Table Saw Alignment Plate

[Justin Rapp]

I have woodpecker's original saw gauge and it works just fine. I am a huge fan of woodpeckers tools but there does come time when cost becomes a factor. I also have woodpeckers squares and use them to ensure my blades are 90 to the table. I am just not sure how far you can go when woodworking, when wood will move as you are making your cuts. We are not talking about a scientific machine shop here building components for a space ship.

[John TenEyck]

If you stop and think about the geometry involved, it doesn't matter what you use as long as you reference the same spot on the blade, plate or bar and it doesn't flex. The area should be flat so a small variation in where you measure doesn't affect the measurement but an inch away it doesn't matter. A longer bar or larger diameter plate or blade, again based on the geometry, multiplies the error if the saw is out of alignment so you can achieve a more accurate result. A $200 precision ground plate is a device designed to extract $200 from your wallet.

^^^^^ Exactly right.

But it must be better if it costs $200, right? Probably a pretty red, too.

John

[Bruce Wrenn]

^^^^^ Exactly right.

But it must be better if it costs $200, right? Probably a pretty red, too.

John

Does that mean if I spray paint my shop made piece of Baltic Birch it would work better?

[Doug Colombo]

I have the Woodpecker “saw gauge original 1.0” and use it on a single tooth of my saw blade that I mark and rotate from front to back and check with the guage.

I also have the Woodpecker orig gauge and have been very happy with it. I go off the blade like Roger, but go off of the blade body itself and mark a tooth so that I can reference it for the front and rear measurements.

[Jacques Gagnon]

Does that mean if I spray paint my shop made piece of Baltic Birch it would work better?

Bruce,

Your approach of painting will work only if you have the right Pantone number; otherwise, the photonic pressure on the plate will throw off the alignment.

[Michael Burnside]

Does that mean if I spray paint my shop made piece of Baltic Birch it would work better?

Dude, have you SEEN the price of BB? It might be cheaper to buy the Woodpeckers version

[Roger Davis]

Thank you all for your thoughts and recommendations.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Dude, have you SEEN the price of BB? It might be cheaper to buy the Woodpeckers version

Don't need to, as I have a couple full sheets (19 & 13 MM) in shop, plus several partial sheets left over from cabinet building days. Probably more than a lifetime supply at my age (75.)

[Michael Burnside]

Don't need to, as I have a couple full sheets (19 & 13 MM) in shop, plus several partial sheets left over from cabinet building days. Probably more than a lifetime supply at my age (75.)

Feel sorry for the rest of us then