Help With Accurate Alignment Tools, Squares, Etc.

[woodhead52]

The cleanup and maintenance of my secondhand 520 continues to go well. I have a bit of vibration, but I'm to much of a novice with the SS to know whats normal. I'm loving SS and I haven't even made anything yet, just excited to know it's gonna happen.

I'm getting ready to check and tweak the alignments as needed. At this point I'm looking for advice on good accurate tools for alignment, measuring, etc. Below is a list of the few I'm sure I need, but I'm unsure of the best manufacturers/brands and or the suppliers to purchase them from. I'd like to hear from those of you with real experience in this area. I've been doing some reading, but I'd sure like to hear what you folks use and rely on to get the accuracy you want for your projects?

• Tools - Dial Indicator, Calipers, Combination Square, Try Square, Straight Edge (stuff I haven't mentioned or thought of, hahaha)
• Types - Dial, Digital (where appropriate)
• Brands - Shopsmith, Starrett, Crown, Bora, Pinnacle, etc.
• Sizes - lengths, widths, etc.
• Reference Scales - Inches, Metric,
• Suppliers - names, links, etc., for looking them up and purchasing

Thanks,
Pete

[algale]

For me, a dial indicator is essential for aligning the main table (others disagree and use the long Allen wrench through the base of the miter gauge).

While Shopsmith sells a dial indicator and hardware to mount in its miter slot http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/cata ... icator.htm, I already had this brand http://in-lineindustries.com/products/a-line-it-system/ and the bar for the miter slot is adjustable and will fit snugly in both the Shopsmith miter slot and in non-Shopsmith miter slots. After you align your table, you can remove the miter bar and use a spring or C-clamp to hold just the beam with dial indicator to the inside reference surface of the 520 front rail and use it to measure small adjustments to the rip fence.

I also think a set of calipers that can measure outside, inside and depth is very useful, especially for making dados and grooves. This one http://www.harborfreight.com/6-inch-dig ... 47257.html is cheap but accurate (I have a Starrett that I have used to make sure it is reading correctly). Apparently, for the same price, they now have one that also reads out in fractions, which might be useful. http://www.harborfreight.com/6-digital- ... 68304.html

[beeg]

Buy QUALITY tools. TO me HF is suspect at the least.

[algale]

Buy QUALITY tools. TO me HF is suspect at the least.

Admittedly, HF is a mixed bag. In the case of the HF digital caliper, however, I have used it frequently for more than a year and every time I have double checked one of its readings against my expensive Starrett dial caliper (which I inherited) or calibrated it against my feeler gauge set, the HF digital caliper has read correctly.

[dusty]

I believe that you NEED a QUALITY:

Straight Edge

Square

Rules (12" and 36"-40")

Feeler Gauge Set

I believe that useful tools are"

Dial Indicator

Digital Caliper

Digital Angle Indicator (Wixey)


But I believe you can accurately align the Shopsmith using no more than a square, allen wrench and miter guage.

When I feel the need to verify table alignment, I use a block of wood previously verified to be perfectly square.

[wa2crk]

I agree with Dusty. I have a Wixie and a digital angle gauge from I-Gaging that I have been using for setting up a sliding jig for segment cutting.
As for a suitable straight edge I don't think that you could go wrong using a good quality level. They have to be straight to be accurate. Bite the bullet and buy the best quality you can afford if you are going to use the tools on a daily basis. For the occasional use tools, the "economical" stuff should be OK.
Just one old guy's opinion.
Bill V

[dusty]

I agree with Dusty. I have a Wixie and a digital angle gauge from I-Gaging that I have been using for setting up a sliding jig for segment cutting.
As for a suitable straight edge I don't think that you could go wrong using a good quality level. They have to be straight to be accurate. Bite the bullet and buy the best quality you can afford if you are going to use the tools on a daily basis. For the occasional use tools, the "economical" stuff should be OK.
Just one old guy's opinion.
Bill V

I sorta disagree even though most of my tools are from that "econo class". If I was starting my collection of tools now, I would purchase the very best that I could afford at the time of purchase.

However, if you are not going to use it - don't buy it unless you consider yourself a "collector". Nothing pains me more than a shop full of tools that don't get used because they might get dull, scratched or worn. I have an acquaintance like that.

[woodhead52]

For me, a dial indicator is essential for aligning the main table (others disagree and use the long Allen wrench through the base of the miter gauge).

While Shopsmith sells a dial indicator and hardware to mount in its miter slot http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/cata ... icator.htm, I already had this brand http://in-lineindustries.com/products/a-line-it-system/ and the bar for the miter slot is adjustable and will fit snugly in both the Shopsmith miter slot and in non-Shopsmith miter slots. After you align your table, you can remove the miter bar and use a spring or C-clamp to hold just the beam with dial indicator to the inside reference surface of the 520 front rail and use it to measure small adjustments to the rip fence.

I also think a set of calipers that can measure outside, inside and depth is very useful, especially for making dados and grooves. This one http://www.harborfreight.com/6-inch-dig ... 47257.html is cheap but accurate (I have a Starrett that I have used to make sure it is reading correctly). Apparently, for the same price, they now have one that also reads out in fractions, which might be useful. http://www.harborfreight.com/6-digital- ... 68304.html

algale, Thanks for the specific help. It's exactly what I'm looking for.
I'm not sure I understand this part, Could you you help me to visualize it?:

After you align your table, you can remove the miter bar and use a spring or C-clamp to hold just the beam with dial indicator to the inside reference surface of the 520 front rail and use it to measure small adjustments to the rip fence.

[woodhead52]

I believe that you NEED a QUALITY:

Straight Edge

Square

Rules (12" and 36"-40")

Feeler Gauge Set

I believe that useful tools are"

Dial Indicator

Digital Caliper

Digital Angle Indicator (Wixey)


But I believe you can accurately align the Shopsmith using no more than a square, allen wrench and miter guage.

When I feel the need to verify table alignment, I use a block of wood previously verified to be perfectly square.

dusty and wa2crk, Thanks. Besides the Wixey and I-Gaging Angle Gauges, what brands do you recommend for the other tools you recommended. I want to buy quality tools and I don't buy tools I don't need, well almost never, haha, but I'm not real familiar with which ones are the tried and true brands in woodworking. I'd rather hear that from the members of this forum than a salesmen in store, or worse yet, marketing ads.

Thanks,
Pete

[forrestb]

I find that for checking that the table is perpendicular to the blade the best I have is a quality small machinist's right angle. I have a 6" England BSS 939 that I have had for decades and it works fine. I also have a 12" square that I use for aligning the miter gauge perpendicular to the blade (0 deg). I check it with the machinist's gauge every now and then.

I also have a Wixey and use it to set various blade angles. Don't very often use it to set the table perpendicular.

A straight edge (emphasis on 'straight') is mandatory. If you go to a big hardware store you might take two and put the edges together. Look for a gap by holding them up to the light. Chances are you can find a good, really straight, edge even if you have to 'test' several. I think it would be highly unlikely to find one bent concave and the other matched in a convex fashion! I have a 4 foot and a 6 foot straight edge using this technique at the local ACE. They didn't mind me at all going through the edges.

I recommend the you get the Starrett calipers for fractions first and another for decimals if you can afford it. The fractional one is most often used for my wood working and the fractions are on the outer rim making them easy to see. It also has decimals on the inside, but I have difficulty reading them. If I need decimals I use the strictly decimal set. I bought it years ago for machine shop classes. When woodworking got serious I popped for the fractional set and haven't looked back.

I did splurge for the Woodpeckers Saw Gauge and use it mostly to be sure the miter gauge slots are parallel to the blade - check them both at least once. Obviously, if parallel to each other they aren't going to change.

Nick had a Sawdust on how to check the blade - maybe someone will have a link?

Happy Hunting!

Forrest