Best saw alignment tool?

[mountainbreeze]

I use a similar technique. Instead of a bar, I use a piece of dowel which rides along the upper corners of the slot. Absolutely zero slop.

[robinson46176]

I notice that most here are using all manner of tricks to eliminate any slop in the miter gauge grooves when aligning the table (and thus the grooves) to the blade.
OK, what's next? Oh, yeah, in most cases stick the sloppy miter gauge back in the slot and cut... Yep, cut is off because you aligned to an ideal instead of to the real world...
The very simple Shopsmith alignment procedure works well because you are aligning to the tools and their variations that you will work with daily, not some imagined ideal.
Learning to "read" a cut as you make it should tell you far more than reading a digital read-out... Study the cut carefully as it happens. The resulting actual cut is all that really matters. That's the target, not numbers.

OK, I'll try to stay out of this conversation now. I just felt it needed saying.



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[BuckeyeDennis]

I notice that most here are using all manner of tricks to eliminate any slop in the miter gauge grooves when aligning the table (and thus the grooves) to the blade.
OK, what's next? Oh, yeah, in most cases stick the sloppy miter gauge back in the slot and cut... Yep, cut is off because you aligned to an ideal instead of to the real world...
The very simple Shopsmith alignment procedure works well because you are aligning to the tools and their variations that you will work with daily, not some imagined ideal.
Learning to "read" a cut as you make it should tell you far more than reading a digital read-out... Study the cut carefully as it happens. The resulting actual cut is all that really matters. That's the target, not numbers.

OK, I'll try to stay out of this conversation now. I just felt it needed saying.

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It sounds like you know something that I don't, farmer. Could you elaborate?

[videobear]

I believe he's pointing out that a dial indicator on a miter slot bar is not the Shopsmith miter guage, a saw alignment disk is not the saw blade... and that differences between a measuring tool and the actual equipment can affect your cut.

The Shopsmith alignment procedure from way back uses the long Allen wrench stuck through a hole in the miter guage, The end of the Allen wrench is placed against a saw blade tooth, and measurements are taken at the infeed and outfeed ends of the blade to determine alignment of the blade with the table miter slot.

[dusty]

The object of the subject alignment is to make the miter slot parallel to the blade. The debate on how to best do this must take into consideration the desired/needed accuracy when all done.

The method originally specified in the Shopsmith manuals worked fine UNTIL we started talking about alignments to within thousandths.

Enough said as I was one of those that drove for finer precision. It makes me feel good though when I mark a cut line and then watch as the blade takes of that cut line with no noticeable deviation.

[jsburger]

I like shiny too. So I just might spring for one of those A-Line It tools, if I can get the half-price deal from Peachtree. I signed up for their email specials today after seeing John’s post, but so far they haven’t emailed me that special. And their website still shows the regular price.

But as a practical matter, my home-brew hardwood alignment jig works perfectly. I cut the back side of the “miter bar” square. But the front side is cut on about a 30 degree angle, so gravity shoves the square edge back firmly against the side of the miter slot. There is absolutely no slop, but it still slides freely.

Gauge 1.JPG
Gauge 2.JPG

Plug in the promo code EGG18 and you will see the sale price. Sale ends 1 Apr and quantities are limited.

[BuckeyeDennis]

I like shiny too. So I just might spring for one of those A-Line It tools, if I can get the half-price deal from Peachtree. I signed up for their email specials today after seeing John’s post, but so far they haven’t emailed me that special. And their website still shows the regular price.

But as a practical matter, my home-brew hardwood alignment jig works perfectly. I cut the back side of the “miter bar” square. But the front side is cut on about a 30 degree angle, so gravity shoves the square edge back firmly against the side of the miter slot. There is absolutely no slop, but it still slides freely.

Gauge 1.JPG
Gauge 2.JPG

Plug in the promo code EGG18 and you will see the sale price. Sale ends 1 Apr and quantities are limited.

I just ordered the A-Line It basic, and I think that Peachtree may have sold it to me even cheaper than they meant to. When I plugged it the promo code, the price dropped to $40.00, and a 50% discount was applied. So the net price was $20 plus shipping. Then I added on the Arbor Spring & Nut kit (not for my SS), bringing the total price to about $42, including shipping.

Thanks John!

[BobbyM]

I think that any brand of dial indicator will do the job. I have a Brown & Sharp from my old Toolmaker/Machinist days.I made a jig for the [non-standard] miter bar, grinding it to size so there's no appreciable slop while it slides. I also have a simple rod that slides into the holes in the side of the miter bar (like the stop) that works equally well, but in using that you must allow for the slop in the standard miter bar.

One thing that I did. I had an extra sanding disk laying around that I took into the shop and put on the lathe. I made a skin cut on the disk face, ensuring that it was perpendicular to the shaft. I mounted the disk on my Shopsmith and used that to check my table adjustment.

I get tired of hearing supposed "serious" woodworkers who ridicule the Shopsmith to begin with tell me that woodworking is not like machining, that unlike steel, wood doesn't have to be "that good." I know that, but I believe that if you want decent result from ANY machine, your setup is critical.

Anyway, my table is within .001. I didn't spend all day tapping the table to get that, it's just the way it turned out. I do check it periodically, of course, but the machine is solid, and I haven't had to readjust it since I set it up. That's been almost 30 years.

I also just recently upgraded from the 510 to the 520. I naturally checked the newer, heavier fence and found it to be right on right out of the box. Greatest upgrade I've purchased, but that's for another topic.