Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 23

Thread: SawStop blade alignment at 45 degrees

  1. #1

    SawStop blade alignment at 45 degrees

    I've been a proud owner of a SawStop ICS (industrial version) table saw for a number of years, and have had nothing but a great experience with the saw and their customer service. This is the first time I've had somewhat of an issue but it's probably "user error", so I'm turning to the forums to see what your opinions are.

    I have aligned the blade to the miter slot before but only at 90 degrees and now I wanted to see/align it at 45 as well. I had no problem realigning the blade again at 90 but when I went to check how it was at the 45 degree tilt, I found that the back side of the blade was out by about 0.01 (relative to the right side miter slot, it was out and away from the slot towards the left). I went to the manual and try to follow it to align the blade to the tilt angle (pg 53 in the ICS manual). I'm an engineer by day and, to be honest, this section I found very confusing and counter-intuitive. It tells you to tap on one side of a V-bracket that connects the rear elevation shaft to the rear of the trunnion. I think you have to tap on the other side of this V-bracket than what manual says, but let's not even focus on that for a moment.

    I called SawStop support to try to get some clarity on how to properly do it and the tech basically told me that I'd better not mess with the V-bracket at the back of the trunnion and also that their "tolerance" for the blade alignment at 45 degrees is 12 thou, so it's within that and I shouldn't even bother.

    Now, I'm not one to be chasing perfection just for the sake of perfection, but I'd like to build some casework with miter joins at the corners and I think that much of a misalignment at 45 will show up on the wide cross cuts when I put the two pieces together.

    Has anybody done this on a SawStop? I know other cabinet saws have to have their tables shimmed at either the front or the back to get this alignment correctly but the SawStop manual advises this other method. Should I even bother? Is this much misalignment really acceptable?

  2. #2
    IME, that small a discrepancy won't be your problem when cutting wide miters. Your better served figuring out how to hold your work piece perfectly flat through the entire cut.

  3. #3
    Gabor,
    I sometimes use my Sawstop ICS to make miters. I use a miter sled (you can find all kinds of examples around). It's just a cut off sled with a 90 degree angle split in two for the opposing faces of the joint. If you don't get an EXACT match, use a shooting board and hand plane. I'd listen to guys at Sawstop and NOT mess with the saw's guts. Just my $.02.
    Regards
    Tom

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Central WI
    Posts
    5,666
    Doesn't that mean the cast iron top needs to be shimmed a bit on the back side of the base to raise it up? That will close up the blade without changing the reference at 90. Dave

    EDIT: I'm assuming right tilt. If left, the front would need to be raised.
    Last edited by David Kumm; 04-17-2018 at 10:16 PM.

  5. #5
    I think I would square up two boards that are the length of the casework you will be building and try cutting the mitered joint you will need.
    If the joint is acceptable you are good to go.
    If not acceptable I would call SawStop back and specifically ask for Trent and find out what he has to say about the alignment.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Location
    Providence, RI
    Posts
    517
    Quote Originally Posted by Thomas L. Miller View Post
    Gabor,
    I sometimes use my Sawstop ICS to make miters. I use a miter sled (you can find all kinds of examples around). It's just a cut off sled with a 90 degree angle split in two for the opposing faces of the joint. If you don't get an EXACT match, use a shooting board and hand plane. I'd listen to guys at Sawstop and NOT mess with the saw's guts. Just my $.02.
    Regards
    Tom
    OP is cutting bevels with the blade tilted, not miters with the blade at 90°.
    -- Jim

    Use the right tool for the job.

  7. #7
    David - Yes I agree with you that the front would need to be shimmed but this is not the procedure SawStop outlines in the manual and it's not even that easy b/c the top is attached to both the trunnion brackets as well as the housing on 4 points. I could still try that as a last resort...

  8. #8
    Thank you Charlie. I'll try asking for Trent. In that past couple of times I called them, I had nothing put super knowledgeable techs on the other end of the line. This time however, the guy was downright arrogant and pretty much told me I was crazy to even try to get it better than the 10 thou they have as their "tolerance".

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Central WI
    Posts
    5,666
    I understand. Attaching the guts to the cast iron top is not my preference but seems to be the way of the world now. Allows the base to be lighter but complicates adjustments. Dave

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    Edmonton, Canada
    Posts
    2,479
    Gabor, I have the same saw and I think I did this "once" at the very beginning when setting up the saw and the procedure outlined in the manual (even though didn't make much sense to me at the time) did work fine.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Location
    Modesto, CA, USA
    Posts
    9,876
    I do not think it really matters if these are cross cuts as long as the work is pushed all the way past the blade. If you are ripping then kickback could be an issue.
    Bil lD.

  12. #12
    Gabor,

    Thanks for contacting me. I'm sorry for the experience you had with the previous tech. I'll give him a smack.

    This is not something that we have to do all that often so I'll need to do some research on this but we'll get it fixed one way or another.
    Last edited by Trent Davis; 04-19-2018 at 12:39 PM.

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Trent Davis View Post
    but we'll get it fixed one way or another.
    Music to any customer's ears!

    That attitude should be the minimum benchmark for any business which really cares about its reputation.

    Simon

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Simon MacGowen View Post
    Music to any customer's ears!

    That attitude should be the minimum benchmark for any business which really cares about its reputation.

    Simon
    I agree. It's really disappointing that we have come to expect so much less from customer service, although I have to admit that I love that moment when I've got a customer on the phone and I can almost hear the chip fall off their shoulder when they realize that I'm not there to screw them over.

  15. #15
    Sawstop has amazing customer service and Trent is one of the best people there. It's obvious that he truly cares about the customers and loves what he does (I spent at least an hour on the phone yesterday). Thank you Trent!
    I can tell you that I talked at least 3 of my friends/peers into purchasing a saw from them in the last couple of years and it is in no small part because of the experience that I had with them....(one of my friends unfortunately had to "wait" until he lost 3 of his fingers...)

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •