Table Saw Fence Alignment

[robliles]

Every now and then, usually after finishing a big project, I like to "tweek" all my major power tools. I just finished said major project, a walnut pencil post bed, and spent yesterday checking and adjusting my drill press, jointer, radial arm saw and table saw. First, let me explain that I can be somewhat of a precision junkie in that I use a dial indicator on all my tools that reads to .001". Because sometimes, like yesterday, I have WAY too much time on my hands, I make it a game to see just how exact I can get things.

On my table saw, I first checked the alignment of the blade to the miter slots. I am very pleased to note that with my "incredible" adjustment skills and a lot more luck, I have it adjusted, quite literally, to .001. My next check was the alignment of the fence to the miter slots. I use an aftermarket "Paralok" fence on my Delta Unisaw. I love this fence and, since I haven't seen any info about it in magazines in a long time, I wonder if it is even still made. Anyway, the fence is controlled by a series of pulleys and cable that allow the tail of the fence to precisely move in tandem with the head of the fence. I generally have kept the fence precisely aligned with the blade and miter slots. My question to the masses is, do you think there is an advantage to have the tail (the far end) of the fence slightly wider than the head? I read in one book on table saws by Tauton Press about having the tail about 1/32" wider than the head. I adjusted mine to be about .005" wider. What are your opinions, experiences, feelings or what not about this? I would love to hear from you.

Rob Liles

P.S. I hope to get pictures of my recently completed walnut pencil post bed up soon!

 

[Joe Scharle]

First off: anyone who can wrestle a pencil post bed to completion doesn't need any advice from FWW!
In my case, I never bought into the toe-out theory as I use both side of the blade.

BTW...let's see some pix!

 

[Glennbear]

I have seen conflicting opinions on fence alignment but I am of the school that 100% parallel is the way to go. 1/32" variation seems pretty dang wide in any case. :wsmile:

 

[Mtnman]

I have always wondered about this also. Only thing I can tell you is that once when I was sawing multiple thin strips of of white oak, I experienced some saw blade burning. I skewed the fence just a tiny bit and got a much better cut. Problem is I am not sure if the fence was slightly skewed towards the blade before I moved it. That may have been the cause of the burning, I'm not sure.
Probably the exactly parallel adjustment is best for general sawing, but if you get burning then try skewing the rip fence just a hair. It worked for me.

 

[Gofor]

I, too, am in the dead parallel group. I also use the fence on both sides of the blade. If you are worried about kickback or back edge burning, you can always put a thin strip of wood on your fence that ends just behind the blade front, which will insure that nothing gets "trapped" at the tail end of the blade.

Much safer than skewing the fence in my opinion.

Go

 

[bobby g]

+1 for parallel.

I know what you mean about tweeking after the completion of a project. I recently finished cabinets and shelves for the laundry room and decided to do some work "for the shop". I (finally) greased the blade elevation gears on my table saw, fixed a loose pulley on my disc sander, finished degreasing the extra spindles on my spindle sander and built a shelf for the book shelf stereo that I keep in the shop. Feels so good!! Now, back to work.

Bob

 

[4yanks]

I too would prefer parallel. However, I also believe that perfection in this regard can be elusive. I tend to allow a slight wide variation at the tail in the belief that I won't be able to consistently achieve a parallel setting much beyond a tune-up. Since I believe the fence will either toe-in or out over time, I go out for safeties sake.