So, do I need to adjust my trunnions?

[VeryLargeCorp]

Hi, folks, All of a sudden my Grizzly tablesaw is all out of alignment. I've done my best to measure the squareness of the blade to the miter slot in the table and it seems to be WAY off--like almost 1/4 difference at the front of the blade and the back.

I've never had to do this adjustment before, so everything I know about it is what I've read here. The thing is, mostly people seem to be talking about TINY adjustments, in the thousandths of an inch.

If I'm this far out of square, am I still looking at loosening the trunnions and whacking with a hammer? Or is there something else going on?

Thanks for any advice!

DS

[Larry W]

Is that a 1/4 inch? Would sure seem to indicate that something loosened up dramatically. (You didn't forget to remove a wobble dado, did you?)

If the saw got out of adjustment by that much suddenly, it is possible something else came loose or even broke, I would give everything a good visual inspection before adjusting the trunions. On my saw, there is a C-clip that retains the arbor. It popped off once and had me rally scratching my head until I noticed it was missing.

[VeryLargeCorp]

That seems like a very good suggestion. It's a pretty new saw and maybe something came loose... If anyone has suggestions on what specifically I might be looking for, I could sure use the help! (I wish it were as simple as a wobble blade!)

DS

[Jim Weisgram]

[...snip...]

You don't say if it is a cabinet saw or a contractor style. Either way, if it is fairly new and off that much, you should try out the Grizzly support folks.

I think you can find some guides to aligning a table saw on the Internet. One of the first steps in aligning a table saw is to take the blade off, grab the arbor, and see if there is any slop in it. If there is, there's no point in adjusting it until that is fixed.

[VeryLargeCorp]

You're right, I should have said it's a contractor saw (Grizzly G044). I'll definitely check the arbor, but I haven't been aware of any slop. I have time this afternoon to give it a good once-over. I'm hoping it's something obvious that I can find...

ds

[Will]

I have the G0444Z too and I had the same problem 1/4" off after using a while. I fixed it by adjusting the trunions to bring it in. I put a dial gauge on mine and got it in to 2000th off. I heard that was good enough. I had to put a large clamp on my rear trunion to move it and then I tightened the bolts down before removing the clamp. I been toying with the idea of removing the rear trunion and elongating the holes so that I can bring it in even closer. Do any of you think this is a good idea before I do it? If I had it to do all over again no matter what brand of saw, I think that after one puts a saw together it would be a good idea to first check the blade before using because the bolts and screws probably are not fully tightened and before long come loose.

[Stoutman]

How are you checking for alignment? If you are checking for alignment parallel with the miter slot, make sure you use the SAME spot on the blade for the front and back measurement. This could have a BIG effect. Mark the blade with a sharpie and take a measurement in the front then spin the blade positioning the sharpie spot in the back and remeasure.

What are you using to make these measurements?

[Stoutman]

I should state that this will have a big effect if your blade is warped or has low and hi spots on it. Not sure if it will account for 1/4" but it might account for some of your error.

[seelyjv]

DS, Guess I'll be the first one to say it - Are you sure that you measured things properly? I don't have a Grizzly saw - mine is a Jet Contractor's Saw; but even if I loosened all of the trunnion bolts and moved them as far as they would go to one side I would only get about 1/16 to 3/32 inch of total mis-alignment. That is as far as my trunnions will move. If you really have 1/4 inch of mis-alignment in your saw; then I believe something must be broken - especially if it happened suddenly. Jim Seelye

[VeryLargeCorp]

Thanks for the replies. I'm starting to think too that something must be broken. I'm pretty sure I'm measuring accurately.

DS

[VeryLargeCorp]

I noticed the problem when I re-adjusted the blad to make a 45 degree cut. I couldn't turn the blade to full 45 without it hitting the throat plate. That alone made me think something was off.

I have been measuring to a marked point on the blade using a stick with a screw in the end clamped to the miter bar. Not the height of accuracy I know, but accurate enough for the distance I'm seeing, close enough?

DS

[DanG]

I'm sorry for your difficulties.

If you have a zero clearance throat plate, it will not work when you lean the saw over on a 45°. You need a plate with a wider throat.

Your alignment tool sound plenty accurate enough. You should mark some one tooth on the blade (felt tip) and check the same place on the blade. Your blade would be really warped for this to make a difference.

I have known saws that needed to have the hole(s) in the trunnion enlarged to allow adjustment. I assume you have loosened the trunnion bolt to the point of coming out to make sure the front is loose, though it should only need to be loosened so a heavy blow will move the end.

There is a set of alignment clips called PALS that make your task easier:

Here is one the best descriptions of what you are trying to do:

[VeryLargeCorp]

No, this was the regular throat plate, so I should be able to make that 45 degree cut.

Right, I had made them super loose to make sure I can make any adjustment at all. I asked this question, stated differently, again, and someone suggested making sure that wheel to adjust the blade angle was loose from the cabinet--that this could keep the front trunnion from adjusting. I'm going to try that later today.

I sure hope I don't have to drill out the holes or something!

[Pat Barber]

That is a fairly tricky procedure...

Loose bolts will not work.

I would read this procedure:

on "contractor saw"....

You want the PDF that is titled "Contractor Saw with 2 Tie Bars -- Blade Alignment".

VeryLargeCorp wrote:

[Gordon Shumway]

Will,

I had the same problem but to a much lesser degree on my Delta contractor's saw. I elongated the mounting holes and still couldn't get it right-on. That's when I noticed the problem wasn't the I.D. of the hole but there was an interference between the O.D of the boss and a rib on the bottom of the table. After I ground the interfering areas I was able to make all adjustments easily.

G.S.