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".
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".
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.
+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
Last edited by Simon MacGowen; 06-23-2018 at 11:33 AM.
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.
Last edited by Edwin Santos; 06-23-2018 at 1:32 PM.
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 .
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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.
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
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.
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
Last edited by Simon MacGowen; 06-23-2018 at 2:59 PM.
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.
My SawStop PCS fence face was so wavy that it was telegraphing quite badly into the cut quality. I bought it used, so I have no way of knowing if that was its original condition or if the previous owner caused it. I ran a dial indicator along the face of it and I was getting more like +10 to -10 thou over the middle 24" of the fence with most of the dip in the middle near the blade. I took the face off and found the steel tube was actually very straight and it was just the wood part. So I made a replacement face board out a bit of scrap 1/2" baltic birch, laminated on both sides with white plastic laminate like Formica. That did the trick - cut quality is now excellent and I have a total indicated runout on the fence face more like 2 thou now.
realize that you should be able to estimate to 1/10 of the smallest division on your measuring equipment. All measurements are more accurate then the ability to make the item. Measuring and squaring to a great deal of precision is kind of a waste of time in wood.
Do a little study about precision metal measurement and you soon realize wood workers ignore almost all the rules. Biggest one I see is temperature control. I have never seen wood measuring tools with thermal insulation pads. No instructions say wear gloves to hold the tool or the work. In metal the measurements really should state at what humidity and temperature.
How do you compensate for gravitational sag of your work and the measuring tool.
Bill D.