Setting TS Blade to 90°

[Jim Fox]

What's the preferred method? Now that I dumped some money on a couple Starrett squares, I've been checking everything.

On my TS, a ShopFox 3hp Cabinet Saw, I have always hated adjusting 90° stop.......it's a pain.

In the next sentence I am sure I just answered my own question, but I just want some clarification.

Do you just use the 90° and 45° stops as a point of reference and then check it with a good square?

Thanks

[Bart Leetch]

Do you just use the 90° and 45° stops as a point of reference and then check it with a good square?

Yes I use a good square & check down through the throat for 90 degrees. I set a bevel square for odd angles or use a triangle to for 45 degrees. I keep a drafting triangle in my table saw storage cabinet as well as by my CMS & RAS.

[Bill Huber]

My saw does not have stops and I don't even look at the scale on the front.
When I move the blade I always check it whit my Starrett to set it to a 90 or a 45.
Most of the time after I have it set I will do a test cut to make sure.

[john tomljenovic]

first off I don't rely on the stops since with most saws it can twist the cast iron parts and put the blade out of alignment.

for setting angle I use a combination square down the throat, then make test cuts.

I crosscut a 1" to 3" wide piece of mdf; but the two ends back together on the saws top; see how they join; flip one over 180 then see that they mate the same; if not, adjust the bevel of the saw and try again.

[Art Mann]

I never use the stops on my saw. I adjusted them so they will have no effect in normal operation. My opinion is they are too inaccurate and unreliable for precision work. I use a Wixey digital angle gauge to get close and then use my machinist square to check the results of a trial cut. I seldom have to make any further adjustments.

[Jared Cuneo]

I agree with John here...Use the Starrett, then make the 180 test cut....

JC

[Gary Keedwell]

Well, for many years I used my Starrett but now I use my wixey but most importantly I check my stock with my square after a cut.
Gary

[Mike Marcade]

I use my TS-Aligner Jr. to set the blade to 90 and 45. I use the TS-Aligner Jr. with a square to reference 90 and with an angle block to reference 45. You can get a very accurate result with this method. (in theory within .057 degrees, if you are any good with the dial indicator you can get alot closer)

[glenn bradley]

I have both my stops set just beyond the norm so no, I don't use them as an absolute measurement. Wixey (for me) or Beall angle gauge is one of the better $30 - $40 you can spend.. I use it on the CMS, the DP, the bandsaw, the . . . .

[Jim Becker]

I use the stops and just check them every once in awhile. But I rarely tilt the blade, too.

[Greg Funk]

I use the 90 degree stop and it is always bang on so I rarely check it with a square. I don't use the Beall gauge for 45 degrees.

[Eddie Darby]

Before you do any checking of stops, I would give the inside a good vacuuming out, so that the stops are not coated with saw dust.

I use a 90* and 45* to check things, and then do your test cuts to make sure that everything is correct.

[Brian Dormer]

I ignore the stops - they are too sloppy for anything other than a rough guide. Get a Wixey and you can set angles all day with reliability.

[Jim Kountz]

One word, Wixey.

[John Hain]

One word, Wixey.

Are you talking about the $40 digital one?

[Mike Marcade]

One word, Wixey.

Keep in mind the Wixey is only repeatable to .2 degrees. With lets say a maximum blade cut of 3" that may give you a .010" gap. You mileage will vary with shorter cuts of course.

Just something to think about.

[Brian Dormer]

Keep in mind the Wixey is only repeatable to .2 degrees. With lets say a maximum blade cut of 3" that may give you a .010" gap. You mileage will vary with shorter cuts of course.

Just something to think about.

I'm not too worried about a .010 gap - wood can move 1/100'th of an inch all by itself, just from temperature and humidity. I have actually measured this kind of change in pieces cut a day or two before. At least I *THINK* I've measured it - 1/100 of a inch could just be "pilot error" in my book.

FYI - I'm cutting some beefy glue-ups for a workbench and so far, I haven't had any problems with my 90-degree cuts (set per the Wixey) being "dead-on". If they are off, I can't tell and neither can any of my micrometers or squares.

[Jim Kountz]

Are you talking about the $40 digital one?

Thats the one, its a great little device.

[Mike Marcade]

I'm not too worried about a .010 gap - wood can move 1/100'th of an inch all by itself, just from temperature and humidity. I have actually measured this kind of change in pieces cut a day or two before. At least I *THINK* I've measured it - 1/100 of a inch could just be "pilot error" in my book.

FYI - I'm cutting some beefy glue-ups for a workbench and so far, I haven't had any problems with my 90-degree cuts (set per the Wixey) being "dead-on". If they are off, I can't tell and neither can any of my micrometers or squares.

I was just trying to say, in my convoluted fashion, that you can probably get closer lining the blade up with an accurate square than using the wixey.

[Eddie Darby]

Just one word ...or two ... or maybe more ...

Beall haha

Square!

They use to do it this way before the one word wonders came along, way back in the olden days!:D

Have a wonderful Christmas everyone, and a Happy Holiday Season!!!:)

[Dan Barr]

wixey digital angle gauge.

$39.99 at woodcraft and worth every penny. comes in handy for more than just setting the blade on the TS.

v/r

dan

[Art Mann]

If you look around, you can get them for less than $40.

[Gary Keedwell]

If you look around, you can get them for less than $40.
:rolleyes: They were throwing it in for free if you purchased their digital fence read-out when it was on sale.:)
Gary

[Steve Clardy]

Wixey.......................

Rockler had them on sale for 30.00

[Gary Keedwell]

Wixey.......................

Rockler had them on sale for 30.00
Funny how things go. When they first came out everybody was saying how inexpensive they were for what they did.:rolleyes: :o
Gary

[Art Mann]

Don't tell Barry Wixey, but if mine broke, I would pay considerably more than $40 to replace it if I had to.

[Brian Dormer]

I was just trying to say, in my convoluted fashion, that you can probably get closer lining the blade up with an accurate square than using the wixey.

Actually, a few months back - I *THOUGHT* that my TS was set to 90 degrees (using my best square and eyeball) - my brand-new Wixey then told me that I was actually at 90.2 degrees. Making some test cuts and checking with digital micrometers - the Wixey was correct.

I've had similar results with my CMS. The Wixey is sensitive enough to pick up the backlash in the stop screws - I can't see that difference with a square.

I know the spec on the Wixey says +/- .02 - but I've seen better resolution than that. However, it would take a real worst-case type of cut for a .02 degrees to show up and even then, wood can and does move that much all by itself.

YMMV

[Mike Marcade]

My results have been different with my Wixey, I put my wixey on my Class 2 Square (good to 0.0008" per inch) sometimes I get 90.0 degrees, sometimes I get 90.1 degrees, sometimes I get 89.9 degrees.

I'm just not as confident in the Wixey as some are.

[Dan Forman]

I don't trust the Wixey for 90 degree cuts, tried it once, and regretted it. Where the Starrett says 90, the Wixie says 90.1, and dynamic testing says the Starrett is correct.

Dan

[Lee Schierer]

I hace the stops set on my saw, the stops are located on the acme threaded rod that tilts the blade and sometimes sawdust will cling to them, which prevents them from being totally acurate. I always check my 90 and 45 setting with drafting triangles.

[Bruce Wrenn]

My first Wixey showed 90.1, and 89.9 depending on which side of the blade, when I set blade to 90 using a dial indicator and a jig that appeared in either ShopNotes, or Woodsmith. Second one shows 90. Remember that close only counts in horse shoes, hand gernnades, and nucular war fare,

[Bob Feeser]

I use the stops on my saw. I have a PM66, and when I got it in 2004, I played with setting the stops. I got a feel for turning the bevel crank wheel until it stopped out. What I got a feel for was how tight I cranked it to. I kind of just took it to a normal snug, with the setting I had, then cheked it with a starret gauge, and now I can get it to 90 and 45, and get perfect results every time. It's a dream to crank the easy moving wheel, then arrive at the stop, and tighten the locking knob, realizing that every time I check it, it is right on. So now I must move through the project with it.

[Norman Pyles]

Wixey for me too.:)

[Alan Turner]

At PFW our saws have many users, and so the stops are not used, as such. The amount of pressure applied by the handwheel will vary the setting.

We back off the stops perhaps a 1/4 turn. We set the blade to 90, by a Starrett through the throat, and them make a test cut in a parallel sided piece of BB ply, and flip it to see any gap. When correct, we then mark the crank handle hub with silver or gold decorative marking pen, and scratch straight across, right at the hub. I suppose white-out would work also. When the marks are re-aligned, the saw is again at 90. I used this method for years on my home shop Unisaw as well. We have found, at least as a practical matter, that there is no backlash in the SawStop raising mechanism. Same with the Unisaw. The light color base is needed for visibility as the hubs are black.

[tom cooper]

For you fellas that prefer a Starrett as your baseline measuring for square, which model are you using? I was considering a precision square that Woodpecker.com offers, accurate to .001" in its 12" leg, but it is VERY expensive (~$80.00!!!!). Which Starrett and where would you purchase?
Thanks.