Main Table Alignment

[dusty]

wow. Okay that sounds doable, I will try that! Thanks

As always, there are multiple way to accomplish the task. Another would be as follows:

Rip a 15" piece of 3/4" or 1" stock to 3 1/16" wide. The width is critical because you want it to fit snug in the cutout for the table insert. The final length may be altered later.

Set the rip fence so that the left face is precisely aligned with the right edge of the table insert.

Make a short (1/2") rip cut in one end of the 3 1/16" piece. This is to be done with the piece held tight against the left face of the rip fence.

Flip the piece over and make a similar cut in the other side.

If every thing is properly aligned the two cuts should be precisely in line with one another.

With power turned off, make that same alignment check on the outfeed side of the blade. If the blade is parallel to the miter slots, the blade should fit smoothly into those short kerf cuts.

[dusty]

hmmm how would i make one of these insert guide things? I'm worried about table alignment and the shopsmith is my only table saw now... I could use my dad's table saw ..

As others have recommended, do not create the "ZCI on Steroids" or functional ZCI until you have the table aligned to meet your needs.

With regard to your table alignment, it may very well be fine the way it is. That can be ascertained very easily. I prepared a couple photo images to show how.

[ATTACH]17268[/ATTACH]
Align fence to edge of Table Cutout. Precision placement is essential.

[ATTACH]17269[/ATTACH]
Cut a kerf into end of jig which is 3 1/16" wide. Must fit snugly into Table Cutout. Added Comment: 3 1/16" " might be a bit much. If it is shave it down to approach 3 1/32".

[ATTACH]17270[/ATTACH]
After making cut, check for non-interference fit on other side of blade. A smooth fit indicates that the blade is parallel to miter track.

[ATTACH]17271[/ATTACH]
Flip jig over. Note left/right markings. With jig against the rip fence, it should fit (non-interference fit) onto the blade. A smooth fit indicates that the blade is centered (left/right) within the Table Cutout. Interference, which I have, indicates that the table is not perfectly aligned. Mine is off about 1/32". I can force the jig into place but it drags on the blade.

[ATTACH]17272[/ATTACH]
At this point there is no real need to repeat the test on the other side of the blade but doing so sorta confirms previous conclusions.

The blade not being centered in the cutout is really not an issue of any sort. Only someone who is "over the top" on precision would even notice.

The jig that is shown here is cut to fit firmly in the Table Cutout. Mine measures 3 1/16" wide.

[pennview]

Yesterday I was looking through the material that comes with a Forrest saw blade and thought it fit well with this thread on alignment.

While Forrest blades are pricey, they're hard to beat when it comes to cutting wood. Rockler has a 20 percent off coupon now that one could apply to a Forrest blade, making the price about $92 for a 10" Woodworker II with a 5/8" arbor hole.

http://www.forrestblades.com/Forrest_Sa ... ctions.pdf

[dusty]

Yesterday I was looking through the material that comes with a Forrest saw blade and thought it fit well with this thread on alignment.

While Forrest blades are pricey, they're hard to beat when it comes to cutting wood. Rockler has a 20 percent off coupon now that one could apply to a Forrest blade, making the price about $92 for a 10" Woodworker II with a 5/8" arbor hole.

http://www.forrestblades.com/Forrest_Saw_Blade_Instructions.pdf

Forrest will redrill your blades to fit the arbor of choice (for a fee).

[pennview]

I'd expect it would be best to buy directly from Forrest if one wanted a saw blade with a 1 1/4" bore, as you'd be adding a couple of shipping and handling charges to the price of a blade bought elsewhere. Something else to consider with a blade with a 5/8" bore is that Forrest also sells blade dampeners/stiffeners that will add to blade rigidity for improved sawing, although they do reduce the cutting depth.

[TFF]

Why not use a MasterGage MasterPlate which is designed for tablesaw alignment? It has more stability than sawblade when left in kerf while tightening. Length 10", thickness 11/32".
Rout a 11/32" W, 10.5"L kerf on your router table using Shopsmith plastic blank inserts and install on Shopsmith.
Mount Masterplate on 5/8" arbor and mount horizontally. Loosen trunnions and lower Kerf onto masterplate. The additional stability of the 11/32" will tend to avoid racking, when you tighten the first two tight. Besides it is American Made.

[dusty]

Why not use a MasterGage MasterPlate which is designed for tablesaw alignment? It has more stability than sawblade when left in kerf while tightening. Length 10", thickness 11/32".
Rout a 11/32" W, 10.5"L kerf on your router table using Shopsmith plastic blank inserts and install on Shopsmith.
Mount Masterplate on 5/8" arbor and mount horizontally. Loosen trunnions and lower Kerf onto masterplate. The additional stability of the 11/32" will tend to avoid racking, when you tighten the first two tight. Besides it is American Made.

You are almost certainly correct and if I had MasterPlate I would use it. But without spending any money, I am able to align, in the manner described here, to within .002"-.005".

Do you use the Master Plate.

[billmayo]

You are almost certainly correct and if I had MasterPlate I would use it. But without spending any money, I am able to align, in the manner described here, to within .002"-.005".

Do you use the Master Plate.

Since I am finding about 20% of the Poly-V quill shafts have greater than .002" runout, you may want to rotate the saw blade 90 deg a few times when checking alignment. Then you can split the difference if you have greater runout when aligning the table and fence.

[bcone1381]

So, i picked up a dial indicator and used it the last time I re-aligned my table. I got her really close and it felt so satisfying. Then my curiosity demanded that I spin the blade by hand to measure the wobble in my saw blade. Well....lets just say that the reason you put the dot on the blade is because if your blade is like mine, it isn't flat. That brought me to my next conclusion that being a hair off probably makes no difference.

[dusty]

So, i picked up a dial indicator and used it the last time I re-aligned my table. I got her really close and it felt so satisfying. Then my curiosity demanded that I spin the blade by hand to measure the wobble in my saw blade. Well....lets just say that the reason you put the dot on the blade is because if your blade is like mine, it isn't flat. That brought me to my next conclusion that being a hair off probably makes no difference.

Whether it matters or not depends on how thick the hair is.

I strive for table alignments to be within .005". This criteria is mine. I don't believe you will find it called out anywhere in Shopsmith documentation. You can get a good feel for how much wobble you have by measuring the width of the kerf vs the thickness of the saw blade that cut the kerf.