Table Saw Blade Wobble


georgepag

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Hi all,

I picked up a new Incra mitre fence and as part of calibrating it I am checking my contractor saw allignments. I put a dial indicator on the arbor and there is almost no runout. I'm now doing the measurement of the same tooth at the front and back of the blade to check distance form the mitre slot, but, I have a question. This may be in the overkill anal category. Before I started this adjustment I put the dial indicator on the blade and started the saw (curious about what it would show). I was very careful to make sure everything was locked down and very stable so that there were no accidents. When I did that, the variation in the indicator was pretty extreme, about an overall swing of about 0.011, with 0.003 on one side of zero and 0.008 on the other. I've never read of anyone making this measurement and I'm wondering if it is at all valid and should I worry about it. My concern is that if it is a problem, then adjusting the trunnion doesn't really help anything because of the overall slop in the blade travel.

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The Sawstop Industrial's manual specifies a +/- 0.005" tolerance on the arbor flange. Your readings are fine.

EDIT: I reread your post a couple times and if I understand correctly, the measurement you cited is not the tooth from front to back, but rather the indicator on the saw plate WHILE RUNNING. Is this correct? I don't see any reason to do this.

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Hi all,

I picked up a new Incra mitre fence and as part of calibrating it I am checking my contractor saw allignments. I put a dial indicator on the arbor and there is almost no runout. I'm now doing the measurement of the same tooth at the front and back of the blade to check distance form the mitre slot, but, I have a question. This may be in the overkill anal category. Before I started this adjustment I put the dial indicator on the blade and started the saw (curious about what it would show). I was very careful to make sure everything was locked down and very stable so that there were no accidents. When I did that, the variation in the indicator was pretty extreme, about an overall swing of about 0.011, with 0.003 on one side of zero and 0.008 on the other. I've never read of anyone making this measurement and I'm wondering if it is at all valid and should I worry about it. My concern is that if it is a problem, then adjusting the trunnion doesn't really help anything because of the overall slop in the blade travel.

Your measurements are probably the result of vibration in the saw blade. It is also a pretty darn small amount and not something you should worry about. Just out of curiosity, are you running a thin kerf blade?

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  • 2 weeks later...

one thing i did when i had a crappy black & decker saw was use a couple of thick steel plates that sandwich the blade, i got them at sears for about $8-10, and they made a big difference, i didn't have 1/8"-deep saw marks in the middle of my cuts anymore (yes, the wobble while running was that bad), do keep in mind that if you have a zero-clearance insert, it will basically nullify that as it moves the blade over about 1/8"

Jon

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