parallel to the miter slot at full height, the blade then moves toward the right and goes out of square as well when lowered. It is then no longer parallel to the miter slot. On a 10" saw blade, this translates to .040"(1MM). Since the blade is also closer to the fence at the rear, burning takes place and can cause kickback as well. You can check this with a scale if it is out enough.
The arbor bracket is the problem. GI sent me a new one but it was out more than the one that came with the saw. The bearing bores are not parallel to the pivot pin bore.
Recently purchased a G.I. builders saw ran into some problems and have published some info for all concerned. Seems like a great saw, but it's not perfect.
Interesting, and good to know. Please keep us updated!
Im Canadian, and have been eyeing a couple GI contractors saws to replace by craftsman.
One thing to note, the left-tilt is a different design than the right-tilt. The vertical stop is more robust on the 185 than on the 175.
That said, on the 185 when you change blade widths the scale isn't accurate anymore.
Chris
Right. So betwen the two of us we are 0 for 4. My two saws were over a year apart. And unbelievably GI actually sent you one that was worse then the one you had (even when you told them the problem). You've pretty much convinced me that my thoughts of this being a fundamental problem with GI are correct.
The manufacturer is not in Canada......your saw was made in China. Good luck!
I'm currently waiting on a dial indicator to check alignment. I performed a rough alignment using a square and out of the box it was at least 1/32 out of parallel with the Miter slot. I've read about your problem in other discussion groups and did a quick check on mine. Just using the square and my eyeball, I can see the blade move over as it lowers. Not sure how much it goes out of parallel as it lowers....waiting on a dial indicator. For some reason, nobody carries them in my area. I've ordered one. I'm getting the impression that G.I. is not at all responsive to customer issues....and it's to their own detriment. No response to my emails.
Discussion groups are starting to fill up with stories of Manufacturer defects on their saws that should be easily traced back to poor quality control in Tawain. Not sure what their strategy is, but I wish them good luck grabbing a market share in the states. They are going to need it.
If you want the name and phone/extension of the GI service manager, I'd be happy to send it to you. I went both directions but decided to deal with the dealer. I haven't followed up with them for the second saw and clearly it didn't do much for me the first time.. I figure they would not be as helpful this time. It sounds like GI wasn't much help for klaatu either. If it were me and I had just purchased it, I would try to get my $ back. dsnail at email dot com
As the blade is lowered the rear undergoes a .005 inch shift to the right. So, if perfectly aligned at almost max blade height the blade will go .005 out of parallel as it is lowered to about 1 inch. I've repeated this a hundred times and have been sure not to fully raise it to the stops when taking the high measurement. Also did the quick test on the tie bars using flat glass pane and they are not perfect.
Give a man a micrometer and he'll find a way to trouble himself with it.
Odds on your blade flexes that much in the kerf when actually cutting, or the piece slips that much as you try to hold it. With probably 75% of cuts at 1 1/4 blade exposure, set it and forget it.
I agree about the micrometer................am I wrapping myself around the axle. Also, when I tilt the blade to a 45....the blade goes out by .012. I took a pane of glass and laid it across the tie bars and two opposite corners rock........Would shimming that out at the trunions help with alignment.
thanks for the response...............
Yep, and that procedure has been used on contractor saws for a long time. I have one such adjustment magazinearticle in my manuals book, table saw section. I have an ancient Delta, so one adjustment long ago has sufficed for years of semiannual checks.
I've read a procedure that appears to have you rack the tie bars back into parallel by jacking with the motor. It seems to me that shimming the approprate trunion would have the same effect...............is this true?
Never read that one. I did the bars, which would seem the opposite end.
Well this procedure has you loosen the locking nuts on the bars and then move the tie bars back into alignment using the motor as leverage then tighten them up. Is that the one you did or did you actually do some shimming?
I thought this was a good article,
MJN wrote:
I didn't shim, the other did the job.
Consider yourself lucky. Set up your saw so that the blade is parrallel to the miter slot when it is cranked up all the way but not to the stop. Then the back of the blade will move away from the miter slot when cranked down by .005. This condition is good. The back side of the blade will not cut on the fence side. If you want to swap arbor brackets let me know. I would be happy to.
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