How close is close nough

[Robert Willing]

I am tuning my table saw and the blade and fense are to within 0.005 of being parallel. They each are tilted 0.005".

[Osvaldo Cristo]

I assume that is the difference between the extremes. Good enough. It is just slightly bigger than 0.1 mm, typical human hair diameter.

My own standard for great adjust is around 0.1 to 0.2 mm for woodworking.

[Edwin Santos]

I am tuning my table saw and the blade and fense are to within 0.005 of being parallel. They each are tilted 0.005".

That's pretty close, but if not perfectly parallel, you just want it open at the back, not the front.
Pushing into a wedge can encourage kickback.

The fence on your saw is easily adjustable, and worth checking from time to time. I'm assuming we are talking about parallel of the fence in relation to the blade.

[glenn bradley]

I'd say you're fine. I shoot for the best I can get but, I don't make myself crazy trying to achieve something the machine just won't do. As always, the real proof is in using the machine or tool and being brutally honest with yourself as to whether the result meets your requirements. I had no trouble getting my old C-man 22124 or my current Saw Stop to a delta of .001" as far as blade and fence planes. The tops had a difference (dish) in the .005" (or more) range. I have been much more tolerant of a contractor format saw as trying to align those through their range of motion leads to madness .

[Simon MacGowen]

I assume that is the difference between the extremes. Good enough. It is just slightly bigger than 0.1 mm, typical human hair diameter.
.

+1.

For reference, these are the factory tolerances for the SawStop PCS/ICS:

0.001″ Maximum allowable runout

Table flatness measured diagonally:
0.010″ Maximum gap

Blade alignment with miter slot:
0.010″ Maximum displacement

Deviation of miter gauge indexing stops:
0.010″ Maximum

Even if you saw is perfect, your techniques and the lumber may not be and so a perfect saw -- if it does exist -- won't necessarily bring the best results.

Simon

[Lee Schierer]

I am tuning my table saw and the blade and fense are to within 0.005 of being parallel. They each are tilted 0.005".

Is this in relation to the miter slot or each other?

[Matt Day]

Simon, there apparently isn’t a number for flatness of the SS fence. The one I’m working on goes back and forth from +4 thou to -4 thou as you move the dial indicator forward. Junk fence that i’ll Be replacing with extruded aluminum.

[Simon MacGowen]

I know for a fact that when the first batches of SawStop came out (10 years ago), they used second-rate or thinner plywood for the fences. Customer feedback may have driven them to using better quality of ply for the fences now. How good? I have no idea, and as you pointed out, they don't provide tolerance about that, perhaps because ply is bought and beyond their control. Bearing in mind that the saws are made in Taiwan and shipped to America, our humidity conditions probably have an impact on the fences, too.

Might be an auxiliary fence made of top quality ply would help.

I am not too keen on aluminum fences; I know of a few brake trigger incidents due to contact with an aluminum miter gauge.

Simon

[Edwin Santos]

Is there a slick facing on the outside of the fence material? That's the case with my Jet Xacta fence which has UHMW facings which are not perfectly flat.
But this is woodworking, and the deviations we're talking about should not be an issue.
Edwin

[Nick Decker]

Is there a slick facing on the outside of the fence material? That's the case with my Jet Xacta fence which has UHMW facings which are not perfectly flat.
But this is woodworking, and the deviations we're talking about should not be an issue.
Edwin

Yes, SS uses what I think is UHMW on the face of the fence. Mine has a slight waviness, but I haven't noticed it causing a problem.

I'd prefer an aluminum extrusion, myself. Straighter, plus easier to attach things to, if needed. The risk of running an aluminum fence into the blade wouldn't be as great as with an aluminum miter gauge.

[Simon MacGowen]

Is there a slick facing on the outside of the fence material? That's the case with my Jet Xacta fence which has UHMW facings which are not perfectly flat.
But this is woodworking, and the deviations we're talking about should not be an issue.
Edwin

That is why I check and tune my woodworking machines with squares, steel rules, etc. instead of micrometers, digital calipers, dial indicators and whatnot. The wood I cut will tell me how good those machines are, regardless of what the measurements may suggest. Even a perfectly flat or tuned fence may deflect when we use it. I don't lose any sleep over minute deviations when working with wood. In fact, I have things made not perfectly square and have yet to come across anyone -- a woodworker or not -- who checks them with a square when the builds are the topic of conversation.

Simon

[Andrew Seemann]

Other than the arbor, which I replaced, I'd be amazed (and thrilled) if anything on my 50 year old Unisaw was within .005 I think it was in a production cabinet shop before I bought it; everything is pretty worn. For the most part though, it hasn't affected quality of work.

[Pat Barry]

That is why I check and tune my woodworking machines with squares, steel rules, etc. instead of micrometers, digital calipers, dial indicators and whatnot. The wood I cut will tell me how good those machines are, regardless of what the measurements may suggest. Even a perfectly flat or tuned fence may deflect when we use it. I don't lose any sleep over minute deviations when working with wood. In fact, I have things made not perfectly square and have yet to come across anyone -- a woodworker or not -- who checks them with a square when the builds are the topic of conversation.

Simon

If out of square works for you then it sounds like you are probably doing carpentry and not cabinetry.

[Simon MacGowen]

If out of square works for you then it sounds like you are probably doing carpentry and not cabinetry.

I'm afraid you have been fooled or misled by all the "dead square", "dead straight" preaching often seen in books and magazines. Out of squareness happens all the time in fine furniture making. When we build cabinets with inset doors, we use techniques to get the doors or drawers done with perfect reveals, regardless of whether or not the carcases are perfectly square. I know because I have done that many times.

Same for dead flat, unless you work with sheet stock. Wrong, even if you work with sheet goods, flatness is not guaranteed. I know because I have made long/large tables or desks with both veneer sheet stock and hardwood lumber, and they are rarely "perfectly" flat. By the way, I use long aluminum straight edges, not steel ones to check flatness.

Simon

[Warren Lake]

not really misled to want to pay attention and identify machinery tolerances.

ive fit stuff beaded inset and had time wasted because some small step was out a tiny bit like the sliding table first generation of one brand could not cut consistently square, Set up dead nuts square cut a few more gables one out a tiny bit which puts a tilt in that gable which then makes it more difficult to fit to tight tolerances because that minimal of out of square now has the tilt aspect and its only one one gable which is even worse. If you are lining bottom edge of a drawer to the top edge of he one below now you have more fun. If there are beaded rails between then more forgiveness as you are working to a round and it wont stand out the same way.

I know a guy who had a pretty high end company he has said to me its woodwork its not supposed to be perfect. I dont buy it and its not that it has to be perfect, I dont like chasing my tail cause equipment is not true and creating more work in steps after. At the big volume level they sometimes make jigs so when they sand a door rather than fit each one everyone is the same and sometimes clamp face frames on a jig so they are all the same.