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Table saw alignment fixture (Rockler)

pilvr83

I purchased a table saw alignment fixture from Rockler. Knowing that the Shopsmith slot is different; I also bought another miter rail from Shopsmith. Come to find out, the Rockler fits in the shopsmith miter slot.

My problem is the shopsmith slot is too close to the saw blade to be able to use the fixture.

How can i mount this gauge to be able to use on the shopsmith? I hope I didn't just waste $60, but I am thinking I may have. (I am not near a Rockler store)

IMG_3602 002.jpg

JPG

Is it possible to mount the gauge to the base(blue thingie) reversed so the movable finger points the opposite direction(over the series of holes)?

The length of the base may prevent using it reversed as well.(finger too short?)

edma194

First question, do you have a dado insert? Would that allow you to place a blade off center and far enough away from the slot. And if you don't have a dado insert, do you even need an insert in there at all?

You can add an extension to the miter bar in the slot. A rectangle of metal or plastic with a couple of holes attached on top of the miter bar, which I assume has threaded holes, and a threaded hole an inch or two away from from the miter bar to mount the device in. You would end up with the gauge above the table surface by the thickness of the material used, and it has to be thick enough to hold threads.

dusty

pilvr83 wrote I purchased a table saw alignment fixture from Rockler. Knowing that the Shopsmith slot is different; I also bought another miter rail from Shopsmith. Come to find out, the Rockler fits in the shopsmith miter slot.

My problem is the shopsmith slot is too close to the saw blade to be able to use the fixture.

How can i mount this gauge to be able to use on the shopsmith? I hope I didn't just waste $60, but I am thinking I may have. (I am not near a Rockler store)

IMG_3602 (002).jpg

Can you move the table to the right so that the saw blade comes up along the left side of the table (not in the cutout) and then turn the alignment gauge around. Doing that should give you a variable distance between the miter slot and the alignment gauge (relocate the carriage to the right and/or the headstock to the left).

That looks like a nice stable carrier for the alignment gauge. I have to be careful with mine or it will wobble in the miter track.

algale

Take a piece of 3/4" plywood about a little wider than the blue thingy (assume 5") and 8-10"' long. Mount the miter bar (either the one that game with the gauge or the Shopsmith one) to the underside of the plywood near the 5" inch edge. Drill a series of recessed holes along the long axis of the ply sized for whatever size machine screw bolt is going through the blue thingy. Bring bolt up through bottom of ply, through blue thingy and use a thumb screw to lock it down. Blue thingy is adjusted to blade by choosing whatever hole gets you close enough to the blade that the plunger on the dial gauge can touch it and has some travel in each direction.

pilvr83

I am out in the shop trying the suggestions. The dado adapter still won’t clear the distance. Another picture to show.

pilvr83

Oh wait. Do you mean taking out the insert??!!

pilvr83

I am an idiot!! Thanks to all. If I hadn’t posted, I wouldn’t have saw what the problem was. Taking out the insert did it. Unbelievable.

JPG

Let us know how well it works!!!!

dusty

pilvr83 wrote 7D34DBE5-726A-40BF-A6AE-1A7B1ACD002A.jpegI am an idiot!! Thanks to all. If I hadn’t posted, I wouldn’t have saw what the problem was. Taking out the insert did it. Unbelievable.

The blade looks to be mighty close to the edge of the cut out. Try moving the gauge to the left hand miter track and turn it around, raise the table, move the carriage to the right and lower the table. God to see you got it done.

Think about moving the gauge to work in the left hand miter track --- blade off to the left of the table rather than in the cutout.

bainin

I would have tried to rotate the blue plastic piece by 90 degrees. It may introduce a little but of error in being perpendicular to the

blade, but it would be small I think.

b

pilvr83

dusty wrote
pilvr83 wrote 7D34DBE5-726A-40BF-A6AE-1A7B1ACD002A.jpegI am an idiot!! Thanks to all. If I hadn’t posted, I wouldn’t have saw what the problem was. Taking out the insert did it. Unbelievable.
The blade looks to be mighty close to the edge of the cut out. Try moving the gauge to the left hand miter track and turn it around, raise the table, move the carriage to the right and lower the table. God to see you got it done.

Think about moving the gauge to work in the left hand miter track --- blade off to the left of the table rather than in the cutout.

Do you mean raise the table away from the blade? I raise the table, move it to the right, keep a blade on the headstock and measure like that? That would probably work as I am trying to adjust the table to the blade.

When I tried measuring “my way” it was just over .3”” from the forward tooth to the back tooth. Even the fence seemed diagonal with this gauge.

I will attempt this way tomorrow and see if my results are the same. Will let everyone know.

JPG

.3"" ???

dusty

pilvr83 wrote
dusty wrote
pilvr83 wrote 7D34DBE5-726A-40BF-A6AE-1A7B1ACD002A.jpegI am an idiot!! Thanks to all. If I hadn’t posted, I wouldn’t have saw what the problem was. Taking out the insert did it. Unbelievable.
The blade looks to be mighty close to the edge of the cut out. Try moving the gauge to the left hand miter track and turn it around, raise the table, move the carriage to the right and lower the table. God to see you got it done.

Think about moving the gauge to work in the left hand miter track --- blade off to the left of the table rather than in the cutout.
Do you mean raise the table away from the blade? I raise the table, move it to the right, keep a blade on the headstock and measure like that? That would probably work as I am trying to adjust the table to the blade.

When I tried measuring “my way” it was just over .3”” from the forward tooth to the back tooth. Even the fence seemed diagonal with this gauge.

I will attempt this way tomorrow and see if my results are the same. Will let everyone know.

If you mean .003" (NOT .3") you are about as good as you will get. If so - go make saw dust safely.

pilvr83

I need to learn how to read the gauge. The reading I had was from zero to the “30”. I look closely and see the small hash marks are .001 each. If I am reading the gauge correctly, is it one time around equal to 1.00 “? If my table is “30”, my reading .030”?

Should I be adjusting the table?

Thanks

Greg

dusty

pilvr83 wrote 2EC4BBA2-7D54-493C-AB6A-918D6172F9A5.jpegI need to learn how to read the gauge. The reading I had was from zero to the “30”. I look closely and see the small hash marks are .001 each. If I am reading the gauge correctly, is it one time around equal to 1.00 “? If my table is “30”, my reading .030”?

Should I be adjusting the table?

Thanks

Greg

The gauge that you have shown here reads 57 thousands (.057"). I aim to adjust my table to something less than .005". How long is the stem on your dial indicator? I suspect it is 1" long. Push the stem in "slowly" and watch the dial. Push it in and count the numbers of revolutions you see the dial make. Touch the tip and barely push the stem. .005" is 5 of the tiny tick marks around the outer perimeter of the dial gauge.

pilvr83

I tried the suggestion with putting blade outside cutouts and measuring. Probably I am reading wrong. Gauge moves clockwise from zero to 70.

Can someone tell me what I am supposed to be reading with the table saw to blade. Is it best for me to invest in the Shopsmith table saw alignment gauge?

pilvr83

dusty wrote
pilvr83 wrote 2EC4BBA2-7D54-493C-AB6A-918D6172F9A5.jpegI need to learn how to read the gauge. The reading I had was from zero to the “30”. I look closely and see the small hash marks are .001 each. If I am reading the gauge correctly, is it one time around equal to 1.00 “? If my table is “30”, my reading .030”?

Should I be adjusting the table?

Thanks

Greg
The gauge that you have shown here reads 57 thousands (.057"). I aim to adjust my table to something less than .005". How long is the stem on your dial indicator? I suspect it is 1" long. Push the stem in "slowly" and watch the dial. Push it in and count the numbers of revolutions you see the dial make. Touch the tip and barely push the stem. .005" is 5 of the tiny tick marks around the outer perimeter of the dial gauge.

I should aim for a reading from the zero to the fifth hash mark to the right? For example the “1/2” if on a ruler? Pretending gauge is a ruler.

dusty

pilvr83 wrote 675E8CB5-0144-4486-B7F6-27A8D259BABB.jpeg31604F1E-C43E-40BC-B2B4-F50CD5DF4BDF.jpegI tried the suggestion with putting blade outside cutouts and measuring. Probably I am reading wrong. Gauge moves clockwise from zero to 70.

Can someone tell me what I am supposed to be reading with the table saw to blade. Is it best for me to invest in the Shopsmith table saw alignment gauge?

I read your two visuals as .000" and .682". As I said just before this post, I look for something less than .005".

In the one visual where the dial indicator reads .682 if you would slide the gauge in the miter track just far enough to allow the indicator stem to miss the saw blade you would get a good visual of how far off parallel your miter slot (the table) is.

dusty

pilvr83 wrote 675E8CB5-0144-4486-B7F6-27A8D259BABB.jpeg31604F1E-C43E-40BC-B2B4-F50CD5DF4BDF.jpegI tried the suggestion with putting blade outside cutouts and measuring. Probably I am reading wrong. Gauge moves clockwise from zero to 70.

Can someone tell me what I am supposed to be reading with the table saw to blade. Is it best for me to invest in the Shopsmith table saw alignment gauge?

No! What you have is every bit as good as the SS dial indicator.