Delta Table Saw Misaligned

[Jerry Booher]

I need help. I cranked my Delta 10" Professional (Contractor) saw over to 45, but it got tight at 25. I didn't know I was jamming the motor into the base cabinet. The motor would not move, but the blade did. The blade went over about 1/8", but the back of the saw did not.

I removed the cabinet obstruction and used a wonderbar to gently push the motor into alignment. I could see the tie bars come into alignment and the saw blade come back. The entire saw was twisted. The tie bar nuts seem tight. The trunnion was loose.

Every time I tilt past about 25 degrees the motor gently is not going that far, but the blade is. In other words, the saw is twisting from front to back.

Any ideas to help me solve this?

[glenn bradley]

Having aligned a contractor saw or two I find it easier to start from scratch than to find the errant adjustment. Loosen your trunnion bolts just enough to allow the trunnions to be moved and get the blade more or less centered in the slot of your factory insert. Remember that with this type of saw the weight of the trunnion, motor, etc. will be obeying gravity and make the bolts seem tighter than they are. Do not over loosen them or you'll have the trunnion et al in your hands. You can tilt it to 45* to check that the blade stays somewhere in the center of the insert slot.

If you have binding at this step when tilting, we'll have to fix that first. Check all the gear teeth and make sure a little piece of something has not gotten crushed in there and causing problems. Also check that the pathway required by the swinging motor, etc. is clear. Once the tilt motion is functioning, continue. It is important that the alignment be done with the motor and belt engaged so that the trunnion is under the load of the motor.

You can have 4, 5 or 6 trunnion mounting bolts. Pick one at the front and snug it up tight enough to act as a pivot but not tightened to a 'finished' amount of torque. Any adjustments for parallel to the miter gauge will now pivot from this bolt.

If you have PALs (http://www.ptreeusa.com/tablesaw_products.htm item number 3154) use them to slowly adjust the pivot of the trunnion while checking your alignment to the miter gauge slot (generally the slot to the right of the blade, facing the saw). If you don't have PALs, you will have to use the standard method of a pry bar (watch what you pry against) or a block of wood and a hammer to move the trunnions. If you haven't done this before, PM me and I'll layout the procedure or you can search here on the forum as this has been discussed numerous times. Once blade to miter gauge slot alignment has been achieved, tighten all trunnion bolts and re-check. Re-adjust as required.

At this point (prior to aligning the fence) test your 45* tilt again to see that it is working properly. As long as all is well, on to the fence. Using whatever method you picked to confirm blade to miter slot alignment, align the fence to the same slot. This should have you aligned so that you can do a test cut.

[Dale Lesak]

The one adjustment that Glenn didn't cover it the one you need to do first. Make sure the front and read trunnions are square to each other. you'll need a flat plate 6"or 8" x wide enough to lay on top of both bars (tie bars) I have a half of a ceramic floor tile that works good for me. If you have any rocking of the plate the trunnions are out of alignment. NOTE: If the trunnions are twisted you can Aline to the miter slot but will bind when cutting at 45º. Loosen the rear nuts on the tie bar and move the rear trunnion so you have no rocking of the plate on the bars. When tightening the nuts you have to watch you don't twist the trunnion out of alignment again. I use a air impact to tighten them. after you have this done go for the miter slot adjustment. I found on mine that the motor was hitting the bottom of my out feed table and at about 40º and kept the motor from moving the last 5º .:) Dale

[Jerry Booher]

Thank you for the good tips. My hopes are alive again. I will try your tips tomorrow morning. BTW what kind of torque should I use for the tie bar nuts? The trunnion bolts are only 12 mm so I can guess the torque for those.

[Chuck Lenz]

I need help. I cranked my Delta 10" Professional (Contractor) saw over to 45, but it got tight at 25. I didn't know I was jamming the motor into the base cabinet. The motor would not move, but the blade did. The blade went over about 1/8", but the back of the saw did not.

I removed the cabinet obstruction and used a wonderbar to gently push the motor into alignment. I could see the tie bars come into alignment and the saw blade come back. The entire saw was twisted. The tie bar nuts seem tight. The trunnion was loose.

Every time I tilt past about 25 degrees the motor gently is not going that far, but the blade is. In other words, the saw is twisting from front to back.

Any ideas to help me solve this?
What base cabinet ? Can we have some pictures ?

[Ken Shoemaker]

Jerrry,
Glenn and Dale hit it right on the money! I had the same problem, and using the same procedures, corrected it. One thing I want to share thought. The table saw PALS are, without a doubt, the most time saving $20.00 you'll ever spend. Using an block of wood and pry bar and hammer to make adjustment of .003" is counter productive. Trust me on this. Also, make sure to have the belt on the trunion while your alining it or each time you put the belt back on it will tweek the trunion throwing the whole alinement off again.

A time consuming PITA but you'll get it. Good luck!!!

[Jerry Booher]

Here are some pictures of my first project. I should have used a tried and proven plan, but I just did it out of my head. (out of my mind?) There are lots of things that went wrong and I finally got frustrated and said it was good enough for the messy garage.

You can see where I had to butcher the cabinet to clear the motor. Then, the motor hit the bottom of the rail at 40 degrees so I had to grind the bracket and bolt holding the rail.

I still have to finish the 2 middle openings. I am going to put a wood basket under the saw and a door to the right.

http://s235.photobucket.com/albums/ee184/jerrybooher/?action=view&current=IMG_0100.jpg
http://s235.photobucket.com/albums/ee184/jerrybooher/?action=view&current=IMG_0099.jpg
http://s235.photobucket.com/albums/ee184/jerrybooher/?action=view&current=IMG_0098.jpg
http://s235.photobucket.com/albums/ee184/jerrybooher/?action=view&current=IMG_0097.jpg

[glenn bradley]

There are lots of things that went wrong and I finally got frustrated and said it was good enough for the messy garage.

I experiment with different joints, assembly methods, finishes and hardware on my shop cabinets. They are a great place to learn and I will do things in a more challenging way just to get the experience. Someday I can look back at an early 'attempt' and feel better about my progress (I hope).

[Archer Yates]

I have learned a lot from my process to correct the misalignment of saw blade and miter slots. If you lie down on the floor and look up you with see the 4 bolts that hold the front and rear trunnions to the table saw top. Each of the bolts are 5/16 in much larger hole of the trunnions. Uneven stresses in any one of the bolts can effect the movement of the saw blade.
Since we really can't get much force on the front trunnions we try to work on the rear.
To test alignment I used a round head brass screw in the end of a 3/4 by 3/4 inch piece or hardwood that was attached to a plywood sub-fence on my miter gauge. I had to use a lot of brass shim stock to make sure there was no play in the miter gauge and the slot. I never could get my dial indicator set up satisfactorily.
The best thing I did was to remove the motor. Its a lot easier to move the trunnions without the weight of the motor. I tried the Pals but they were a disappointment. I finally used an Irwin quick clamp between the motor hanger and the side of the saw to move the blade over to correct position. Then without moving the clamp, I gradually tighten all bolts in a crisscross pattern. I did tighten the set screws of the PALS unit in hopes it would help hold in position. The set screw looked like a 10-32 but was not quite the same. On the left side the screw was too short to reach trunnion body with the lock nut so I had to remove the lock nut. Since I could not duplicate the set screw ,I could not get a replacement. I have both metric and USA screw checkers and their screw would not match up to what I had.
Then I released the clamp