Improving a cheap table saw

[Foris]

After reading some positive reviews, have just bought a cheap Aldi (Taurus) 10 inch table saw ($219). I am under no illusions that this is a fine woodworking tool, but it is better than nothing, fits my budget, and you have to start somewhere!

Overall, I'm happy enough with it for the money, but it does have one glaring shortcoming - the slop in the mitre gauge (in the track) is truly appalling, something I will have to address to make that feature useable.

Being a complete newbie when it comes to table saws, I don't know what my range of options is. I have looked at the Incra V27 mitre gauge, but this might be overkill for a cheap saw, and I also wonder if it would fit, as I don't know if the slot/track is a standard size. It is an inverted "T", the wide cross section is approx 20.25mm x 4mm deep, and the narrow part is around 16.5mm x 2mm deep.

Would the Incra work for this saw, or are there other options available to me?

[NCArcher]

I think a standard mitre track is 3/4 x 3/8 or 19mm x 10mm. I don't think a standard gauge will even go close.
A crosscut sled may be a better option.

[bpj1968]

Can you post a pic of the mitre gauge, and the track. Someone might have a way of improving the runner on the gauge to solve you problems.

[damian]

A miter gauge is just a protractor on a batten. You've got a protractor which probably works ok, so just make a new batten, or widen the one you've got.

If it were me I'd get a piece of timber, dress it all round to a fairly loose sliding fit in the slot, drill some vertical holes, countersink them, cut some slots in it eitehr side of the holes, put some countersunk screws in the holes with the head/countersink down, attach the top of your existing miter gauge. Then just tighten the screws till the batten is a neat sliding fit.

That's how a lot of them work. The other style, which incra use, is a cam made of slippery material like nylon. Bore a recess in your batten that hangs off the edge of it, get some round nylon (or timber for that matter) that a neat fit in the bore. Drill it and the batten recess offcenter so rotating the cam will make it stick out more or less to the side.

None of this is as much work as it sounds, but whatever.

I'm sure you'll have fun with your new toy

[Foris]

Thanks. I did try linking to the URLs of 3 Flickr images I uploaded, but they failed to appear here. Is there any trick to linking to images, or does this software not like Flickr images perhaps?

[Bodgy]

If the mitre gauge side is sloppy, just get a punch and punch small pits along one side of the slide. This will cause the metal around the punch holes to swell out.

If its aluminium, just push in the slide and work back and forth until its still firm but slides smoothly. If steel get out the emery cloth

[Wongdai]

I have this exact same problem. I like the idea of using a hardwood runner, so I might try that option.

[Foris]

Yes, the hardwood runner sounds good.

The slop is so excessive, both vertically and laterally, that I doubt the punching idea will add sufficient "meat".

[Foris]

Ok, discovered how to add attachments... here's the end view. I think you'll agree that's a very impressive clearance! I'm afraid a family of possums will take advantage of the gap...
Attachment 87934

[Zzz.]

Bunnings sells strips of flat aluminium. Is there enough room to attach some to the bottom as shown in the attachment? You'd only need a small piece at each end.

CL

[chrisb691]

Ok, discovered how to add attachments... here's the end view. I think you'll agree that's a very impressive clearance! I'm afraid a family of possums will take advantage of the gap...
Attachment 87934

Why don't you sketch up what it should me, and then pop over to the metalwork forum and ask if anyone in Melbourne can machine you a replacement?

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

I have the same saw, picked it up for $100. (Didn't need it, I'm a Tritoneer but I had some spare cash in the kick at the time and was planning to strip the guts from the Taurus for another machine I was building. Which didn't eventuate. )

I found that neither the table nor the mitre track were parallel to the blade... and when I finally managed to tweak the table/trunnion square the mitre track was still out.

Also, the fence is a piece of rubbish. I don't think it worthwhile investing in a better fence & modifying the track to suit unless you plan to upgrade to a... well... a "real" TS further down the line, in which case you can move the fence over to the new machine.

Instead of effing around trying to get the fence & mitre into usable order, I decided to simply build a more or less permanent cross-cut sled for it. Major improvement in accuracy.

I still use the Triton for ripping though.

[Foris]

Yes, I might see what's available in strip aluminium. The runner should be firmly seated against the floor of the track, so it's not quite so straightforward, but the principle should still work.

It might in the end be simpler to fabricate a completely new runner from two pieces, if suitable sizes are available.

[Foris]

Hehe, make use of the metalwork guys, that makes sense!

I'm not too worried about the fence - some clamping assistance should sort that out easily enough. At a cursory check, the blade seems parallel, but haven't checked it too closely. How long ago was your purchase? - At that price I'm wondering if it was an older model... or a remarkable bargain at least.

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

How long ago was your purchase? - At that price I'm wondering if it was an older model... or a remarkable bargain at least.

About 6 months ago. I actually bought it off a friend who'd bought it for himself a week or so earlier and then realised it wasn't what he really wanted.