Been thinking about making a jig for jointing on the table saw with a piece of angle iron. Is a piece of angle iron more straight than a factory edge of a piece of wood? I would think so although the differences are almost trivial.
Maybe welding some nuts to the angle iron and using bolts through the nuts to hold down the board. Riding the edge of the angle iron against the fence.
By the way, what is also the best way to determin the blade in my saw is perfectly straight and parallel? WOuld a dial indicator work?
Not likely. Plywood would probably bve your best bet.
The easiest way is to simply make a test cut and look at the results. If you are using a top quality blade in new condition you should see little to no tooth marks on the wood if the fence is running parallel to the blade.
You can also use the dial indicator to correct the alignment of the blade to the miter slot if necessary.
I'm getting sick of wasting my words with your stupid x-no-archive: yes flag, but I suppose I'll answer you.
Use a nail set taped along the side of a piece of 3/4" x 3/4" scrap wood. Just tape it so it's nice and secure and so that the sharp end is pointing out beyond the end of the piece of wood, thus forming a pointy stick.
Raise the blade in your saw up high and mark one of the teeth with a marker or a crayon or whatever. Then holding your pointy stick against the miter fence with the point of the nail set aimed toward the blade, slide it sideways until it almost butts up against the blade. Rotate the blade by hand so that the tooth you marked is just above the table-top near the back of the saw. With a good backlight, move the nail set toward the marked tooth until it just BARELY touches it. Now clamp the pointy stick in place on the miter fence (or else hold it really tight against the fence with your hand so that it doesn't move sideways at all). Now rotate the blade back toward the front of the saw so that your marked tooth ends up just above the table-top on that end. Pull the miter fence back toward the front until it is adjacent with your marked tooth. If the saw is adjusted properly, the end of the nail set should still be just barely touching the tooth. If it's jammed into the tooth or not touching it at all, you need to realign the trunnion. Your tablesaw manual should tell you how to do that.
If you want to find out if the blade is straight and true, use the same pointy stick, but this time check that the nail set contacts all of teeth as you rotate the blade around.
To finish tuning up your saw, adjust the rip fence so that it's perfectly parallel to the miter slot, and then make sure your miter fence is perfectly square to the slot.
At that point, assuming your blade passed the straightness test, your saw should cut very cleanly.
Btw, if you don't trust your eyes you can hook your blade and the nail set to a multimeter which beeps when electrical contact is made between the two. And if you don't have a nail set, you can use a screw or whatever, as long as it has a well-defined sharp point to it.
I'm glad you took the time. That method sounds wonderfully easy and I can't wait to try it out. I suspect my blade alignment as well, and this is something even I can understand.
I've made dozens of jigs for my table saw, all made from MDF, ply, or scrap wood. I can true up a piece of wood better than a factory edge.
Ouch! You really want to protect your fence.
There are many methods. Not sure what is best, but the best time to check is when you really need an accurate cut or whenever you move the saw. Clamp a scrap piece of wood (a 2x4 a foot long is fine) to the miter gauge, mark the top side where the blade will pass, and make a cut. Remove the scrap and fit the two pieces together. Is it a perfect fit? Flip one piece 180 degrees and fit them together again. Is it a perfect fit? If both are "yes" you have a blade that is square to the table. Next rotate both pieces 90 degrees (the mark will be on opposite sides). If there is a perfect fit your miter gauge is square to the blade. No dial indicator is needed.
A nail set is a simple instrument which looks somewhat like a nail, itself. It's used for setting finish nails without marring the surface of the wood. Basically, you hammer the finish nail almost all the way into the wood so that just the top of the head remains protruding. Then you put the sharp end of the nail set into the indentation in the head of the finish nail, and pound on the blunt end of the nail set to get the nail the rest of the way in.
Inevitably, the nail set slips out of the nail head, thus marring the surface of the wood, and defeating the purpose for its own existance.
You don't have to use a nail set; I just figured you might have one. Just substitute "nail" or "screw" where I said "nail set".
Now you've done it. They'll throw you off the wreck. You know you HAVE to have at least $200.00 worth of dial indicators and jigs to set up a tablesaw. :) :)
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.