New saw adjusting tools

[Cherryville Chuck]

I got an ad from FWW magazine this morning for a new saw adjusting tool, a dial gauge mounted on a miter slot bar. There are two versions, one analog gauge and one digital battery powered and are very reasonably priced and will make setting up a table saw easier and more accurate. They can also be used to set up a jointer cutter and outfeed table. Sold by Chips Fly when I clicked on the link in the email it took me to a Stumpy Nubs video of him using the gauge to set up a cabinet saw and contractor saw. It's a 15 minute video that is a good tutorial for setting up these types of saws. An inventive mind can probably find other applications for this gauge.
Here's the link to the vid with a link to the tool. https://www.chipsfly.com/ez-align-alignment-gauge.html

[DaninVan]

You could probably whip one of those up using a dial gauge you already have, but for that price why would you bother? It's a steal at $30!

[Cherryville Chuck]

I have a dial gauge with a mag base but you can't move it to take another reading. I might be able to figure a way to attach it to a miter slot bar but like you say, for that price would it be worth the effort? Theirs also has magnets in it which make it usable at a jointer or DP and elsewhere. BTW, I bought my gauge (Teklock Taiwanese made) and base around 30 years ago for $60. That's half of what I paid.

[DaninVan]

I have a dial gauge with a mag base but you can't move it to take another reading. I might be able to figure a way to attach it to a miter slot bar but like you say, for that price would it be worth the effort? Theirs also has magnets in it which make it usable at a jointer or DP and elsewhere. BTW, I bought my gauge (Teklock Taiwanese made) and base around 30 years ago for $60. That's half of what I paid.

Not normal for prices to drop... https://www.kmstools.com/igaging-1-quot ... e-set.html

[HandyDan]

The Chinese have been selling them cheap for a few years now ergo the price drop. They are fine for what we use them for.

[Herb Stoops]

Who ever came up with that must have been a machinist. It is a neat tool I wonder how I ever got along without one for the last 67 years. I have seen some machinists in a wood shop, most of their time is spent checking and adjusting the machines before they use them, I think they enjoy it more than making things.
Herb

[Stick486]

what ever happened to using a combination square???....

[Cherryville Chuck]

what ever happened to using a combination square???....

It works. I've used a caliper to do it too. The hard part is getting the tool to register against the edge of the miter slot. When Using a caliper I put a steel rule in the slot and butt the end of the caliper against it.

You are still just estimating the correct setting although you can get really close. The gauge will give an exact reading to thousandths. Plus if you wanted a little lead one way or the other the gauge would be better suited to do that.

[smitty10101]

reviews on Amazon don't look too promising.

[Stick486]

reviews on Amazon don't look too promising.

which one???...

[Herb Stoops]

I am trying to keep my mouth shut about checking blades with a dial indicator.
I have used many different saws in my life time and never once checked a wood cutting saw with a DI.
Now in the machine shop I checked everything with an DI. That is where they belong. Ask Jerry Bowen he spent years checking his new table saw and never built a thing, that he showed.
HErb

[Stick486]

Ask Jerry Bowen he spent years checking his new table saw and never built a thing

I remember that ...
three decimal places on wood working equipment...
what for???

[Herb Stoops]

Hand filed and set blades might be a bugger to Dial in.
Just saying,
Herb

[smitty10101]

which one???.

This one. Almost 25% of 1 star reviews.

https://www.amazon.com/iGaging-Alignmen ... B08BFHRM6W


Just saying---YMMV.

[Stick486]

This one. Almost 25% of 1 star reviews.
https://www.amazon.com/iGaging-Alignmen ... B08BFHRM6W

WOW!!!
I'll stick w/ my multitasking/multipurpose not fragile go out of whack time tested combination square....
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[Sominus]

I've got one of these that came with my slider. Seems to do the trick pretty well...

[Stick486]

set up the saw w/ any method you choose using the body of the blade...
fuss to your heart's content and happiness...
now rotate the blade 90°...
re-indicate...
so much for what you just busted a nut over...

a quality saw in good health rarely goes out of alignment...
if you get your measures and alignments on WW tools w/in 1/64" or 1/10 of a degree - consider yourself golden...
you are a woodworker - not a machinist...

if you need to fuss w/ alignments all the time you need to look into your tool(s) and find/fix the problem...

[Cherryville Chuck]

I am trying to keep my mouth shut about checking blades with a dial indicator.
I have used many different saws in my life time and never once checked a wood cutting saw with a DI.
Now in the machine shop I checked everything with an DI. That is where they belong. Ask Jerry Bowen he spent years checking his new table saw and never built a thing, that he showed.
HErb

Jerry was trying to get accuracy on what was coming off the blade and not the blade itself. With wood it is impossible to get repeatable results to that kind of accuracy and it was driving him nuts that he couldn't and in turn he was driving us nuts. Back when we had regular yearly woodworking shows there was a guy from Ontario named Dave Wooland who was selling some various accessories he produced. He was the one who invented the Accusquare saw fence. I have one and it is an excellent fence and one of the cheapest. Dave's forte was setting up the tools. One of the things he demonstrated during his sales spiel was pushing a piece of wood halfway through a blade on a $100 portable table saw and then covering it with a piece of newspaper so you couldn't see it and letting it go while he finished his spiel. He never once had the blade catch it and throw while he left it unattended.

I was talking to him between demonstrations and he told me that he sold the saw at the end of every show so he wouldn't have to pack it with him to the next one. It was a Trademaster brand Taiwanese saw sold by Home Hardware stores at the time. He said the secret to the demonstration was tuning the blade in. He said it took him about an hour of fiddling to get it perfect. I am assuming that he used one of the saw collars with set screws in it to do that.

So while you can set up the saw using old (analog) methods and get very good results, going a little extra with better tech can produce even better results. If you are into it do it, if not stick with tried and true. I do appreciate seeing the reviews on that tool as not being worth the money. The idea seems good, that tool not so much.

[DaninVan]

what ever happened to using a combination square???....

It's a combination of reasons...