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Thread: Supercharging the SawStop Miter Gauge

  1. #1

    Supercharging the SawStop Miter Gauge

    The SawStop miter gauge is widely maligned as unworthy compared to the accuracy and safety of the SawStop system as a whole. I did a few simple things to upgrade the gauge to a very functional component.

    First, the complaints. Too much slop.

    There are two sources of slop, the pivot bolt and the miter bar, both are easily addressed. The miter bar is designed to be adjustable. There are spring loaded bearings in the bar to maintain tension in the miter slot. The manual says they are adjusted at the factory. Many would disagree. It takes a 2.5 mm Allen wrench. I adjusted mine until I got noticeable interference, then backed them off a quarter turn.
    864727EB-2F31-492B-BA13-52BEF61D57BA.jpg

    The next complaint is too much slop in the miter head. More specifically, the shoulder of the pivot bolt (circled in yellow) is much smaller than the hole for it in the miter head resulting in a head that rocks under load. We are not machinists but we are amateur plumbers. Some Teflon plumber’s tape around the shoulder of the shoulder bolt can snug up the shoulder bolt so there is no slop. I used 7 turns of red Teflon tape for a snug fit.

    6D2F8053-4A08-4CCA-8185-D74DAD9BBDDE.jpg

    Lastly, there is no sacrificial fence or flip stop for repeated cuts. This is true of most miter gauges supplied with saws. Here is my version using a flip stop I bought many years ago. The flip stop has no flex and has a low-tech but functional micro adjustment. This model is no longer available but there are many alternatives. I extended the fence past the blade. This supports short pieces. I added some blocks on the back of the sacrificial fence. These blocks serve a safety function by enclosing the blade as it exits the cut. They also prevent blow out on the back of a crosscut and direct dust below the table for collection. The kerf in the sacrificial fence provides a perfect reference for aligning a mark on the workpiece to the kerf for an accurate cut. The kerf in the fence tends to grow over time. I will eventually rout a recess for a replaceable, zero-clearance insert made of 1/4 plywood.

    23D8FB6C-7BFA-4CB1-879F-690D4350CEB1.jpg

    To prevent cutting through the back of the safety block, I clamp a block to the rear rail and drop a 3/4” scrap of an appropriate length in the miter slot.
    94F86C76-0E9A-4C53-9736-F99497A96528.jpg
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by Thomas Wilson; 08-16-2022 at 9:46 AM.

  2. #2
    Join Date
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    Nice upgrades and way cheaper than buying a high end miter gauge! I have the sliding crosscut table so I don't use the miter gauge that often, but I'm adding these ideas to my to-do list. Thanks!
    --I had my patience tested. I'm negative--

  3. #3
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    My Sawstop miter gauge is third in line behind my crosscut sled, Incra1000HD.

    I pretty much only grab it if I need a quick cross cut just to shorten a piece of wood and don't care about the accuracy of the angle.

    But I do use it on my bandsaw and I appreciate you publishing your solutions.

  4. #4
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    As far as stock miter guides go, the SawStop one is pretty darn good, by far the best I've ever used. It's well worth those upgrades.

    Mine has no slop in either the bar or the swivel bearing.

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by Frank Pratt View Post
    As far as stock miter guides go, the SawStop one is pretty darn good, by far the best I've ever used. It's well worth those upgrades.

    Mine has no slop in either the bar or the swivel bearing.
    Interesting that your gauge has no play. Mine was unuseable. I should have taken some dial indicator readings before and after the fixes were applied to show how much the play was reduced. I can measure what it is now so you can compare to yours.

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Paul F Franklin View Post
    Nice upgrades and way cheaper than buying a high end miter gauge! I have the sliding crosscut table so I don't use the miter gauge that often, but I'm adding these ideas to my to-do list. Thanks!
    Well, that slider is a pricey upgrade. Do you like it? I remember when Excalibur introduced the design many years ago. I wanted it for my Unisaw, but my shop was way, way, way too small. In my current shop, I decided it would take up too much room for the few times I would need it. But I still think it is a solid choice.

  7. #7
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    That is a huge mismatch in the hole. I bet it was drilled and not reamed to size after drilling. 14 turns at 0.003 is .021 oversize. It should be more like 0.0021 oversize. Offf by a factor of ten.
    Bill D

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Bill Dufour View Post
    That is a huge mismatch in the hole. I bet it was drilled and not reamed to size after drilling. 14 turns at 0.003 is .021 oversize. It should be more like 0.0021 oversize. Offf by a factor of ten.
    Bill D
    Good explanation of normal machine tolerances. Thanks. Mine was quite loose but I have no way to measure the hole diameter. What I did do is clamp the bar in a vise and twist the head. The pivot point is the protractor bolt and shoulder bolt slides from side to side in its hole. The head pivoted maybe a degree or so. I may have a video of this test. This seemed unacceptable to me. By contrast, my Accumiter gauge and my Delta Unisaw gauge have no visible play in the pivot bolt under the same test.

    Some factors in wrapping the tape and installing the bolt in the hole may mean the hole is not as bad as your estimate which seems huge. First, I pulled the tape tight which stretches and thins it. Also, it was a snug fit. As I pushed the bolt in the hole, some tape may have caught at the top and just pealed away. It would wind up under the head of the bolt and out of sight.

    If it is of great interest, I could video removing the bolt, examine how much tape is left wrapped around it, then show re-taping and reinstalling the bolt. Might be fun, but I have a project that I really want to finish. Let me know.
    Last edited by Thomas Wilson; 08-16-2022 at 11:43 AM.

  9. #9
    I measured the play in my SawStop miter gauge with a dial indicator.
    9F75A24A-9590-490B-9753-8C1A062BBDCC.jpg
    I fixed the miter gauge in place using a couple of scraps of wood clamped to the front rail.

    D93613C2-1B21-4CF9-B248-5D2727299AB8.jpg
    I pushed hard on the left edge of the head and then the right, noting the movement. I measured less than 0.001 inch. One division of the scale on the dial indicator is 0.001 inch.

    I did not measure it but the Accumiter seen in the background above had a bit of play. I will adjust it to be a better fit to the slot.

    I wish I had measured the play before working on SawStop miter gauge. I could take the tape off the shoulder bolt to restore it to original state, but I can’t put the bearings in the bar back where they were since I did not count the turns as I adjusted them. It was bad.

  10. #10
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    The blocks for a saw kerf to direct the dust under the table ... I never would have thought of that. A housing to cover the blade, sure, which would leave dust underneath.

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Wes Grass View Post
    The blocks for a saw kerf to direct the dust under the table ... I never would have thought of that. A housing to cover the blade, sure, which would leave dust underneath.
    Many years ago, I saw William Ng use a block like this as a safety feature on his crosscut sled design. That is where I first saw it. He did not mention the dust collection advantage. Most of the dust from an enclosed cut comes from the blade exiting the back of the cut. This helps a lot.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Thomas Wilson View Post
    Interesting that your gauge has no play. Mine was unuseable. I should have taken some dial indicator readings before and after the fixes were applied to show how much the play was reduced. I can measure what it is now so you can compare to yours.
    Of course hind sight is 20/20, but I'd have given SawStop a call about the miter guide. Given the precision of the rest of the saw, it's not unreasonable to expect the guide to be in a useable state. I've never used a dial indicator on it, and I'm sure it would find some play, but it's not enough for me to notice or to affect the work.

    I actually don't even use the miter guide on the table saw because I already had and Incra 1000SE. The SawStop guide gets used with the router table and bandsaw.

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