Shop Made Set-up Gauge

curiousgeorge · Post by **curiousgeorge** » Mon May 18, 2009 12:07 pm

Being the tightwad that I am, I decided to make my own dial set-up gauge. All it took was some scrap ply, a strip of oak (miter slot runner), some nuts and bolts and an inexpensive dial gauge from Harbor Freight. Not fancy, but it works.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Mon May 18, 2009 12:48 pm

curiousgeorge wrote:Being the tightwad that I am, I decided to make my own dial set-up gauge. All it took was some scrap ply, a strip of oak (miter slot runner), some nuts and bolts and an inexpensive dial gauge from Harbor Freight. Not fancy, but it works.

I love it, love it, love!

Your being a tightwad that is. That makes at least two of us here on this forum. I prefer to think of it as being frugal though.

The gauge looks to be just exactly what the doctor ordered. All that you are really looking for is something that will hold that dial gauge in a stable relative position to the blade (miter slot).

What are you going to do for the next trick. Think about something that will allow you to move that fence exactly .xxx" away from its current position. In other word, a micro adjustable fence.

I have been told that the dial gauge feeler rod is suppose to be perpendicular to the surface whose position it is indicating. I have not sensed that it makes a difference but I was told that by an engineer whose discipline includes weights and measures (FWTW).

tdubnik · Post by **tdubnik** » Mon May 18, 2009 1:17 pm

dusty wrote:I love it, love it, love!

I have been told that the dial gauge feeler rod is suppose to be perpendicular to the surface whose position it is indicating. I have not sensed that it makes a difference but I was told that by an engineer whose discipline includes weights and measures (FWTW).

This is true if you are trying to measure absolute distances. If the plunger is tilted or skewed the measurement won't be absolute.

If, however you are trying to true up a miter slot to the saw blade or the fence to the miter gauge; it doesn't matter as you are trying to get as close to 0 as possible. You are then measuring to a relative reading and trying to get get the blade or fence as close as possible to the same.

baddlad · Post by **baddlad** » Mon May 18, 2009 2:48 pm

curiousgeorge wrote:Being the tightwad that I am, I decided to make my own dial set-up gauge. All it took was some scrap ply, a strip of oak (miter slot runner), some nuts and bolts and an inexpensive dial gauge from Harbor Freight. Not fancy, but it works.

I tried to find that dial gauge on the harbor freight website and couldn't find it. What exactly is it called? I did a search on dial gauge on the website and it just came up with tire pressure gauges.

Jeff

regnar · Post by **regnar** » Mon May 18, 2009 4:29 pm

You want to look up Dial Indicator. Here you go they also have a black face one to. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/d ... number=623

regnar · Post by **regnar** » Mon May 18, 2009 4:36 pm

Digital can be found here http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/d ... mber=93295

and custom mounts can be found here http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INPDFF?PMPAGE=354&PMCTLG=00

I dont want to take away from CuriousGeorge's post but to save some Oak and a little bit of time you could do this. In my miter gauge for the Shop Smith you have a 1/4 hole in the side that has a set screw to lock a 1/4 bar in. I dont know what it is actually used for but its there on both sides. If you were to take a 1/4 bolt say 6 inches long and cut off the head you would be able to insert this end into the miter guage. Now with the other end (threaded) you could put 2 washers and 2 bolts to sandwich the dial indicator onto it. The dial indicator mounting hole on the back is 1/4 as well so it will fit snugly.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Mon May 18, 2009 5:28 pm

regnar wrote:Digital can be found here http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/d ... mber=93295

and custom mounts can be found here http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INPDFF?PMPAGE=354&PMCTLG=00

I dont want to take away from CuriousGeorge's post but to save some Oak and a little bit of time you could do this. In my miter gauge for the Shop Smith you have a 1/4 hole in the side that has a set screw to lock a 1/4 bar in. I dont know what it is actually used for but its there on both sides. If you were to take a 1/4 bolt say 6 inches long and cut off the head you would be able to insert this end into the miter guage. Now with the other end (threaded) you could put 2 washers and 2 bolts to sandwich the dial indicator onto it. The dial indicator mounting hole on the back is 1/4 as well so it will fit snugly.

The intended purpose of the holes is to secure a 'miter gauge stop rod'.

baddlad · Post by **baddlad** » Mon May 18, 2009 5:37 pm

Thanks for the links!!

regnar · Post by **regnar** » Mon May 18, 2009 6:13 pm

Photos of the Ideal

RobertTaylor · Post by **RobertTaylor** » Mon May 18, 2009 6:31 pm

JPG40504 wrote:The intended purpose of the holes is to secure a 'miter gauge stop rod'.

also if i might add it will hold the "original" alignment tool. the early shopsmiths did not have the "T" style allen wrench but a long allen wrench and the alignment procedure was to put it in that hole of the mitre gage and get it to touch the blade and
/or fence evenly (not running of course)