Help With Accurate Alignment Tools, Squares, Etc.

[dusty]

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

Very important that you can see. This is important for accuracy but even more important for safety.

In my shop, I tend to rely on the sunlight in the shop but lately I have found that I do not see well , anymore, unless the light is very good. I now work with the overhead lights on even during the day time.

[woodhead52]

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

Thanks Forrest: Very Helpful. I appreciate the tips. I'm definitely going with the fractional Calipers, probably digital, they'll be easier to read.

I haven't decided yet on on the dial indicator, but I'm leaning toward the Starrett that SS sells. Still up in the air on that. I'd like to here why you chose the woodpecker Saw gauge. Is it because it's more universal?

I did a quick check on your 6" England BSS 939 and it doesn't seem to be made any longer. I found one that had recently been sold on EBAY, a testament to it's longevity. I've been reading on the Icra Guaranteed Square (they come in 5" and 7"). They are pricey, but they seem to be very good quality. Woodpeckers sells them at the best price, but warns of a 4 week delay. SS has them at the next best price. I like your straight edge advice and I'll drop by HD and or Lowes and see what if I can find some good ones. I have nice 4' and 2' aluminum levels, and a nice 4' aluminum "T" square for cutting drywall, but I'm going to check them as you suggested. They've been banged around through use on jobs and I hold no hope of them being as accurate as they'd need to be for woodworking.

I'm also leaning toward the Wixey Angle Gauge.

It's probably pretty easy to tell by now that I'm not exactly an impulse shopper.

I'll probably drive over to Woodcraft today and do some touchy feely.

Pete

[woodhead52]

Very important that you can see. This is important for accuracy but even more important for safety.

In my shop, I tend to rely on the sunlight in the shop but lately I have found that I do not see well , anymore, unless the light is very good. I now work with the overhead lights on even during the day time.

I hear ya on the light issue brother. You must be psychic. When I turned 50 I started needing the ol reading specs and now 11 years later they're my constant companion. About the same time I noticed that I also needed to carry a small flashlight to take equipment readings when the lighting was really dim.

My shop is in my garage and the past several days we've had lots of rain, so the overhead door has remained down. I only have one small window and it's not nearly enough for just sunlight. I have additional lighting but even that doesn't seem bright enough. I was just thinking a couple days ago that I need to add some nice bright shop lights in there.

Pete

[forrestb]

It's the only dial indicator I have anymore. Probably better to get an independent indicator and make/buy an adapter if you will need an indicator for other use. This was an impulse buy.
It is adjustable for different tables.

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[algale]

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?:

Here's a few photos of the set up I mentioned using the Aline-It off of its miter bar and clamped to the 520 front rail and zeroed out against the base of the rip fence.
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There aren't too many operations where precision down to the thousandth of an inch are necessary but I have used this set up on ocassion- for instance when ripping runners to fit in the miter slot for jigs (cross cut sled). Here you want a very snug fit. So you set up, take your best shot and make a rip on a piece of scrap. Throw a micrometer on the piece you just ripped. Say you are .003 too wide. Set up the Aline-It as shown in the first photo and zero it against the base of the fence (you don't need to read off the face of the fence for this). Now unlock the fence and tap it until the dial indicator has moved minus .003 thousandths and carefully re-lock the fence in place making sure the indicator doesn't move. Now rip your stock and your piece should be a perfect fit.

Hope that helped.

Al

[woodhead52]

It's the only dial indicator I have anymore. Probably better to get an independent indicator and make/buy an adapter if you will need an indicator for other use. This was an impulse buy.
It is adjustable for different tables.

Thanks Forrest, I see your point. I meant to tell you earlier that I purchased Nicks 6 Reference DVD's. Your mention of the the Sawdust Session on blade table alignment reminded me to check them and sure enough I have that video. It's on the The Critical Alignment DVD. It's getting a bit late but I'll be sure to watch it tomorrow. Should of done that already.

Here's a few photos of the set up I mentioned using the Aline-It off of its miter bar and clamped to the 520 front rail and zeroed out against the base of the rip fence.

There aren't too many operations where precision down to the thousandth of an inch are necessary but I have used this set up on ocassion- for instance when ripping runners to fit in the miter slot for jigs (cross cut sled). Here you want a very snug fit. So you set up, take your best shot and make a rip on a piece of scrap. Throw a micrometer on the piece you just ripped. Say you are .003 too wide. Set up the Aline-It as shown in the first photo and zero it against the base of the fence (you don't need to read off the face of the fence for this). Now unlock the fence and tap it until the dial indicator has moved minus .003 thousandths and carefully re-lock the fence in place making sure the indicator doesn't move. Now rip your stock and your piece should be a perfect fit.

Hope that helped.

Al

Thank you Al. The pictures made all the difference. I completely understand what you were trying to show me originally. Between what you and Forrest have shared I have a better idea of what I need to do. I'll watch the Nick Engler video that Forrest reminded me of and go from there. I really appreciate all the help with getting started.

Pete

[keakap]

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

I second the notions put forth already. I'll put some thought into it and see if I can make a list of my most used and/or most important, like Dusty's. A "wish list" would do no good since it would simply say "one of each, please".

BUT since you ask about quality tools, I cannot resist mentioning one of my favorites- Bridge City Tool Works. But with a caution: I was at one time like Dusty's friend who loved his tools too much to get them dirty. NO more!

BCTW tools when I bought most of the ones I have- 20 years or so or more ago-- were somewhat expensive, but well worth it. Accuracy and guarantee cannot be beat. Somewhat alike to Starrett, but Starrett doesn't have some of the pieces BCTW makes (and they aren't as pretty!).

Today the current offerings are more specialized and often out of sight $$. They've gotten away from the classic brass & rosewood style, too (a shame imho).One thing that makes me smile, besides holding, looking at and Using BCTW tools is knowing that some of them are actually worth more than when I bought 'em. When they finish a run they typically discontinue the item, altho the guaranty is forever (do anything to a tool, no matter what, $5 either recalibrate, repair or replace.)

If you look at them, check out the Centerscribe. The current version is II. I have the older version I, made mostly of brass and rosewood, and it is possibly my most used special tool. This'll give you an idea of what BCTW stuff looks like-- the older versions, that is.

Now I must ponder what I have, and what I gotta and don't gotta...

Btw, Quality tools will do wonderful things For you. If you care, don't spare.

[Bill F.]

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[/QUOTE]

I bought the Harbor Frieght digital caliper in the link, with a coupon to get for $10. It feels solid, and appears to be accurate. But I didn't use it, or see where it was required to align my Shopsmith.
I did however spend some extra money and bought an I-gauge engineer's square. Used it during the SS alignment and glade I spent the money for a solid and true square.

[dusty]

Bill, you do not need any of those precision instruments to complete a perfectly fine alignment of your Shopsmith.

However, I have become somewhat anal about my table and fence alignments and I use the dial indicator a lot while doing them.

Precision alignment is an absolute requirement when doing mill work (metal mill work that is) but that precision is not required for what the Shopsmith is intended to do.

I have set for myself a standard of .005" and/or .1° for alignments. Right now, my table is within .003" of parallel to the blade.

Keep it in mind that the blade is the baseline for nearly anything that you measure/align on the Mark 5/V.

[JPG]

The blade or sanding disk is a convenient measurement surface and is indeed an adequate secondary reference, but the axis of rotation of the shaft is the 'baseline'(not very accessible nor useful for adjustments).