Table Saw Set Up

[Mark Kristan]

I'm days away from purchasing a saw. I think I know the one I'll buy and all but I'm trying to make sure I have all my ducks in a row before I take delivery so that I can start using it as soon as possilbe afterward. It seems to me that setting one up is a fairly daunting task - does anyone know of any good resources on the subject? TIA.

Mark

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

Mark - there are a lot of good tips here on SMC, just use the 'search' function.

FWIW, shortly after joining SMC, I took some of the advice I found here to improve my old Delta saw. Installed a new fence, and did a good aligning, and it now cuts a lot better. it's still a cheapo 20 year old Delta, but now it's a cheapo Delta that works really well.

[glenn bradley]

I will second JohnT. Years ago the advice here got my C-man very workable. My new saw required very little setup right off the pallet. If you tell us what saw are you getting we can be more helpful.

[Mark Kristan]

Thanks for replying guys but, for the record, my first thought was to check this site and one other for links. That search returned thousands of results, anything referring to one of the for search terms. Perhaps there is a way to narrow a search but I didn't see how. The saw I'm looking at is a Steel City cabinet (hybrid? depends on who's describing the thing, it seems) saw. The 905G is a ten inch, three h/p saw, with thirty-inch rails and a granite top (btw, if anyone has anything negative to say about Steel City, please speak up now lol). Any help with this would be appreciated. TIA.

Mark

[Kevin Groenke]

There really isn't ALL that much to setting up a tablesaw. Depending on the saw, here are the basic steps.

uncrate
de-cosmoline
attach wings
attach switch, handwheels, knobs
wax tabletop
assemble extension table
assemble/install rip fence
wire/install plug
cut

and here are the critical set-up items that may or may not be clearly outlined on the manual:
align miter gauge slots to blade/arbor
align rip fence to miter gauge slots

and less important:
adjust 90 and 45 degree stops

I see that this is getting to be a long list and I haven't even mentioned outfeed tables, push sticks, tenoning jigs, x-cut sleds, mobile bases, etc....


Kelly Mehler's, The Tablesaw Book (http://www.amazon.com/Table-Saw-Book-Completely-Revised/dp/1561584266) is a useful resource, but I can't think of a better place to get questions answered than right here at the SMC, so
pick your saw, read the manual and ask questions when you've got em.

If you're new to the tablesaw, keep in mind that not all SOPs are necessarily intuitive. Of course tablesaws can be quite dangerous, so make sure you're doing things in the safest possible manner before you power up. Get a saw with a riving knife, use a blade guard and get/make effective push blocks (NOT A STICK!). DO NOT CROSSCUT AGAINST THE RIP FENCE.

If you can find some classes locally (community ed, community college, tech school, Woodcraft store, woodworking guild/co-op) you will learn more in a few hours than you ever would in a book, on TV, on the web or puttering around in your garage.

I can't make direct comment as to the SC, but they have a good rep here and are lauded for their cust service. If you get the granite, please post a review, I don't think we've seen one here as yet.

g'luck
-kg

[glenn bradley]

You've got cabinet mounted trunnions so it should be walk in the park. After assembly, check you miter slot to blade alignment as Kevin mentions. If this is good, check your fence. If miter slot to blade is off, the manual will show the location of the table bolts that you loosen to shift the top to align the miter slot to the blade. If you havn't had the pleasure, this is soooo much easier than table mounted trunnion adjustments ;-)

Once the miter slot to blade is good, adjust fence to miter slot and you're 90+ percent done. The rest are the details, which of course count for high points during setup. Once these two main points are taken care of, we'll talk some more. Enjoy that saw!

[Scott Schwake]

I'm days away from purchasing a saw. I think I know the one I'll buy and all but I'm trying to make sure I have all my ducks in a row before I take delivery so that I can start using it as soon as possilbe afterward. It seems to me that setting one up is a fairly daunting task - does anyone know of any good resources on the subject? TIA.

Mark

http://thewoodwhisperer.tv/55-tablesaw-setuptuneup-pt-1/
http://thewoodwhisperer.tv/56-tablesaw-setuptuneup-pt-2/

[Mike Sandman]

Try these links --

http://www.newwoodworker.com/basic/tsalign.html - covers the basics

http://www.newwoodworker.com/dilindjiguse.html - info on checking alignment of the table's mter slots to the blade

http://www.newwoodworker.com/tipstrksdir.html - list of tool setup articles on the newwoodworker.com web site.

Mike

[William OConnell]

Heres a good friend of mine giving a tutorial on saws and setup. Just scroll to tablesaw video its 4 or 5 parts and is very informative.
http://www.liwoodworkers.org/media/video/onlinelibrary.asp

[Clisby Clark]

He's got a two part video series on setting up a new TS. I'm getting a new saw in a few weeks and will use his methods. Good luck!