WWII (can't remember how long it has been on) so I guess the first thing is to get it resharpened.

I've never used a dial indicator before, so apologies to the gear heads in the group with my dumb questions, I guess I should have taken machine shop!

I checked my blade and it is dead on at 90 degrees with the table according to my Starret combination square.

I attached the dial indicator to a piece of wood, and clamped that onto my miter gauge. It is tight in the slot, no slop at all.

If I zero the gauge at the front edge of the fence and then move it to the back the indicator reads 4. I don't know if this is 4/1,000 or 4/10,000. In any event, since it is reading on the plus side of zero I assume that this means that the fence is "toed in" on the back side -- a bad thing I assume.

Then if I put the indicator on the blade below the gullets, zero it and then spin the blade it goes up to 5 and then back down to zero (is this run out?)

If I put the indicator on the same blade tooth in the front of the saw and zero it and then move it to the back it reads -5.

Given that this is a bench top job site saw with a plastic base and an aluminum top are these results indicative of a problem? Can I improve performance with some tuning? I can move the saw blade to get it parallel to the miter and then adjust the fence to the blade, but I'm wondering if I'm trying to achieve a degree of accuracy that is inherently impossible in such a "low mass" saw.

Advice/thoughts are appreciated!

Jay

[Kent Fitzgerald]

Hi, Jay

I used that same saw for a number of years. I loved the rack-and-pinion fence design, and I had no problems with the power and accuracy of the saw. In the end, noise and limited table size were what made me trade up.

Your dial indicator (unless it's an unsual one) reads in 1/1000". So, this means:

You have 0.005" total runout at the blade.
Your blade is 0.005" out-of-parallel.
Your fence has 0.004" toe-in.

It's not clear from your description whether the blade is heeling toward the fence (which would exaggerate the fence alignment issue) or away (which would tend to cancel out the problem).

Overall, these numbers fall in the range of "not perfect, but pretty close to the point of diminishing returns." You could probably improve them a bit, but trying to get down to that last 0.001" will be an exercise in frustration.

The big question is: what problems, if any, do you have with the quality/accuracy of your cuts? You already know that you need a sharp blade. It's quite possible that other improvements, like a good miter guage or sled, a splitter, or outfeed supports, could make more of a difference in the saw's performance than fiddling with the alignment.

[Jay Knoll]

Hi, Jay

I used that same saw for a number of years. I loved the rack-and-pinion fence design, and I had no problems with the power and accuracy of the saw. In the end, noise and limited table size were what made me trade up.

Your dial indicator (unless it's an unsual one) reads in 1/1000". So, this means:

You have 0.005" total runout at the blade.
Your blade is 0.005" out-of-parallel.
Your fence has 0.004" toe-in.

It's not clear from your description whether the blade is heeling toward the fence (which would exaggerate the fence alignment issue) or away (which would tend to cancel out the problem).

Kent, thanks for the reply. I think it is heeling away from the fence since the indicator is reading 5 increments counter clockwise from zero ( or minus 5 in my earlier post)
Overall, these numbers fall in the range of "not perfect, but pretty close to the point of diminishing returns." You could probably improve them a bit, but trying to get down to that last 0.001" will be an exercise in frustration.

The big question is: what problems, if any, do you have with the quality/accuracy of your cuts? You already know that you need a sharp blade. It's quite possible that other improvements, like a good miter guage or sled, a splitter, or outfeed supports, could make more of a difference in the saw's performance than fiddling with the alignment.

I have a Woodhaven miter guage, going to work on a splitter, I use the outfeed supports that Dewalt provides with the saw.

I'm getting some burning when I cut, I don't think I"m feeding too fast.

I'll tinker a bit with the fence alignment.

Jay

[Kent Fitzgerald]

Kent, thanks for the reply. I think it is heeling away from the fence since the indicator is reading 5 increments counter clockwise from zero ( or minus 5 in my earlier post)
Depends which side of the blade you're measuring from, but this left/right stuff makes me dizzy, so I'll let you figure it out.:)

Feeding too slow (not too fast) will cause burning. Before you do anything else, try a sharp, thin-kerf, 24 tooth rip blade, like the one that came with the saw, if it's still in good shape. This will allow a faster feed rate, which might solve your problems.

If you're still getting burning on rip cuts, try adjusting the fence to eliminate the toe-in and use a good splitter. Burning on crosscuts means the blade-to-miter gauge needs attention.