How to Align your Table Saw Blade // Woodshop Tips
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- Опубликовано: 14 окт 2024
- I had a few requests to share how I align my table saw blade with the miter slot. I used to struggle with this until I picked up this dial indicator kit. It makes the process so much easier now!
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OMG! I didn't know about this. Just fixed my crosscut sled!!!! Thank you so much :)
Awesome!!! So happy to help!
huh? u didn't know? like u never check the width of the piece u rip? :confused screaming:
@@nskmda huh? What do you mean? Your blade can be off say like what .005" in the case in this video and you would NEVER measure that in a ripped piece.
@@mikeymartin4751 i thought on a rip (which is way longer than cross-cut) u should b able 2, no? second... if it's 1/50000000000" off... y even bother? even w/ 1/64" off on a 2-ft rip... is it a big deal? like u would notice something somewhere? i do know, i get close 2 1/8" on a 2-ft piece... that *mayb* a problem (2 somebody but not 2 a dummy like miself). and... i thought he didn't know about fixing the blade, not how much off the blade is... if he *was* concerned about it, he *ought* 2 check the results of cuts, no? @ the very least he would notice the pieces he cut didn't fit precisely, no? if he didn't even notice, y even bother?
@@nskmda I took it that he didn't know how to fix the blade or that it could even be off. Unlike a projectile leaving it's source at at .005" difference and the .005" multipling over distance your ripped work is held between the fence and blade. The problem with this very small difference from the front to the back of the blade shows its face in your kerf. it makes it .005" wider.
So what? Exactly when it comes to ripping and crosscutting lumber. But like in the video you notice it in your sleds and jigs. Where you can use the side of the kerf for a measure point you get off when the kerf is off.
Is this a big problem? After all it is only .005". .062" is 1/16" so generally you will never be able to measure this difference UNTIL... when you use the kerf for your measure point and then use a stop block your difference could compound after every cut cause you are losing .005" per cut. How many cuts would it take for it to matter? Hard for me to say but its an example. The point in using a jig is getting the same result with having to measure each and every cut.
Back to your 1st question and my statement you wouldn't be able to measure the difference in a rip. Of course you could measure it not really with a standard measuring tape. Here is the answer to your question and why I say that. using a 10" saw blade that is a difference of .005 every 10". Ripping a 8' sheet of plywood 8' would result in a difference of .048" slightly bigger than 1/32" if the difference compound every 10" of rip length. 8'/10"=9.6. 9.6 x .005"=.048"
I DIDN'T KNOW THIS WAS EVEN A THING. My saw was WAAAAAAY out of whack, and now works with me instead of against me. THANKS!
Glad it was useful!
After 30 years of half-assing my woodwork, I decided to take it more seriously, and I am so happy to have found your channel. Great video, great educational media, great editing. ❤
Awesome to hear!
Clear, concise, but actually enough information to be understood; both spoken and visual. A+ on the video. This is extremely helpful. Even after nearly 2 decades of carpentry and woodworking at a professional level, I'm still learning new things.
You do have to spend some time setting the saw up... blade, fence, etc. But once done, the saw is great. Fairly compact which is Nice ruclips.net/user/postUgkxXh-4_3-ZT1fFWP91ZV7iVqzElr0lEb-a I did get an Incra Miter Gauge which takes some setup as well. The stock miter gauge can be adjusted in the miter slot with a little painter's tape... this tightens up the side to side play a lot.
Unreal. I’ve been trying everything to square that same saw. You even took into account the torque on the housing screws. Outstanding and thank you so much.
glad it helped!
You can extend the life of your sled by attaching painters tape to the bottom of your sleds kerf and then fill up the kerf with epoxy. Once it has fully cured you can then cut a new kurf with your correctly aligned blade, and once again have a perfect zero clearance cross cut sled.
Wow. Genius.
i think her idea of an insert would be easier, faster, and probably cheaper
Nice tip!
Coolness ! Thanks...
Nice video. However, once you have it aligned, you need to check your blade run-out by rotating the blade through a revolution, marking the high and low spot. Essentially you are measuring the blade “wobble” which can be the blade not flat, the arbor shoulder not square to the shaft axis, or a bent arbor shaft. Even if the blade is square to the miter slot, if you have wobble, your going to open up clearance on your sled.
Thank you so much! I aligned my blade when I came home this evening using your video as a guide. It's late so I'm going to bed and I'll test it in the morning. I'm excited to rip a board and see how much smoother it is. 😊
Just did this yesterday! One tip - after you loosen the two hex bolts on the front of the carriage (3:00), there are actually two more hex bolts all the way at the back of the carriage assembly (at least there is on my very similar Dewalt) if you loosen one of those, you should be able to pivot the blade without use of the mallet. I leave one tight so that the blade will "pivot" around that point instead of being free to move in every direction. Cheers!
Also just realized my first comment on one of your videos was a suggestion 🤦♂️.
I love your channel! You made me realize I could do high quality woodworking with just a job site saw. Thanks for putting out such great content.
I bought this exact Dewalt table saw - DW745 - about 10 years ago - made a couple cuts - and there it sat in my garage - until now.
Now it's in my living room along with my shop vac. I've watched a lot of videos on safety - and have purchased some excellent accessories to help make porcelain tile cuts - along with a Viper dry cut blade - butt - this is the only video I was able to find for this particular model table saw that helped me perfectly align the saw blade using a dial indicator.
Now to align my rip fence to the saw blade - and I should be ready to tackle this porcelain project - making basically my own 4" tall bull nose from 12x12 inch porcelain floor tile extras.
I'm a newbie to this type of work - trying to do-it-myself to save myself some exorbitant labor costs that are being charged these days - so - since I already own some great Dewalt power tools - I decided to tackle the job myself - with the help of educational videos.
I just wanted you to know - that if you can help a newbie like me perfectly align this table saw blade - well - that's a testimony in itself to just how educational and clear your videos are - I just had to let you know - and to say Thanks!
An old video but very useful, thanks Tamar! This was a big help last night straightening my blade. I have a Trend depth gauge bought for setting the height of bits on my router table. But after you said ‘make your own guide’, I simply double-sided taped this gauge to a runner in the mitre slot. Worked a treat. Cutting much cleaner. The same set up worked for sliding my fence to the slot too.
I searched and searched and finally got your link. Awesome job, thanks for providing exactly what I was looking for.
What a total jem you are. Have owned this saw now for two years and for the first time someone actually knows what to do. Thank you so much for sharing.
Glad it was helpful!
Thank you so much for sharing this! I was able to straighten my Stanley table saw blade using these instructions. It totally works. There were 3 allen head screws I had to loosen. Then I had to move the blade side to side a few times till I was satisfied it was straight. It was originally off between 1 to 2 mm as shipped from the factory.
About 40 years ago, I had to do align my blade on my Craftsman table saw. I only had to do it once and it made an amazing difference. One of the additional benefits is that there is no heeling, which could flip up the board when it reaches the back of the blade so this makes the saw much safer too!
My new Rockwell contractor table saw blade was off by over .030" fully elevated. When I called the manufacturer, they told me this was normal. Imagine that Tamar! Sadly, there is no way of adjusting the trunion yet, until it is out of warranty, at which time that saw is going to have several modifications done. Having a saw where you can access the undercarriage is truly a blessing. You are exactly correct and Kudos to you for doing an excellent job!
What?! That’s crazy! I hope you figure something out to get it squared up
Woo hoo! Thank you! My saw arrived a week ago. I verified the fence was perpendicular to the miter slot, the blade was 90°, and the riving knife was centered on the blade, but when ripping the edge off of some 2x8x8s the wood gradually pulled away from the fence. No matter how hard I forced the wood against the fence, it kept pulling away. I checked the blade and it wasn't parallel to the miter slot. It was 1/8th of inch at the back of the blade. I loosened the screws at the back like you showed and was able to re-align it. What a huge difference! Thanks again!!!
So happy it was helpful! That was really frustrating for me too when I got my saw
I've watched a few of your videos now. I find them straight to the point and contain the info I need without being long winded. Cool.
Glad to hear! Thanks!
Thanks for this walk through!! I had never done this before so the first time took me a LITTLE longer then it did in your video. The dial indicator I have is also a a clamp on for automotive use. So, I had to rig up something to slide in my track. I had done some test cuts and it seemed like it was close enough. When I went to do the cuts on my actual project I had a square edge against my fence and the other edge against the blade and saw a big gap at the back of the blade. When I put the dial indicator on again like you showed it was out of square again. I also decided to spin the blade by hand (saw unplugged) the blade was warped. I got a new blade, squared it up and the pieces run through like a hot knife through butter. Sorry so long but thanks again!!!
Wow. Talk about serendipity. Just what I needed. Thank you so much Tamar!
Awesome! Love when that happens
Saw a couple of videos on how to correct the angle of the blade, but this is actually the first to focus on what’s important and get the job done. Thank you very much!
Awesome. Glad you found it helpful
Squaring, aligning and calibrating drives me crazy... good to be reminded especially about jigs and sled! The out take was great at the end... :)
😂
This will be the first job I do when I visit my workshop! Many thanks
Thank you for the suggestion of the runout tool. I used it with the woodpeckers saw alignment tools, was able to tune my dwe7480 with 0 runout❤. Thank you.
Glad it helped!
Having trued up my 3d printer with a dial guage I'm pleased to see I can use it elsewhere. The accuracy you get with them is immensely satisfying.
DeWalt should be sponsoring you; the level of precision & cleanliness of cut that you get out of that site-saw are extraordinary. Thanks for the videos.
👍
For someone who has just bought his first (cheap) table saw this is extremely useful. Thank you.
Awesome. Glad it was helpful
This is my fourth of your videos. All good, love the outtakes! I've yet to purchase my own table saw but I had to watch this as I've heard that alignment is a critical part of avoiding "kickback"! Thanks, again.
It sure is critical!
3x3Custom - Tamar ;-)
I have the same saw, and - despite watching many channels on table saw alignment - this is the first I've seen this technique. Maybe it's more of a problem with job site table saws. I just wish I had the money for a sawstop or other high quality cabinet saw. (don't we all). This is definitely getting saved away in my watchlist for future reference.
Also I didn't notice you had a problem with saying "particularly" until you pointed it out lol. As the saying goes, don't always be so quick to point out your mistakes, no one is as intimately familiar with them as you are, so we tend to overlook them. This video is very well done, very clear, concise and easy to follow. As always love the channel. It's one of my favorites.
Thanks so much for the kind words! I am my harshest critic. Ha. I hope the video helps!
HELpful? HEL yes!!! Thank you. Going for the one spot on the blade is brilliant! I’ve only tried this a couple of times, but did it incorrectly. Can’t wait to tune up my table saw!
I am so stoked to correct both my miter and table saws. I’ve tried (and failed) countless times to square both with a speed square. It’s maddening. This is gonna up my game by leaps and bounds. Thank you!
Awesome
Thank you! This is the kind of thing that is hard to pick up if you don't happen to know somebody who is a woodworker.
One of the reasons I don't do more woodworking is because no matter how careful I am, I seem to always end up with slightly crooked cuts. Now I know what to do about it! Much appreciated!
Awesome! Good luck!
I had been beating my head into a wall trying to get my DeWalt job site saw zeroed on the miter slot and it never occurred to me to go past where I needed it to be to accommodate for tightening the bolts. Thank you for this!!!
This is a great video, correctly showing that the miter slot is the guide line for the saw cut direction and therefore also the correct reference to determine the saw blade alignment. Thus the saw blade, maybe in some off position, is not the reference for the fence or the crosscut sled, as most other alignment videos over time had us to believe. Also a great instruction of how-to! Thanks a lot!
Glad you liked it!
Was literally looking for guidance on this exact alignment tool on this exact table saw. Beautiful explanation, thanks so much.
Glad it was helpful!
I'm a retired toolmaker with 40 plus years engineering experience, but now I've retired I have discovered the joy of working with wood. The thing is, I have bought my years of engineering experience and skills with me, plus I have a toolbox full of DTIs, magnetic stands with flexible shafts, 1-2-3 blocks, edge finders and all sorts of similar goodies. The DTI is not only good for checking and adjusting alignment, but can measure tiny movements of the table saw fence.
Or how about fine tuning William Ng's five cut cross cut sled procedure? Using the recommended feeler gauges can be at least a wee bit hit and miss... the wooden wedge you use against the feeler gauge has to be clean and smooth (a 1-2-3 block is much better to use as the end stop btw), and even when you clamp the fence prior to putting in that last screw the fence can move a tiny bit. If you have a DTI measuring the longitudinal movement of the fence, you have a perfect reference throughout the process.
1-2-3 blocks and a DTI with mag blocks can make setting up jointer / planer blades a cinch, and _very_ accurate.
It doesn't have to cost you a packet either. You can buy a DTI like the one in the above kit for US$10 from wish or bangood, and they work perfectly. 1-2-3 blocks cost about twice that, but they have so many uses even in a wood shop. I doubt there's a day goes by that I don't use one or more of mine (I have four). The only problem with wish and bangood is that they can be addictive, and you end up buying a lot more than you intended. Shipping is also slow, but I have never had an order fail to turn up (I live in New Zealand) and I have had very few problems.
Great, simple explanation. This is a problem on contractor saws and you've shown how easy it is to fix.
Thanks! It’s super easy with this dial indicator!
Good call on the over-adjustment to allow for screw-tightening! I knew my table saw was out of adjustment for years but not enough of a worry for the level of wood working I was doing. Now I need to get things better aligned.
That was so frustrating for me! Glad it could be helpful for others
Thank you!!! The instructions that come with the gauge (got the same one you demo’d in the vid) are not so helpful. While it took me about an hour to wrestle the settings and screws to match up both sides - I’m STOKED to finally have this adjusted properly! Love your videos - always so informative and spot on.
Hello from Athens Greece Tamar!
Great video. Just bought the 7492 and will check it!
Have in mind also that the zero clearance can be ruined from the blade vibrations when the motor kicks in!
And that is solved by adding a soft start module!
Cheers!
Kyriakos
Thanks for this - These small corrections make our projects so much easier! You're a Star ! Thank you!
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks .You are the first one to show this for the Dewalt table saw.
Glad it was helpful
Exactly what i needed to know, under 5 minutes. Great job, thanks!
Awesome. Glad you found it helpful!
This lady is a real craft person.
I came across your channel while researching how to make a cross cut sled for my table saw... and lo and behold, I've got the same table saw! Thank you for your helpful videos, I will be subscribing to make I don't miss any of your vids
Awesome! Thanks so much! Glad those videos were helpful!
Thanks for sharing. You have an excellent manner of explaining. Most would explain things with the expectation that other small bits of info are a given. Really appreciate it. Looking forward to your next vids.
So awesome to hear!
I have this same saw, so a couple of comments that might be of use to comment readers: First, I used a mill bastard file (on edge) to smooth out some tiny "bumps" in the "paint" (or whatever it is that is used as a finish on the aluminum surface) along the sides of the miter slots. After this, my caliper measured the two slots as being much more uniform in width, which is important when you make runners for a crosscut sled (or any other jig). You have to be gentle with the file and only knock down the bumps, not file off the finish, which is probably there for a reason. Second, I am not really sure to what degree the two miter slots are truly parallel, so the next time I check the saw blade for parallel-ness to a miter slot, I am going to do the same for the OTHER miter slot. If this process shows the slots not to be perfectly parallel (meaning the needed saw blade correction for one slot doesn't match that needed for the other slot) I am going to true the orientation of the saw so that the saw blade is "between" those two adjustments, but with the bias being such that the edge of the blade closest to the riving knife is either aligned or slightly left rather than picking an average that leaves the blade somewhere between aligned and angled slightly to the right. That's because if there is any remaining uncertainty about which slot you want to align the blade to, and you want to split the difference, you want to split the difference such that the blade is either straight or off to the left slightly. Adjusting the other way may create a situation where the wood between the blade and fence gets pinched, allowing the teeth to dig into it and throw it at you (very unlikely if you are quite close to perfect, but why take chances?). My main point is, if you are going to check the blade against a slot, why assume the slots are "parallel"? They are probably quite close, but perhaps just off enough so that doing the dial indicator process should be done from both sides, to get a sense of how much any small misalignment of slots might affect the adjustment.
Since I use the same table saw this video is pretty useful for me, thank you!
Hi Tamar. Love your channel. I've learned a LOT from you, thanks! One thing that helps a lot is that your tools are similar to what I have or will buy in the future.
Next level precision skills. Nicely done
Thanks so much!
I really enjoy your videos. They are full of projects I can do without 20 years of woodworking experience! Thank you and keep them coming.
Awesome! Thanks for the feedback!!! Glad you’re enjoying
Thank you for the advise. Discovered my blade on a dwe7480 was off by 24mm
Beauty, talent and brain, powerful combination.
I have the same saw and like many below I didn't know it could be adjusted. Thank you! It worked!
Awesome! Glad the video was helpful!
Thank you, thank you, thank you. My table saw is very similar to yours. Mine is a contractor's saw that folds up. For several years, it was really accurate, but recently it has been giving me fits! Now that I see how to align the blade, I can start with that, and then align the fence.
Awesome
@@3x3CustomTamar -- Right after I saw this video, I checked with my local Woodcraft, and they had one of these kits in stock. I went down the next morning and picked it up right after they opened. As soon as I have the garage free, I'll be attacking the offender with mallets, wrenches, and the Aline-it kit.
@@Three_Eyed_Willy good luck!
@@3x3CustomTamar Thanks!!! I'll need it. I think something fell off a shelf onto my folded contractor's saw and knocked a bunch of things out of alignment.
I have the same jig. After you square up your table saw blade to your miter slot, you can also use this jig to square up your table saw fence as well! Love this jig. Great video!
Yup! It’s a great tool. So happy I picked it up
I have the same brand different model saw as you. My guide slots vary in thickness by over 1/100" from front-to-back, so adjusting is going to be, ahem, challenging.
Thanks for pointing out where the adjustment screws are (I think they are in the same place on my model).
Thanks again for a concise, informative video, Tamar!
I know you've got the best toys, but many folks may already have what they need to do this. I've had good results with a cheap digital caliper, using the depth gauge on the blade and one jaw flushed against the table slot. Just zero the gauge on the first reading and voila! You can then follow the same process.
Come to think of it, it's time that I did this...
Cheers,
Jason
Ha. Nice
This tip about using a caliper is very intriguing! Thanks for mentioning it
This is by far the most cost effective alignment tool out there if you have anything besides a table saw in your shop. It does the fence, the blade, you can use it to set the blade height precisely, set router bit height precisely, you can use it to set planer and jointer knives, if you add a stainless steel precision ground rod (pretty cheap on Amazon) you can chuck that in a drill press and use the A-Line-It to setup your drill press precisely. I use this all over my shop and it was still cheaper than the dedicated one that Woodpeckers makes that can only be used in a miter slot.
I was tired of using the speed square method and bought exactly what you have in your hands a few years ago. It is deep in accurate. I used some Blue Locktite on the bolts to keep them snugged up. Still check it periodically and it’s good to go. That’s for sharing this I’m sure it will be helpful !!!
Awesome! This task used to be so tedious for me. Now it’s like 10 minutes max and I’m good to go!
Great Video!
My 7492 was delivered just a view days ago.
Unfortunately the Blade was so much out of alignement to the Slot that I had to loosen the other screws in front of the Blade to get it right. But now it works!
I had to do that too
This is exactly what I was looking for, I'll do this, then look at the fence alignment. Many many thanks!
awesome
Capable, clear and concise.
Thanks
Very helpful, been wondering how to correct this on my Rigid as it's become a recent problem!
Wow, the Skil diy table saw adjusts so much easier. Thanks for the video
Great video Tamra. Here in the UK we don't often use table saws partly because of spacing issues. Have to use track saws instead.
Thanks!
Just bought the aline and your video was perfect, and I have the DW744x saw. Great!!
Awesome!
I've got the same saw and couldn't figure out where the adjustment screws were. Thank you so much!!!
Awesome. Glad it was helpful
December 10, 2018: Tamar, your "My Amazon Store" doesn't connect, "...not a functioning page." Your videos are excellent, equal to or better than the hundreds I've seen. Your online presence here at RUclips is strong and vibrant. Your demonstrations and annotations are clear and meaningful. I've already learned two things. Thank you for posting.
Thank you so much for all the feedback! It’s really much appreciated. And thanks for letting me know about the link. I fixed it! (I think)
Honestly, you are amazing. I feel every night I watch your videos for at least 1h!
☺️
Helpful and straight to the point. Thanks
glad you liked it!
just about to order my gauge online, great video, simple advice that will save me hours - thank you
Awesome. Good luck!
Great video. Thanks for sharing. I watched it only now. Back then i didn't know about your channel and it wasn't actual anyway for me to look for this kind of videos because I didn't have a table saw. Now it might come in handy.
Glad you can enjoy it now!
Good to know. I have the same saw and never thought of checking that adjustment. Though I don't use a sled, I noticed that the rack and pinion fence can go out of alignment front to back. Easy fix, blade to fence but I will now go back line up blade to tracks first then fence to blade. Thanks
Awesome. Glad it was helpful
ps. Always encouraging to see women in wood working.
Thanks for your smart brain. I 've watched Rag n' bone brown video on accurate saw blade and you complete my learning. Greetings from France
Awesome. Thanks!
@@3x3CustomTamar you're welcome. you have always good ways of thinking, and smart tips
Thank you for sharing! I love your videos! I learn a lot from you!
I'm so glad!
Thank you for posting this. I am new to woodworking and often use online resources to learn and problem solve. I have been very frustrated that my saw blade and riving knife were not in alignment. After taking measurements with A-Line It kit as well as a digital caliper, I discovered that the blade was out of alignment just shy of one-sixteenth of an inch. Your video was very helpful in teaching me how to move the trunnion. My blade is not precise and the riving knife is in alignment with the blade. This is much appreciated.
So glad it was helpful!
Great video! This is such an important thing to do, for good cuts, and for safety! I ditched my last table saw because it had a trunnion issue and would go out every time the blade went up or down.. had several kick backs incidents because of that before I realized what was going on, talk about frustrating.
Yikes. That’s super scary. I’m really looking forward to upgrading to a cabinet saw at some point.
Thanks for taking the time to show how it's done! 👍 I'm sure we all need to address this! 😉 Thank you for sharing!
I hope it helps some ppl out!
Thank you for doing this. Showing that the saw can be aligned perfectly with a little work is important. The one part I wish you had included was to remove the blade and clean the arbour and put a new unused blade on the machine before starting. Readjusting your machine to compensate for a poor assembly or a bent or overheated blade is futile.
I hear that.
Ugh I've been trying to get my blade straight for so long. I've been trying every adjustment I could find, was not aware of the bolts to move the whole assembly. I was to the point where I wanted to throw my saw off a bridge. Thank you!
Haha I know that feeling…
My high school shop teacher used to say that females don't belong in the shop. I think about him every time I see you, April Wilkerson and many of the other highly skilled and talented women on RUclips totally proving him wrong. I love it!
Yikes. Was he teaching a class with girls in it as well?
There were 2 girls in class the period I had it. I don't know about the rest of the day. One day they were talking about the guys they were going out with that night while one of them was cutting on the bandsaw and wasn't paying attention to what she was doing and cut her pinky finger down the middle to her 2nd knuckle. When someone went and got him to tell him, all he said was "That's why girls don't belong in shop class! Now you got blood all over my bandsaw!"
Yeah, it was a dumb move on her part, but I had seen a couple of guys do as bad or worse.
In my middle school shop classes we had almost as many girls as guys, never one accident with anyone and the girls work was just as good as the guys.
Kip Wilson sounds like a great guy! Ha. I just wish I had shop in high school.
Thanks for a clear and concise tutorial.
Glad it was helpful!
Nice video. One thing to remember, you shouldn't square the work to the blade unless you know for certain the blade is parallel to the slots or fence. The cut is always parallel to the path the work takes. Either against a fence or along the table guides. You can have a blade that's totally out, but the cut will always be parallel to the path the work takes. If the fence is square to the slot, your cut will be square regardless of blade angle. Watch how cove cutting works. The cove is parallel to the path even if the blade is at 27 degrees. You definitely want to true up the blade to prevent tear out at the back and ensure the kerf isn't oversize especially when cutting box joints.
Thank you for your video. Nicely done.
I think she is squaring the blade to the miter slot, which is the path that the work will take.
@@alext9067 I'm sure you meant parallel. You're right. That's what she is doing.
The OP's video is excellent. There's no better way to align a blade to the slot that I can think of. I'm jealous she has a tool I don't. Anyone watching this video needs to understand a few things and to help the OP, this is constructive. At 2:18, OP said "It was hard to get this front fence perfectly square to the blade. So if the blade starts coming out of alignment, my cuts will no longer be perfectly square." WRONG. As long as the fence is square to the slot, you will cut square period.
If the blade is out of alignment here are a few things to consider: If the blade is up just a tiny bit let's say 1/16" or perhaps the height of the teeth, and the fence is square to the slots, you will cut a wide kerf perfectly square. Technically it will be a cove. You could be out 45° and still cut square. That's how coves are cut. If you're cutting at a 2" depth, the blade will bind causing the work to walk which may appear to be cutting out of square. Cuts are always parallel to the path the work takes and not the alignment of the blade, ALWAYS. What the OP is doing is aligning the blade to the slot which is what you want. Even if you're cutting a miter and the blade is out of alignment, you will still bind. It has nothing with the angle the work is being held at. It's the blade and slots being out of alignment.
Thank you so much. I was exactly looking for this.
Nice video. Thanks as always. If you are not an engineer, you think and work as a good engineer. Not meant to be judgemental and no offence, but you are very talented. For only one thing, your vids are so nicely edited. Very impressive.
I recently bought an “as is where is” Dewalt table saw, and tried to fix it and bring it back to life and as close to new condition as possible. As one part of the process I torn apart all the parts and had a thorough cleaning (brushing, washing and compressed air blowing) and applied(or replaced) oil or grease where necessary (the important part is of course the reduction gear housing of the motor. By doing this I had an inside out understanding of what adjustments the design allows me to do. These include the alignment shown here, potentially an alignment to put the blade perfectly in the middle between the two guide slots (this can be useful in some case), the alignment of the axle (with a knob) engaging with the straight guides fore and aft of the table carrying the rip fence, the stop positions when the blade is at angles of perfect 0 or 45 degrees, the tightness of locking the rip fence slides and blade at any tilt angle, and more. The design of Dewalt table saw is a thing of beauty in an engineer’s eye.
I’m now waiting for a pair of motor carbon brushes. Hopefully it will work almost as new despite paint stains here and there and non-fixable damages resulted from abuse.
Nice. No better way to get to know a tool! I don’t have an engineering background at all. Wish I knew I was into This stuff at an earlier age
Thanks for another great video! I'm basically building an entire shop from found motors, old desktops from discarded furniture, and angle iron harvested from bed frames, so I'm saving a ton of videos for setup in the future. Yours are *particululararly* helpful LOL
That sounds pretty awesome
You've just saved my project! Thank you!!
Awesome
👍👍👍👍👍. Такой регулировки ещё не видел. Класс. Вы Умница.
Thank you so much for posting. I appreciated it.
Who would have thought! I was wondering how I could set my new saw parallel with the slots. Great ‘how to’.
Thanks.
Glad it was helpful!
That is the perfect way to check the alignment for sure. Another thing you can do, is check the arbor/blade by spinning the blade by hand to see if it is straight. If the pointer on the dial indicator moves off, you either have a bent blade or a bent arbor. Worth the effort to see while you have the dial indicator setup. JMHO
Yup! Thanks!
I will now be purchasing a dial to make my own alignment tool. Thanks for the guidance!
Awesome! Good luck with it!
I've got an old Craftsman 113 and tightening the screws moves the blade on that one too! So apparently that phenomenon has existed for 50+ years haha
Thanks for this. I was able to get my dwe7491rs to within 1/1000th. It was out 55/1000th new from the factory. Also the fence was out and needed to be adjusted.
Awesome
Great advice and video. Now to adjust the fence. Thanks for the videos.
Thanks.
Thank you I needed short and simple
I thought that I'd mention that if 2 measurements are taken, one on each side of the spindle for the blade, then that distance x out of alignment will let someone know that if they are making a longer cut, how out of square it will be. An example is .010" @ 8", then a 6' board will be off by .09". That's halfway between a 16th of an inch and an 8th of an inch. This would give them an idea of what gap they could expect. What you showed was for the miter slot. For the fence, the dial indicator would need to be mounted on a sled to ensure everything is square. :)
Great video. Another thing to take into consideration, cheap/inexpensive blades are not always flat. When you use one tooth to set you blade parallel with the miter slot run the blade around by hand and watch the needle on the dial indicator. I have a new blade that is warped by .060, actually .1215 run out around the blade. made a horrid cut, the manufacturer stated it was my arbor, checked that with another blade, not the arbor, manufacturer refused to warranty the blade. If you have saw dust on the table top after making a cut, most likely your saw blade in not parallel with the fence or the miter slot. I check my blade run out weekly, and always check it when installing a new blade. The time spent remaking a table saw sled that is perfect is costly and the poor cuts are worse.
Good tip
That is exactly what my reaction was when I saw this video. I think that rotating the blade is compounding the perceived error. Exactly what procedure did you use to ensure that you had true alignment?
This is exactly why you measure using the same spot on the blade.
Great quick tip. I've been using a speed square, just ordered a dial indicator from your link. Thanks for sharing!
Awesome! Good luck!
Great video, I learned something new today so it was a good day! Also, you might want to consider adding the things you are going to link to buy you should add them to your Amazon store, just a suggestion!