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Thread: Measuring cut height of table saw blade

  1. #31
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    Heres an idea ive never tried because I just thought of it.
    what if you scribe a circle onto the body of the blade below the gullets. Make it .500” below the tooth. Now you can use a height gauge set to desired height - .500”. The virtue of this idea is that you don’t have to find top dead center of a tooth.

    you could try it with layout blue to start but that will wear off. A more permanent line in the metal would be nice but would change slightly when the blade is sharpened. You could keep the offset for Esch blade...


    Quote Originally Posted by Nick Shattuck View Post
    To clear up my original question...

    In real-life, I'm an electrical engineer specializing in metrology, so I think about these things. I'd like a way to cut six 0.50" deep dados, realize after I've changed the blade height that I need two more, quickly set it back to 0.50" and make the cut again without the trial and error technique that seems to be the most popular idea here. it just helps with efficiency and reduces the frustration caused by an off-cut.

    It's really not about the absolute accuracy of the height, but the repeatability, where I could write down a dimension and make cuts and come back a week later and repeat the same cuts and have identical pieces.

    Hope this clears up the point of the post.

  2. #32
    Quote Originally Posted by Ron Citerone View Post
    That's what I do too, especially on cuts that you really want to be exact!
    Me too. That's the way I do it.

    Mike
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

  3. #33
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    That's a good idea. At least for cuts deeper than the scribe line. The setup blocks due to their lengths would be good too for fixed heights. I think I may try to build the device with the accelerometer from the guy's plans posted earlier if someone still sells those components.

  4. #34
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    Quote Originally Posted by Nick Shattuck View Post
    Well it looks as though I'm not missing anything here and it's just one of those things we just deal with even if it takes multiple steps. I mean, I can use the DRO on my planer to set a repeatable, accurate height in one step, use one on my table saw fence to set a repeatable, accurate width in one step, I can adjust blade tilt with a angle DRO, but I can't set blade height with one.

    I wonder if anyone has fit a Wixey planer height gauge with the remote display to a table saw lift. It would be easy enough to calibrate. It seems like it would be possible to do.
    The issue with a DRO on blade height is that most table saw trunions pivot so the Z axis distance per revolution of the crank varies depending on the angle of the trunion. Sawstop is fairly unique in that the blade is mounted so that it goes straight up and down. Sawstop owners CAN have a DRO and this is something I've been meaning to do with my SS for some time.

    I have no intention of using the DRO for absolute measurement. What would be handy is relative measurement. Make a dado cut, measure the depth. You have to go .200" higher. Easy with a DRO and no problems overshooting. No problems with gear lash.

    So far, I know of no one that has done this to their SawStop so I'm a bit reticent. My saw is long off warranty. I would communicate with the tech guys at SS and get their advice as to where to mount the sending unit.

    Edit: if you look around, someone made a DRO for the pivoting trunion using an accelerometer and some math. I think it worked ok.

  5. #35
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    Quote Originally Posted by Nick Shattuck View Post
    That's a good idea. At least for cuts deeper than the scribe line. The setup blocks due to their lengths would be good too for fixed heights. I think I may try to build the device with the accelerometer from the guy's plans posted earlier if someone still sells those components.
    You should be able to find what you want at SparkFun. Do the whole thing with an Arduino. Some might call you crazy for trying this but not me. I like crazy.
    My daughter clerked for a Circuit Court judge who demanded 16 hour days/7 days a week for a year. She knew what she was getting into so I couldn't criticize. But I could mock. The 9th circuit covers a wide geographic area from Guam to Arizona. So I made a row of clocks (sort of like a newsroom) showing the various time zones. Then I added a special clock for the judge that compressed her 16 hour day into 8 hours by ticking once every other second. She arrived at '9am' and left at '5pm'. The judge thought it was a hoot and kept the clocks in chambers until he retired.

    I did it with an Arduino. Never worked with one before or since and I have no electronics experience. It wasn't bad.

  6. #36
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    I applaud the initiative to develop a height gauge, and would really like to see one made, but I gotta ask. Is this really a big problem to set the height of table saw blade? What exactly is being cut that needs to be so exact? Maybe I'm just sloppy????
    Using the gage blocks in Glen's post, you should be about to get within .010" easily of any fractional measurement. .005" would not be unreasonable to achieve. Your fingers can easily detect differences <.002".
    I use the same blocks Glen has, and a dial indicator. I just got an iGagging digital height gauge for the shaper, but it would easily find the height of the highest tooth in the arc of a blade if needed, which I will.
    I would also caution about the test cut method, unless you know you have zero deflection in your throat plate, if the measurement is this critical.

    All that said though, I think a height gauge for the table saw is a good idea.

    I am not trying to be a jerk here.
    "The first thing you need to know, will likely be the last thing you learn." (Unknown)

  7. #37
    Quote Originally Posted by Gary Ragatz View Post
    I think you could do that with the Kreg setup blocks I use - as long as you're willing to work with a limited set of cut depths. The set I have runs from 1/8" up to 1/2" in 1/16" increments.
    If you don't want the trial and error method, then yes set-up blocks are a good way to go. Lee Valley sells a posh set. I have some brass ones made by Whiteside. You can stack them to get to your height so long as you're not into 32nds. Used like a feeler gauge it's pretty quick to find TDC. I use them at the router table for height setting a lot.

  8. #38
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    Ummm. Just put a mark on the insert that marks the center of the arbor. Place whatever height measuring gauge on this mark and just rotate the blade until a tooth is underneath the gauge.

  9. #39
    With a SawStop you can set a height gauge to the height you are looking for. Put it over the blade tooth and raise the blade until the brake test light flashed. Simple and easy. Would I fuss around doing that? Probably not.

    http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/pag...12&cat=1,43513

  10. #40
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Cutler View Post
    I applaud the initiative to develop a height gauge, and would really like to see one made, but I gotta ask. Is this really a big problem to set the height of table saw blade? What exactly is being cut that needs to be so exact? Maybe I'm just sloppy????
    Using the gage blocks in Glen's post, you should be about to get within .010" easily of any fractional measurement. .005" would not be unreasonable to achieve. Your fingers can easily detect differences <.002".
    I use the same blocks Glen has, and a dial indicator. I just got an iGagging digital height gauge for the shaper, but it would easily find the height of the highest tooth in the arc of a blade if needed, which I will.
    I would also caution about the test cut method, unless you know you have zero deflection in your throat plate, if the measurement is this critical.

    All that said though, I think a height gauge for the table saw is a good idea.

    I am not trying to be a jerk here.
    Mike, I can think of some scenarios where a height gauge would be handy.

    you are making a screen using half laps. You dial in the height at xxx. Now you realize that you are short a piece. You rip the piece which involves changing the blade height. going back to the half lap height is a snap

    you are sneaking up on a tenon and you overshoot. Backing off can be tricky if you have gear lash issues. You need to always approach your setting while raising the blade. Backing off a half turn and then raising to a few thousandths less is easy with a dro.

    I have a dro on my router table and don’t even try absolute measurements. I use it to make accurate relative measurements.

  11. #41
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    Ken, you absolutely right but only for some saws where the blade raises straight up and down. Most saws use a pivoting trunion and the index mark wouldn’t work because the center of the arbor moves in an arc.

    that would work with my SawStop.

  12. #42
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    Quote Originally Posted by Roger Feeley View Post
    Mike, I can think of some scenarios where a height gauge would be handy.

    you are making a screen using half laps. You dial in the height at xxx. Now you realize that you are short a piece. You rip the piece which involves changing the blade height. going back to the half lap height is a snap

    you are sneaking up on a tenon and you overshoot. Backing off can be tricky if you have gear lash issues. You need to always approach your setting while raising the blade. Backing off a half turn and then raising to a few thousandths less is easy with a dro.

    I have a dro on my router table and don’t even try absolute measurements. I use it to make accurate relative measurements.
    Roger
    I have definitely found myself in those scenarios. I think everyone has. I can see the need to return to a setting, and it is difficult at times.
    Don't get me wrong, I do test cuts, and will keep the "gauge blocks" for an entire project just so I can return to a setting.

    I think are doing yourself a disservice with your router table though, and should consider using absolute cutter heights.
    I make a lot of absolute measurements, relative to the table, with my shaper during a project and keep the values written down. I can return to within 1000th's easily. I also keep a written log, or notes, of each cutter, so that I just have to do simple math to set a cutter height. I can set the height of a lock miter, matched T&G's, or a reversible glue joint, to within a few 1000ths of being correct without a test cut. All I need to know is the average statistical thickness of the material.
    Last edited by Mike Cutler; 01-06-2019 at 10:37 AM.
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  13. #43
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    Quote Originally Posted by Nick Shattuck View Post
    ... I need two more, quickly set it back ....
    If you already have dados the right depth already cut, that's the perfect set-up tool isn't it ? Set a dado cut over the blade and raise the blade until it just touches.

  14. #44
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    Quote Originally Posted by Nick Shattuck View Post
    To clear up my original question...

    In real-life, I'm an electrical engineer specializing in metrology, so I think about these things. I'd like a way to cut six 0.50" deep dados, realize after I've changed the blade height that I need two more, quickly set it back to 0.50" and make the cut again without the trial and error technique that seems to be the most popular idea here. it just helps with efficiency and reduces the frustration caused by an off-cut.

    It's really not about the absolute accuracy of the height, but the repeatability, where I could write down a dimension and make cuts and come back a week later and repeat the same cuts and have identical pieces.

    Hope this clears up the point of the post.
    Nick, if you've already cut some dados & then realize the you need to cut a couple more to the same height, you could rub a pencil mark on the already cut dado, set it over the blade, then raise it until the blade just touches the pencil mark. Lock the blade at this height. Then cut the new dados to this height & if you really want the previously cut dados the same exact height as the new dados, then recut the previous dados. You might end up cutting 0.005" off the previous dado, but what difference would that make; they would all now be the same height.

    Oops! Didn't see Yonak's post. We obviously think alike.
    Last edited by Al Launier; 01-06-2019 at 12:22 PM.
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