Steve B Anderson Posted March 5, 2017 Report Share Posted March 5, 2017 Hi everyone, I'm a new member to the community and would like to introduce myself. My name is Steve Anderson, I've been lurking on this site and others for a couple of months now and I have really been impressed with the wealth of information and skill level of the members on this site. I am just now getting serious about woodworking and I am still in the learning stages. A little back ground on myself. I have 26 years as a precision machinist, I have 11 years now in the engineering and process planning in the same industry. ( Search MICGRP.Com) Wish we had better pics. Anyway, being machinist minded that I am, I have questions about acceptable tolerances in crafting furniture. Now I must note that I do not have Powermatic or Grizzly equipment. I have a Ridgid R4512 table saw. When I assembled this saw and started inspecting flatness and perpendicularity I just about had a heart attack. The table looked like the Gulf of Mexico during a hurricane. The fence perpendicularity is out .008" to the table and is bowed .005". I have worked 10 hours aligning everything on this saw and this is what I have on my test cuts with 2 x 4"s. Width parallelism - .0027" over 13.312" Perpendicularity (square) seems to be good using my machinist squares(on the high spots anyway). Is this acceptable? This would be scrap in the machining world. Am I expecting unrealistic tolerances for woodworking? Thanks in advance for your input and thanks for this great forum. Steve 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bleedinblue Posted March 5, 2017 Report Share Posted March 5, 2017 Machinists. I'd say you are good for sure, and yeah, you're never going to get perfect tolerances with wood. Welcome to the forum! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve B Anderson Posted March 5, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2017 Thanks Bleedinblue. It's just hard to change my mind set after all the years. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Bob Posted March 5, 2017 Report Share Posted March 5, 2017 4 minutes ago, Steve B Anderson said: Thanks Bleedinblue. It's just hard to change my mind set after all the years. Welcome to the forum Steve. You don't have to change your mind set, just relax it some. This is supposed to be fun and relaxing. It's not rocket surgery, so set your tools the best you can and then make something. There is nothing wrong in striving for perfection just realize you will never get there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve B Anderson Posted March 5, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2017 Thanks Bob, I'll try too. But what are the acceptable tolerances for woodworking? Nice furniture? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted March 5, 2017 Report Share Posted March 5, 2017 Solid, tight, square with no gaps and no close up pics ! Welcome to the forum, fellow Texan! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve B Anderson Posted March 5, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2017 I think I get it now K Cooper. By the way, I was borned and raised on the east side of Houston ( Northshore High school) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted March 5, 2017 Report Share Posted March 5, 2017 Welcome to the forums Steve. The best thing you can do for yourself is start making some stuff learn from it and move on. Post some pictures here and ask for some help and you will be fine. Its a fun journey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bleedinblue Posted March 5, 2017 Report Share Posted March 5, 2017 If you strive for perfection two things will happen. Either you'll get frustrated and quit, or you'll come real close to perfection and produce great work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve B Anderson Posted March 5, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2017 It have been a journey. I don't have jointer yet, so last night I made a sled for the planer, shims, hot glue and a prayer. It was working good until the boss (wife) decided to help. She wanted to catch the sled as it came out and she let the board move on the sled so I had to reposition several times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted March 5, 2017 Report Share Posted March 5, 2017 Steve, first of all, welcome! Second, as others have said, you need to relax a bit on tolerances. Just like steel, wood is affected by changes in its environment. The reaction to those changes is on a much larger scale than the metals you are accustomed to working with. Because wood moves and changes so much, the tolerance for a well-fit joint is large, from your machinist perspective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Ronn W Posted March 5, 2017 Popular Post Report Share Posted March 5, 2017 Glad you decided to join us. If the finished product looks good you are close enough. There are no moving parts in the machine sense for most projects. .00 anything is usually just fine. I think that you will find that close tolerances come into play mostly in the joints. On surfaces or of dimensions of a piece or wood - hell, your going to be sanding it anyway. No one can see 1/32" (.03125) difference between 2 table legs. Your biggest problem with tolerances will be tolerating the guys on this forum. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve B Anderson Posted March 5, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2017 Thanks everybody for your response and advice. This is exactly why I joined this community. But' what are the acceptable tolerances for furniture making? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted March 5, 2017 Report Share Posted March 5, 2017 1 hour ago, Steve B Anderson said: Thanks everybody for your response and advice. This is exactly why I joined this community. But' what are the acceptable tolerances for furniture making? No magic number, just what looks good to your eye when you're finished. Welcome to the forums! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark J Posted March 5, 2017 Report Share Posted March 5, 2017 2 hours ago, TIODS said: No magic number, just what looks good to your eye when you're finished. Welcome to the forums! What he said. Even after it's cut and dried wood is still a "living" material. It moves with the humidity. It can be flexed and "persuaded". It swells when you apply the glue. If you are looking for a number you're probably going to drive yourself crazy if you try to measure more precisely than 1/32". For a lot of applications that will be overkill. If you are doing dove tails or a mortise and tenon that might not be good enough. But, for the most precise work you'll be sanding or paring the two pieces and sneaking up on the fit rather than cutting each piece to very precise dimensions. I don't think one could teach robots to do this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardA Posted March 5, 2017 Report Share Posted March 5, 2017 For tolerances.. it's all about the eyeball... close is good, tight is also good. but it comes down to the eye... how does it look today? and how will it look tomorrow. Oh by the way there's one rule on this site.... If there are no pics..... it didn't happen. Welcome from another inTennessee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted March 5, 2017 Report Share Posted March 5, 2017 10 hours ago, Steve B Anderson said: Thanks everybody for your response and advice. This is exactly why I joined this community. But' what are the acceptable tolerances for furniture making? I don't think anyone will be able to throw out a reliable number. For me, I set my tools up as well as my abilities allow, take the time to mark and measure presisely then setup cuts with the best machine for the job. If you follow that recipe, the resulting cut should be good enough tolerance. Whatever that is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prov163 Posted March 5, 2017 Report Share Posted March 5, 2017 Steve, welcome to the forums. As everyone else has said, if the final project looks good, the drawers and doors work well, then smile and enjoy. As you do more projects you'll dial in what tolerances are acceptable to you and how to accomplish them. There's a lot of really talented woodworkers here who are very generous with their advice. Don't hesitate to ask. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClassAct Posted March 6, 2017 Report Share Posted March 6, 2017 Welcome aboard, Steve! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BonPacific Posted March 6, 2017 Report Share Posted March 6, 2017 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattF Posted March 6, 2017 Report Share Posted March 6, 2017 I have the same saw and have been able to dial mine to the tolerances you have. Its good enough for wood. I play a manufacturing engineer at work and do a lot of tooling design with extremely tight tolerances, RF in the Ku and Ka band require very tight. It shard to turn it off, I still check everything with a set dial calipers. If I'm within .010" I feel its good to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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