Thread: Should I worry about 0.008"

Your thread title says 8 thou out and your email to Axminster says 60 thou and they still say that is okay I can see why he is called the specialist sales advisor and not the specialist repair advisor.

Originally Posted by Treecycle

Your thread title says 8 thou out and your email to Axminster says 60 thou and they still say that is okay I can see why he is called the specialist sales advisor and not the specialist repair advisor.

0.060" =1.5mm

0.008" =0.2mm which I feel is not up to scratch.

I feel his position title should be "Specialist BS Artist"!

If the manufacturer feels that 0.060" is acceptable I'm afraid that it puts that saw in the junk category in my book. I would be very pi$$ed off if a saw was that bad.

Its well worth the effort of fine tuning a table saw if you

wish to do fine work.

I regularly cut small parts / components and seek better than 0.1mm repeatability for them, even at that it makes cumulative error an issue for Yosegi or Tunbridge ware style patterns.

Thanks for this thread...about 2 months ago I replaced the drive belts on the pulleys of my motor and after I replaced the cast iron table I noticed that trying to align it using a steel rule from mitre guide to saw blade was useless as the cuts would produce back cut with the rear of the blade.

I have a dial gauge, so I set about doing an accurate alignment over this Easter. After making a holder for the dial gauge and some tapping the table this way then that way and measuring after each minor movement. I am now pleased that I have got the table now in good alignment......the rear of the blade now splays minutely away from the mitre guide by just 0.02mm (0.0007"). Now to adjust the rip guide.

Originally Posted by skot

Thanks for this thread...about 2 months ago I replaced the pulleys on my motor and after I replaced the cast iron table I noticed that trying to align it using a steel rule from mitre guide to saw blade was useless as the cuts would produce back cut with the rear of the blade.

I have a dial gauge, so I set about doing an accurate alignment over this Easter. After making a holder for the dial gauge and some tapping the table this way then that way and measuring after each minor movement. I am now pleased that I have got the table now in good alignment......the rear of the blade now splays minutely away from the mitre guide by just 0.02mm (0.0007"). Now to adjust the rip guide.

Cheers Scott, happy to compare notes over a tea/coffee/beer if youre ever keen.. Gary

I just realised a job for this weekend...now that I have my tablesaw set up nicely.......I have to re sled my shop made cross cut jigs. They will be slightly out of alignment as the blade is in a slightly different location & orientation to when I made the jigs.

It never ends this hobby lark does it ?

skot,
I know how you feel as I'm in the same boat , but it won't be this weekend.
pker

After doing a tune up last weekend, I did some check cuts and it appeared to be back cutting at the rear of the blade AGAIN.

When I checked the alignment the table top was out of alignment again. Scratched my head for awhile and decided to start from scratch....... undoing the holding bolts....measuring......adjusting.....measuring....all looked good.

I decided to keep the dial gauge on the blade while tightening the 3 bolts that hold the cast table to the cabinet.......BUGGER.....the table moves ever so slightly when tightening. I wouldn't have thought it would make a difference but I was measuring to 0.01mm and the table would move in the same direction that I was tightening the bolts thus moving the guide slot closer to the rear of the blade.

So with trial and error, I OVER adjusted while unbolted so that the rear of the blade measured as having a wider gap then I actually want to finish with. As I tightened the bolts to gap reduced till I achieved a satisfactory setting.

This was on a Laguna 10" Fusion tablesaw. I do not know if this would happen on other saws.

I had the same problem when setting buzzer blades, you just need to work out how far it moves when you tighten and allow for it when you're making adjustments.

"It's the 0.001" that keeps me awake at nights"

Two things about alignment.

Your riving knife, splitter or anti kick back pawl needs to be aligned with the arbor flange. We can't do that so we align it with the side of the blade that is next to the nut. Not a big deal except that you'll have to realign the riving knife etc. with every blade change.

Washers bend, warp or get burrs. When you're tightening them and the table moves your alignment efforts are wasted. The advice here is to purchase some 'Garage Door' washers. These washers are usually hardened and don't distort under pressure. If you can't find the hardened washers just use two new ones in place of the old one.

My new Ozito table saw has a misalignment of about 0.2mm between the blade and the riving knife. The riving knife can't be moved any further inward, so it looks like I have to shim the blade. I've ordered some mild steel 0.1mm washers on ebay and I'm waiting for them. I couldn't find any shim washers the right size to go between the flange and the blade. The ones I've ordered will go between the flange and the axle plate. Both the flange and the axle plate are ground with tiny concentric circles rather than flat - will this create issues with the shims, or even help stop them slipping? Any issues with stacking the shims (will probably need 2 or 3)? The shim size is 0.1mm x 16mm (axle size) x 28mm (a touch bigger than the 26mm axle plate).

Make shims from coke cans. They are 0.1mm thickness to a highly exacting degree.

Cut them with scissors, or scalpel/sharpie, drill centres on a press.

Originally Posted by woodPixel

Make shims from coke cans. They are 0.1mm thickness to a highly exacting degree.

Cut them with scissors, or scalpel/sharpie, drill on drill centres on drill press.

I think using a beer can would be a bit more fun.

Not a drinker, but I do like Bundaberg ginger beer... Off to the supermarket now.