table saw set up

[tom blankenship]

Greetings,

I am attempting to tune up my Craftsman contractor table saw. It is a late 80s version. I have installed a Forrest Woodworker II blade.

My best adjustment leaves .003 inches difference between the front and the back position of the blade when measured at the same tooth (measured with a dial gauge). The blade is heeled toward the fence, but I have adjusted the (Vega) fence to diverge away from the back of the blade.The back of the fence is canted .008 inches further to the right than the front. Do these seem like acceptable settings?

Thanks in advance!

tom

[glenn bradley]

Sounds pretty good. Do you have PALs on the saw? With these on my '70s C-man I got much closer when at 90* and did not have to adjust the fence away at all. The blade did heel a tiny bit when beveled and this too can be cured. I just didn't do enough bevel cuts on the saw to go to that length (shimming the top and all that). The real question is; how does it feel to you? If the saw is doing what you want and doing it well enough, don't get too hung up on the numbers ;-)

[Mark Engel]

I agree with Glenn. .003" seems plenty accurate to me.

I have breathed on a piece of wood and had it expand more than .003" :D

[Bill Bryant]

PALS on my rear trunnion made it easy for me to get within .001 of parallel with my miter slot. Money well spent.

[Loren Hedahl]

I bought one of the early Home Depot Ridgid contractor saws, which I was later told was a re-badged Craftsman.

On that saw I had to elongate the slots in the trunnions with a rat-tail file a bit more to get the adjustment I needed.

I later found out about PALs. They are well worth the $$ spent. I don't know exactly why, but I feel that the saw stays in alignment better after having installed them. That's in addition to their making an accurate alignment much easier.

[Steve Leverich]

OK, I'll bite; what is/are "PALS" ? I tried searching acronyms, spent 45 minutes reading thru 4 pages of threads, it's not on the lists I found nor was google any help. I'm refurbing an old PM66 so don't wanna miss out on anything; thanks... Steve

[Lee Schierer]

.003 isn't bad. Mine came in a bit closer at .0015. The lock washers on the trunion mounting bolts tend to slide back into the same slots they made in the casting when they were factory tightend. Sometimes loosening the nuts more and rotating the lock washers out of their slots will help. The order of tightening to final torque can also affect the reading.

If you haven't done it already replace the standard vee belt with a link belt you will like the difference.

Lee

[Shawn Green]

OK, I'll bite; what is/are "PALS" ? I tried searching acronyms, spent 45 minutes reading thru 4 pages of threads, it's not on the lists I found nor was google any help. I'm refurbing an old PM66 so don't wanna miss out on anything; thanks... Steve

From http://www.thewoodshop.20m.com/calibrate_sled1.htm, near the bottom...

A PALS set up for your contractor's saw simplifies things considerably. You swap out the trunnion adjustment bolts with the PALS and then use a hex (Allen) wrench to adjust things. Much easier, about $22 plus shipping. My employer, Woodcraft (http://www.woodcraft.com/), carries them.

Jack adds the following "brochure" description for PALS:

The PALS (Precision Alignment System) replaces the manufacturer supplied trunion bolts in your saw allowing you to micro adjust your blade’s alignment. Put away your old hammer and 2x4 adjustment tools and use the supplied Allen wrench for absolutely accurate adjustments. Complete with installation instructions. For more information, check with Woodcraft (http://www.woodcraft.com/) or In-Line Industries (http://www.in-lineindustries.com/saw_pals.html).
http://www.thewoodshop.20m.com/graphics/calibrate/pals_ani1.gif

[Ken Shoemaker]

I second or third the PALS, don't know which. Spend hours figuing out that I could spend a couple bucks and get .001 accuracy in minutes... DAMHIKT