**UPDATE**
While inspecting the bolt holes and washers, I noticed a smaller hole next to the back-right and front-left corner bolts. That’s when it hit me—the saw originally came with two set screws that, according to the Harvey, were “to keep it square during shipping.” I also recalled that the table wasn’t perfectly square when I first received it, but it was closer than the alignment issues I was experiencing after removing the top.
I reached out to the Harvey to get the size of the set screws, then went to Lowe’s to purchase them. After installing them, I checked the alignment again—it was at 0.021. A few taps later, I got it down to 0.002, and after tightening the bolts, it settled at 0.001.
Thanks to everyone for your helpful suggestions!
Hello,
I own a Harvey ALPHA HW110LC-36P 10″ 2HP Cabinet Table Saw that I purchased a few years ago when I began my woodworking journey. Recently, I decided to disassemble it to clean and grease some hard-to-reach internal components. After reinstalling the saw top, I began the process of aligning it to the blade using the Woodpeckers Saw Gauge. However, despite several days of effort, I’ve been unable to get the top perfectly square with the blade. It’s become incredibly frustrating, to the point where I’m considering selling the saw and purchasing a different one.
Here’s the process I’ve been following to square the top:
- Tightened one of the table saw’s corner bolts.
- Raised the blade to its highest position.
- Marked a dot near one of the blade teeth.
- Positioned the gauge on the dot and zeroed it.
- Slid the gauge to the back and it aligned with the dot
- Tapped the table with a rubber mallet, checking the gauge after each adjustment until the reading was between 0 and 0.002.
The issue I’m encountering is that after I get a reading within the desired range, when I slide the gauge back to the front and recheck the dot, the reading is no longer zeroed. I’ve tried different tightening different corners, using a different gauge, and even used different blades, but I keep encountering the same inconsistency.
Does anyone know why this might be happening and how I can resolve it? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Replies
How much is it off by that you're upset with? .002 as your max deviation seems insane for any woodworking.
I also think you'll have trouble with any saw you buy expecting accuracy to 1/500th of an inch....
Call Harvey and see if they can help. idk how their support is. I have a feeling they're going to ask if you're a machinist.
I would set my blade to 90 with a normal square if it were me.
Before making critical cuts, I always do a quick test cut on a scrap to make sure it's still where I left it.
I don't have any issues with that.
It’s challenging to get to that level of accuracy with a mallet and a single pivot point. Can you snug down the bolts on one side vs just one corner? Then slightly favor the side that needs adjusting with the mallet.
It has been a while since I had to do this and it is very frustrating. I do remember that even tightening the bolts changed the “squareness”ever so slightly, so I loosened them just enough for adjusting the table.
Also, if you have two gauges, why not use both together? Zero both on the front, slide one to the back, then make adjustments until they both read the same (or to an acceptable level of accuracy)?
Those are exactly the same steps I’ve used before to parallel up the blade & miter slot. Did you happen to measure the parallelism before you disassembled? Maybe that’s within acceptable tolerance for that machine? You’re doing all the right things — maybe get it as close as you can and then measure actual test cuts for square?
Yes. It was at .006 but i usually keep it at .002. I really think there is something wrong with the table saw. Since the beginning, I had to check it before every use and 90% of the time, I had to adjust it back to .002.
To be direct, your method is faulty. When you rotate the top around a corner bolt pivot, every point on the top moves except the pivot point. The amount a point moves depends on how far it is from the pivot (the radius.) Try this instead of your method:
set the gauge to zero at the front of the blade. Move the dot to the back, and take a reading. Move the back to half the distance from zero. Check the front and back, and move the back to half the distance if there is a discrepancy. Repeat until the readings are close enough. Recheck after tightening another bolt; that can move the top a bit.
As I thought more about this issue, I realized that when pivoting the top, both ends of the blade move the same direction. So my method needs to be modified. Instead of moving the back 1/2 of the difference, you need to move it more than the difference, possibly 1.5 times it.
Stamped flat steel washers creep and twirl on cast iron & sheet metal as bolts are tightened because they bite. Flip the smooth side to face the cast iron and use a spring lockwasher to minimize it. A washer with a hole as close as possible to the bolt shaft diameter helps.
You can also get crush washers at an auto parts store to put between the steel washer and the cast iron to give the washer some slip before really snugging down. Crush washers are used as combo washers/ gaskets between oil pan plugs and the pan.
I second the bolt/ washer debacle. My Powermatic has 3 bolts,one center back and 2 on the corners. I set the rear bolt first and tap corners until I get where I want it and tighten the bolts. Inevitably it will have moved. I lubed the washers and bolts to reduce drag and repeat adjusting and eventually arrive at an acceptable conclusion. The above mentioned way is probably better.
Before you remove the top make a zero insert,or possibly you have one that is in perfect condition. Run the blade up through the insert blank. When you replace the top make sure that the blade goes through the insert. If you have jigs,sleds and things that you previously made you want to be sure that not only do you want the top to be square to the blade but in the same place as where you started or all that old stuff is wrecked. I am not familiar with Harvey machines but they appear to be made in the American style. That is, solid reliable workhorses but a little crude. Any machine that requires a rubber mallet as a fine adjustment tool was never designed to be THAT accurate! Given that these machines are designed for woodworking and considering that it's wood after all, accurate to about 1/64 is about all you can expect. Machinists think in 1000ths and their machines are built for that. Woodworking machines are not!