Doing so will only attract large quantities of dust and will ultimately cause the gears to bind. Instead, use dry graphite.

Moving to the top of the saw, lay your straight-edge on the top and look for gaps, indicating that the top is not flat. Move the straight-edge to various locations on the top. Gaps of up to .010 are tolerable. Any more than that and you may have problems doing some tasks accurately. At this time, make sure the wings are level with the main top.

Reinstall the blade and the saw table insert. Check that the insert is level with the table top and adjust it if necessary. Do the same with any zero-clearance inserts you have as well.

Now check the blade for run-out. Again, use your dial indicator if you have one. If not, use your square as before, when checking the arbor run-out. The total combined run-out (blade and arbor) should not exceed .005 - .007". If the arbor is okay but there is excessive run-out with the blade installed, then the blade will need to be replaced.

For the saw to cut accurately and safely, the arbor/blade assembly must be aligned parallel with the mitre-gauge slots. A dial indicator is ideal for this task. However, you can do an accurate check with a piece of scrap wood and your mitre gauge. Clamp the wood in the gauge so that it is just touching one of the front teeth of the blade. Mark that tooth with a pencil or marker, then rotate the blade so the marked tooth is at the rear. Slide the mitre-gauge back so the wood is even with the marked tooth. If the wood touches the blade, or if there is a gap between the wood and the blade, consult your owner manual for the correct method of alignment. Generally it involves loosening the trunion bolts on the underside of the table top and moving the trunions to one side or the other until the proper alignment is obtained. Retighten all bolts firmly. The next step is adjusting the two blade stops. One sets the blade at 90 degrees to the table top, the other sets the blade bevel at 45 degrees. Usually the adjusting bolts are located under the table top. Check your manual for the correct method of adjustment. Once the stops have been adjusted, recheck the blade in both positions using a square for 90 degrees and a triangle for the 45 degrees setting.

Hold your square tight to the mitre-gauge and adjust the gauge so that it is perfectly perpendicular to the blade. Use the plastic square to adjust the right and left 45 degree stops on the gauge.

Now it's time to align the rip fence. For accurate and safe rip cuts, the fence must be properly aligned with the blade. There are two schools of thought here. The first is that the fence should be absolutely parallel with the blade. This allows the fence to be used on either side of the blade. In an ideal world, I would agree with this. However, nothing is ever perfect, and there is bound to be some run-out cut with the blade/arbor and with the fence itself. In this case, setting the fence to the rear of the fence tilts, slightly away from the blade, provides a margin of safety from kickback and reduces burning and scoring when cutting. I use my straight-edge butted against the blade. Move the rip fence until it is touching the straight-edge. Adjust the fence alignment bolts so the rear of the fence is no more than .015" away from the straight edge. This is about 1/64", or the thickness of a folded over piece of paper. While doing this adjustment, check for gaps where the fence meets the straight-edge, indicating a bowed or warped fence. Since it is very difficult, if not impossible, to properly straighten most fences, its better to add a wood auxiliary fence, shimmed out from the main fence such that the auxiliary fence is even with the straight-edge.

Now it's time to adjust the blade guard/splitter assembly. This must be precisely centred on the blade. The easiest way to do this is to place your straight-edge on both sides of the blade. Place pencil marks on the table, behind the blade, to mark the blade edges. Adjust the splitter/blade guard so it is centered between the marks.

Finally, thoroughly clean the table top. Minor rust and stains can usually be removed with 0000 steel wool. Deeper rust or stains can often be removed with commercial rust cleaner. Alternatively, 220 grit sandpaper is a random orbit sander will give an excellent surface. Apply a generous coating of paste wax to the table top and rip fence. Buff the wax when dry, for a smooth, slippery surface.

Now plug the saw in and start making sawdust again.

Bill McDonald
Etobicoke, ON
Tel: (416) 749-9690
Email: hapstrip@aol.com

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www.canadianwoodworking.com

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