Table Saw Alignment

[Gordy Anderson]

Does anyone have any knowledge of this gauge from Hartville Tool?

http://www.hartvilletool.com/product/11482

$99 with a digital gauge seems like a good price if it works well.

TIA Gordy

[Tom Henderson2]

I'm sure that is a good gage.

BUT -- expensive alignment tools are really not necessary.

Buy a decent dial indicator for $50 (or much less) and fix it to a scrap piece of wood. Clamp that to your miter gage. Square the blade to the miter slot using that rig.

Then turn it around and square the fence to the miter gage.

You can probably do doggone near as good a job without the dial indicator; just a brass screw into the end of the scrap wood clamped into the miter gage.

Numerous tutorials on the web; search around and you will find them.

I wasted waaaay too much money on a "master plate" that is about useless.

My $0.02.

-TH

PS -- buy John White's excellent book about maintaining shop machines. Well worth the money and he walks you through the entire process.

[George Sanders]

Ditto the dial indicator. I bought a used one with magnetic stand for $10 at an auction. I lined up my contractor saw by adjusting the trunnions and checking the alignment with the dial indicator. Less than 5 thousandths runout. If you have an owners manual it should show you how to adjust it. You may be able to download a manual if you don't have one.

[Burt Alcantara]

Here's what I got. Works well. Inexpensive at $19.95. Does all of the above...as Billy May would say..."AND MORE"!

http://www.littlemachineshop.com/products/product_view.php?ProductID=1593&category=

Burt

[Gordy Anderson]

Here's what I got. Works well. Inexpensive at $19.95. Does all of the above...as Billy May would say..."AND MORE"!

http://www.littlemachineshop.com/products/product_view.php?ProductID=1593&category=

Burt

They had the set with a case for 5 bucks more. Just ordered.
Thanks.
GA

[mike holden]

Gordy,
Just a suggestion, but get back on that website and order a set of tips for your indicator. The flat tip will get a LOT more use than the spherical tip that is standard.
It will also make measurements to a blade edge on jointers/planers so much easier.
A set of tips is only about $5, and if you can get it sent along with the indicator, you can save some postage/handling.
Mike

[Gary Muto]

I have teh same set up. It works great and is really versatile. I probably paid more than $20 which seems like a great price to me.

[Jerome Hanby]

I was thinking about master plates. Could you take an old saw blade (or a cheepie Irwin you picked up for $5 on clearance from woodcraft :D), make sure it's flat, and use a cold chisel to knock the carbide tips off? That wouldn't be "square" but it should be smooth and flat...




I wasted waaaay too much money on a "master plate" that is about useless.

[Jerome Hanby]

That's a nice looking setup. Not sure I'd ever need the other tips, but having a plastic case, even if it's flimsy, would be better than my Styrofoam one :rolleyes:


They had the set with a case for 5 bucks more. Just ordered.
Thanks.
GA

[Bill Farlow]

Does anyone have any knowledge of this gauge from Hartville Tool?

http://www.hartvilletool.com/product/11482

$99 with a digital gauge seems like a good price if it works well.

TIA Gordy

There's a review of it here:

http://www.ts-aligner.com/tsjrvsxpoint.htm

Bill

[Bill Farlow]

I was thinking about master plates. Could you take an old saw blade (or a cheepie Irwin you picked up for $5 on clearance from woodcraft :D), make sure it's flat, and use a cold chisel to knock the carbide tips off? That wouldn't be "square" but it should be smooth and flat...

This was discussed several months ago. See:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=76293&highlight=masterplate

It's a long thread but well worth reading the whole thing. In the end, master plates are a waste of money. Mark a spot on your blade and you will get better results.

There's a new web site devoted to nothing but table saw alignment:

http://www.tablesawalignment.com

It requires registration but the info is top notch and I haven't been spammed at all.

Bill