I was getting ready to order the MasterGage SB-1 SuperBar from Amazon for $69.00, when I looked at the reviews and found that it is a cheaply made plastic device that many were not too impressed with. What should I use to calibrate my tablesaw? I hear of some of you folks getting readings to the thousandths of a inch. Can someone point me to exactly what I need to accomplish this? Thanks. Matt
I second ts-aligner. Have a jr. and it does what is advertised. Didn't some mag just do a review of those things. I seem to recall seeing something on the newstand.
So... I guess the ts-aligner is the one to get !!! LOL ... you guys have convinced me, with such a unanimous vote. I will order one immediately. Thanks for your help. Matt
Wood magazine did, sometime this summer I believe. I don't know the exact issue, but Mastergauge came out tops, with TS-aligner second. Mastergauge is a bit expensive, but I bought one and it has paid for itself.
On Fri, 23 Jan 2004 19:02:20 GMT, Matt Zach brought forth from the murky depths:
Folks with money usually buy a TS-Aligner. Instructions (and sometimes a video) are included.
Bottom feeders go to Harbor Freight, buy the $10 push-stick safety kit (with the featherboard in it, and you need push-sticks anyway), and add a $10 dial indicator. Run a bolt through the featherboard, mount the indicator, and set your blade to the table. Then check alignment to the fence, check for 90° and 45° angles, etc.
Your library should have some table saw tuning books by Kelly Mehler, Jim Tolpin, Kenneth Burton, etc.
Understocked library? These can be had through WoodWorker's Book Club. Their special is 3 free books, buy one, and pay shipping. Total cost for 4 books: $17.98 (Such a deal!)
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No business affiliation but I'm a book club member.
Or check the sites listed here:
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We haven't heard from Ed B. since shortly after that long running accuracy "discussion" with Steve Strickland, the puzzle and telescope man. I wonder if they both just keeled over after that... both spent, out of breath, legs wobbly and weakened.
Ed had a brief walk on/guest appearance here after WOOD Magazine published the comparison of the different machinery alignment aids. I remember him being his "usual self". Later I saw a letter to the editor at WOOD from Ed. The tone of that letter was way professional and not like the Ed we've come to know and love.
Or maybe neither has been able to chew through their straps. Just say (tmPL), my idea of Hell would be to spend eternity sharing a room with those two.
FWIW, I align my tools with a Starrett combination square, a sharpie, and some feeler gauges.
For instance, to do a miter slot to blade check, I do the following:
Mark a tooth with the Sharpie.
With the square's black edge sitting in the slot, adjust the square blade until it hits the tooth.
Rotate the same tooth to the back, slide the square down, and check the distance between the same tooth and the end of the square blade with the feeler gauges. If the tooth is closer and hits the square, readjust the square blade, rotate the saw blade forward, and measure that gap.
Adjust the table / trunion and measure again.
Can the expensive jigs get more accurate? Maybe. All I know is that I learned this technique at a local school, it's in several books, and seems damn close enough for precision woodworking. None of the pros I've ever dealt with bother with anything else.
If I ever figure out I'm missing something, I'd be more than willing to drop big bucks on special jigs. I have not seen evidence that those jigs improve the _cut_, except for folks who don't know how to do the same alignment with tools they already own.
Starrett doesn't make inexpensive products either. Their combination square can set you back a chunk of change too. For the extra money on the TS-Aligner Junior Deluxe - the full name of the tool in question - you get a) convenience b) a well thought out, very well made measuring and set up tool that you can use for a host of other set ups. It also comes with instructions for how to use it for various set up work - providing info on how to for those of us who who don't or didn't have the benefit of a knowledgable mentor.
One advantage it has over the method you described is that, with the dial gauge, you can see the effect (or is it affect) of the adjustment you're making as you make it. A square and feeler gauge won't.
And checking run out on the arbor or on a drill press or ...
But I agree that there are lots of expensive super deluxe whip-zam devices on the market that most have no real need for.
If more people had some imagination they wouldn't need all=20 the fancy tools.
For the price of the Jr setup I could get Starrett=20 components and mount them to my miter slide. I would also=20 have one helluva lot more versatile tool.
For a BUNCH less I could go to Harbor Freight, spend a=20 helluva lot less on the same setup and have just as=20 versatile tool.
Folks, your not getting a Starrett or Brown and Sharpe=20 indicator with the TS-Aligner, your getting a Harbor Freight=20 quality indicator. Look at the 90 degree fitting on the web=20 page, it's not at 90 degrees.
You could do better gluing/ epoxying a bent nail to a cheap=20 indicator plunger.
But hey, it's your money. Just don't brag about being ripped=20 off.
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