newbie question/ saw runout

[Ernie Remy]

I have been playing with woodworkong for a little while now as a hobbie and upgraded from a 9 inch beaver rockwell to a craftsman 10 inch contractor saw! I know there are alot better saws out ther but until i get better this is it. my question is about cutting melamine. I purchased a 80 tooth delta blade (100$) I set up the saw tonight and adjusted the trunions I am out 2 thousands at 90 degs but I would make a cut then turn the piece 180 and put the cut edge against the fence and there is a small but noticeable gap between the front and back in the middle of the cut ???? any help would be greatfull

[Greg Peterson]

Is the fence parallel to the miter slots? When you're feeding the stock are you keeping it firmly against the fence? Is the fence flexing during rip cuts?

[Ernie Remy]

Yes the fence is in line with the miter slots, never thought of fence flexing but on a 12in by about 12in not much pressure on fence I thought!

[David DeCristoforo]

The "cheaper" fences can flex a lot! And also, you said your miter slot and fence are parallel but the miter slot also needs to be parallel to the blade. Don't forget to check that. With the slot and blade parallel, it's easier to align the fence to one edge of the slot than trying to use the blade which may have some "static runout" to begin with. And finally, melamine is probably the most unforgiving sheet stock you can cut. Shops that use a lot of it invest mucho dinero in machines designed to cut this stuff cleanly.

YM

[Lee Schierer]

First of all set up is important and so is technique. You need to insure that your miter gauge bar fits tightly in the miter gage slot. You can add UHMW tape to teh sied of he miter gauge bar to tight up the fit. My craftsman saw had about .006" of side play. I eliminated it with some.005" thick UHMW tape.

Then mount a dial indicator on the miter gauge. You can clamp on a piece of wood and use a wood screw to hold the dial indicator in place. ALign the blade to the miter slot as close as you can get it.

The next step is to align the fence to the miter slot. Using the same set up of the dial indicator on the miter gauge move the fence so the dial indicator is reading and clamp the fence in place. Slide the gauge across the table and watch the reading on the face of the fence. If it gets bigger and smaller along the length of the fence you will need to shim the fence in the low areas so the face of the fence is flat. You will also need to adjust the fence so it is parallel to the miter slot. Once you think you have it. Unclamp the fence move it a bit and recheck it for parallel. Most stock craftsman fences won't repeat being parallel as they clamp up. They also tend to not be very flat, so a sacrificial fence board may be needed. You can shim the sacrificial board as needed to get it flat.

The more care you take with these set up steps will yield better cutting results.

I replaced my fence with a Biesmeyer and it made a world of diffence in cut quality.