Replies

1. 
   DaveHeinlein | Aug 26, 2003 06:01am | #1

   What I did was to use a long straight edge(10') and carefully line it up against the blade tips, blade fully exposed. Then carefully measure to the straight edge to get it parallel.

1. 
   riverr1 | Aug 26, 2003 06:12am | #2

   Dave,

   Thanks. I was thinking along the same lines, but had doubts on the accuracy. Guess this is the place to start though, and I have a feeling a variety of ideas will not be coming. Thanks again.

   Don

1. 
   DaveHeinlein | Aug 26, 2003 01:44pm | #3

   Just be careful not to deflect the blade when you put the straight edge to it.

2. 
   BenchMarkPhil | Aug 26, 2003 02:55pm | #4

   Getting something 3 feet from the blade to be parallel to it can be pretty tough as you have discovered.  You can indicate travel against the blade but your reference is only 8” or so and that is not truly adequate when measuring such a large movement.

    

   There is more than one way to indicate travel, you would like to use a method that uses as much table stroke as possible.  One of the ways to do this is to set up a plane parallel to the blade.  This parallel plane must be straight-edge straight in order for this to work and if you are not careful you can induce some error.  Say for example you knew your ripfence to be straight and lined up parallel to the blade or kicked out by a known amount.  You could indicate off of this and you will probably be close enough.

    

   You will also want to calibrate your crosscut fence.  You can use a method known as the 5 sided cut, this gives you a pretty decent resolution.  I have an article describing the process on my web site if you are interested.

    

   PMB

   http://benchmark.20m.com

1. 
   riverr1 | Aug 26, 2003 05:44pm | #5

   Phil,

   Rip fence is a good idea! Also though about a piece of 3/4 x 3 about 10' long for the miter slot. CRS is not exact, but very close, and but a heck of a lot less then a piece of tool steel for one job. Thanks. This afternoon I'll be back at this problems. Thanks.

   As for the blade deflecting. Did some 45 degree cuts on half sheets of Baltic Birch plywood Sunday. I was using a new thin kerf Freud blade. A lot of deflection. Of course the lateral travel of the table was pushing against the blade, but it's not something I was comfortable with.

   Thanks again.

   Don

3. 
   wysedav | Aug 27, 2003 06:40am | #6

   Don,  I would take a rough guess at parallel, and snug every thing up.  Next I would slide the table fully in one direction, at this point clamp a rod or dial indicator to the sliding table so that it touches off the fence (or blade or miter slot). next slide the tabel in the other direction, check dial indicator reading (or rod with feeler gauge) if it hasn't moved your parallel.  Otherwise tweak again and repeat.

4. 
   Jamie_Buxton | Aug 27, 2003 07:36am | #7

   Don ---

      Here is a procedure written by John Renzetti, who posted it on the Felder Owners Group forum (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/felder-woodworking).   You might want to check into that forum because Felders are have sliding tables, and there is a whole wealth of knowledge posted there.  (I'm not sure, but you might have to join the group to see the Files section, where lots of these articles are published.)

        The five sided cut is a procedure used by Felder to perfectly square the fence to the blade. If done correctly it can produce accuracy of .001” over the full length of the slider table. The technique described here is for a machine with an outrigger table. However the procedure can be adapted to the smaller fence and the precision miter table.

       First select a piece of flat ¾” panel material about 2ft x 2ft or 600x600mm. With the fence in the aft position set and lock it to “0” degrees. Place the sheet flat against the fence and trim about ¼” of material. Place this first trim side against the fence and trim again. Repeat the procedure until you have rotated the board back to the original position. Now make the 5^th cut. Take the trimmed off piece and mark “F” for forward, and “R” for rearward in the appropriate positions. Break the piece in half and compare the difference thickness of each piece. For example if the forward piece is ¼” thicker than the rear piece then the fence is out of square by ¼” over eight feet. This is because the error produced is magnified by the cumulative measurement of the board being cut. In this case four sides at 2 ft each.

        To correct this you would move the fence stop on the outrigger table either fore or aft 1/16” ,which is 1/4^th the total error. In the case used above the stop needs to be moved back. One way of doing this is to loosen the stop and place a feeler gauge between it and the fence. Then lock the stop down again and move the fence against the stop. This is your new zero position. Make another 5-sided test cut, to check the new accuracy.

        After the rear stop is fixed and recalibrated, move the fence to the forward position and repeat the procedure. One hint is to make sure that you don’t tighten down on the fence-locking lever too much. This could distort the aluminum and reduce accuracy.

        The above procedure probably won’t have to be done often. The out of square example given above is probably an exaggeration. Most likely you’ll find a difference in the fifth piece to be about .004-.008.” If the difference is less than .002.” over eight feet then it might be best to leave it alone

1. 
   riverr1 | Aug 27, 2003 08:27am | #8

   David and Jamie,

   Thanks for the responses. The Felder group sounds great. For about the last week the European saws are looking better and better.

   After fussing with the table tonight, I've got it pretty close. It's down to approx. .006 with a mag base on the table and the indicator on the fence. I'm not sure it can be adjusted in much better with this somewhat flimsy leg setup. The braces tying them together are up along the rails, and nothing down low. All in all, I think these tables need a better foundation to them. At least the blade is not deflecting anymore, and there is no burning on the wood.

   Hopefully as I get more familiar with the table, this learning curve will level out some.

   Thanks again everyone.

   Don

1. 
   DaveHeinlein | Aug 27, 2003 11:09pm | #9

   I don't know if it was brought up before or not, but do you have any "heel" or lead in your fence? I think that you would want to take measurements off the blade.

   The method I brought up in the beginning is the way I did it, but I used a 10' known straight edge, and I even set up a string line once.

   The best I could get my 60"exaktor to cut was under 1/128" to sqaure, repeatedly. For cabinet making, that is plenty good, and I haven't noticed any problems with anything else either.

   One thing you will want to do is to anchor the legs to the floor.

1. 
   riverr1 | Aug 28, 2003 12:25am | #10

   Dave,

   Thanks again for more tips. Been contemplating anchoring the legs to the floor, but been wondering about the best way to go about it. What do you think of those square basemounting gizmos used for iron railing? Also considering welding CRS plates to the bottom of the legs. I imagine this to be a great solution, but it is a bit permanant. Thanks again.

   Don

1. 
   DaveHeinlein | Aug 28, 2003 03:11am | #11

   I just used simple steel L brackets with screws into lead shields to anchor the legs. I imagine the iron railing mounts would do just as well.