TS3612 saw alignment

[arthropod98]

i recently got the TS3612, and i LOVE this thing! i am having one small issue, well, i think it's an issue at least.

i checked and rechecked everything in the book for aligning the blade and table and all that (really, i did!), and everything looks perfect. BUT, when i rip a piece of wood, it seems to still be cutting on the upspin at the back of the blade.

first, is this normal?? second, is it possible that the blade's just touching the wood, but not really cutting it??

cuts are actually turning out perfect, but this just doesn't seem right to me.

thanks in advance for any info / help!!

[winky]

I have the same problem. My saw is about 3 weeks old and I spent hours ensuring the alignment is correct.

Any suggestions or correcting this problem would be appreciated.

[RixWorx]

When you say align, does that mean you aare making the fence as parellel as possible to the slot? I have the rear of my fence about .007" further away and do not get upspin cut.

[imported_RS]

I have the TS3612 and have experienced a similar problem. The blade the saw comes with is a thin-kerf blade, meaning it is very thin and flexible, causing it to vibrate more than a solid plate blade. Either add a blade stabilizer or get a better blade. If that does not work, adjust the trunnions under the table, they could be out of alignment.

[Nosh]

Originally posted by arthropod98:
i recently got the TS3612, and i LOVE this thing! i am having one small issue, well, i think it's an issue at least.

i checked and rechecked everything in the book for aligning the blade and table and all that (really, i did!), and everything looks perfect. BUT, when i rip a piece of wood, it seems to still be cutting on the upspin at the back of the blade.

first, is this normal?? second, is it possible that the blade's just touching the wood, but not really cutting it??

cuts are actually turning out perfect, but this just doesn't seem right to me.

thanks in advance for any info / help!!

[Nosh]

This is a great table saw, but I have the same problem. The first saw I brought home was so far out of alignment it took me two days to get the blade parellel to the slot. Next, I tried to get the fence parellel and the center of the fence had a 1/6" curve. The blade shaft did not have a cutout for the wrench, so I took the saw back, got another one and started all over again. The second saw was out of alignment just as much as the first. The fence had a slight dip in the center, but not as bad as the first one. I am going to put a hardboard on the face of the fence to correct the center curve. Maybe that will help you also.

[mrlttlman]

Did anyone ever fix their problem with the upspin on the back of the blade????

I have the same problem and ignored it for 2 1/2 years untill recently when i went to make some glue up panels out of oak and couldn't get a nice glue line.

Please help

Thanks

[BadgerDave]

You might think that your saw is aligned properly but my guess is it's not. I also experienced the blade cutting on the upspin when I first got my 3612. After a few attempts, I finally got the blade and fence aligned properly.

Every now and again I'll still experience some cutting on the upspin but when I do, a quick glance over at the fence usually confirms that my feeding technique is the cause.

[mrlttlman]

Hey BD.....
Quick question about 3612.....
What is it when the saw blade slows down and you can see it wobble before it stops....Everything is tight, new blade, I put a dial caliper next to the blade and spun it and it would hit in one spot,thought blade was bent so flipped it over and it done it in another spot.. bought a new blade and it done it there too.... Is the arbor bent?

Thanks
William

[BadgerDave]

William, I suppose a bent arbor could be your problem but quite honestly I don't know enough about the arbor mechanism to be certain. I would think though that if the arbor was bent it would have some effect on the quality of your cuts. Hopefully, someone else here has some first hand knowledge of your problem and can give you a more indepth answer.

[imported_Bob D.]

I would think if the arbor was bent that you would have significant wobble, especially douring spin down to a stop. If this were so it would be measureable with a dial gauge.

Is your blade nut maybe too tight? This could cause the blade to flex.

There is no sawdust or other debris anywhere on the arbor that could affect alignment/squareness of the blade to the arbor? Remove the blade and clean the surfaces where the blade contacts the arbor and the outer washer. Make sure the nut does not have a burr in it that could cause uneven pressure to be applied when it is tightened down. Did you check the splitter to ensure it is inline with the blade and also that your fence is square to the miterslot(s). The miterslot is one piece of the equation that is fixed, if you work all your alignment from this one reference then you will have less error in your adjustments.

Is the arbor mounted tight in the saw? Are all other mounting bolts tight? Pulleys are true and parallel, etc. There is a bunch of stuff to check that could all add up to give you problems. It sounds like you have checked some of them, I'm just trying to think of the items I would check if I were having the same problem.

[mrlttlman]

Thanks guys,

Went through all of those things except didnt have a dial guage but mounted a center punch to a magnet and placed a feeler guage and between the blade and punch and removed it, rotated the blade with no belt attached and nut hand tighted, and the blade still hit the punch in a certain spot. I marked the blade where it hit, losened the nut and rotated the blade 180 deg. , tighted the nut spun the blade and it hit in a different spot 180 deg. from the other mark. How much wobble is acceptable by standards. All in all still cant make a nice straight line rip in anything. I pleaded my case to ridgid cs after being told I had to have a reciept for the warranty by their cs dept and told them Home Depot reciepts dont last but 6 months here in AZ.
Now I have to lug a 200+ pound saw down to the nearest service center and if it is infact the arbor it could take 4 weeks to get it back....

Thanks for all your help guys I will go back and check everything again and go out and buy a dial gauge.

Thanks
William

[toolguy1000]

WHENEVER UPSPIN OCCURS ON MY 2412, ITS USUALLY MY TECHNIQUE AND NOT THE SAW. IF BLADE ALIGNMENT IS A PROBLEM, THERE'S A $20 PRODUCT THAT REPLACES THE BOLTS THAT MOUNT THE TRUNION TO THE TABLE. IT ALLOWS FOR THE ALIGMENT TO BE "DIALED IN" VIA TWO ADJUSTING SCREWS.

[BadgerDave]

Originally posted by toolguy1000:
THERE'S A $20 PRODUCT THAT REPLACES THE BOLTS THAT MOUNT THE TRUNION TO THE TABLE. IT ALLOWS FOR THE ALIGMENT TO BE "DIALED IN" VIA TWO ADJUSTING SCREWS. TG, does it have a name or do you have a link to that site?

[hewood]

Originally posted by BadgerDave:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by toolguy1000:
THERE'S A $20 PRODUCT THAT REPLACES THE BOLTS THAT MOUNT THE TRUNION TO THE TABLE. IT ALLOWS FOR THE ALIGMENT TO BE "DIALED IN" VIA TWO ADJUSTING SCREWS. TG, does it have a name or do you have a link to that site? </font>[/QUOTE]Forgive me for not being TG, but I believe he meant these. Code: 38WSB. Price: $19.95 (delivered)

http://in-lineindustries.com/palandtrunon2.jpg
PALS (http://in-lineindustries.com/saw_pals.html)

[BadgerDave]

Has anyone here put one of those on your 3612, 2424 or 3650? I must not be able to see the forest through the trees because I fail to see how this system would be any more accurate than the adjustment lever system that comes with the Ridgid saws. What am I missing?

[ 08-21-2005, 04:59 PM: Message edited by: BadgerDave ]

[papadan]

OK now that I have caught up on this thread. I will add my $.02. mrlttlman, evidently you have been overtightening your blades. I believe your problem is with the backing plates on the arbor that go on each side of the blade. You have bent them or tightend them so much that they are smashed or worn at the point where they contact the arbor shaft. Take off the blade and inspect both the inside and outside plates for wear or damage. I do believe you will find your problem there.

[mrlttlman]

Thanks papadan

Checked those backing plates out this morning....
The one permanently attached to the arbor looked fine no apparent damage to it and the one next to the nut looks just as good as the day I purchased it... On another note the thread that had the rails for sale on ebay also has the arbor and arbor housing too. Should I go that route or take it to the service center and wait the four weeks.

Thanks

william

[papadan]

I had a similar problem some years ago on my RAS. I made a couple new backing plates and solved the problem. Without knowing for a fact that the arbor is the problem it would be kind of hard to buy one first. Talk to the service center and maybe they can tell you what would cause the problem you are having and if it is the arbor maybe they will order one for you and you can take the saw in when they get it. make sure and give them you serial # to verify lifetime warrenty

[mrlttlman]

Hey Papadan

What did you make the backing plates out of?
I do have a new one for the arbornut side but for the other side since it is already attached to the arbor what would i use...

[papadan]

I have a small metal lathe that I use to make parts for things.

[toolguy1000]

BADGER.. WHAT IS THIS LEVER ALIGNMENT SYSTEM YOU REFER TO? I HAVE A TS2412 AND THE MANUAL NOTES LOOSENING THE TRUNION BOLTS, BRACING A BLOCK OF WOOD AGAINST THE TRUNION ANAD TAPPING WITH A HAMMER TO ALIGN THE BLADE. IF I'VE MISSED SOMETHING I'D APPRECIATE SOME DIRECTION HERE.

[BadgerDave]

TG, on my 3612 there is a lever located just above the blade guard mounting post. Once the trunion mounting screws have been loosened, you can move the lever to the right or left and it will move the blade to adjust the alignment of the blade. If the 2412 doesn't have this feature then it must have been an upgrade on later models.

[toolguy1000]

IN CHECKING THE PARTS DIAGRAMS OF THE 2412 AND THE 2424, THEY DO NOT HAVE THE LEVER YOU NOTE ON THE 3612. IT APPEARS THAT WHEN A BUYER PONIED UP THE EXTRA CASH FOR THE 3612, HE RECEIVED A MODIFIED TRUNION MOUNTING SYSTEM THAT WAS SUPERIOR TO THE MORE MODERATELY PRICED MODELS.

[mrlttlman]

Hey BD or Papadan

The last time you helped me it was with my saw alignment...... Well i got the same problem again...

Here it is but this time its throwing me....
I raised my blade and set it with in 2/1000 in.
front to back same with the fence..... All should be fine right. Go to rip piece of wood (3/4) and it seems to taper the bottom just a little. I put the dial guage back on it and when it is lowered it is like 10/1000 in. front to back. I then raise the blade all the way up and cut a piece of wood and it cuts square and true... What do you think could be happening here.. Should I realign the blade at the low setting for (3/4) wood.

Thanks
William

[BadgerDave]

By taper the bottom I'm assuming you mean that the top of the board and the bottom of the board don't measure the same RtoL after you make your cut. The first thing I'd check is the angle of the blade. It sounds like the blade may not be at exactly 90° perpendicular to the table. Check under your saw to make sure that you don't have a buildup of sawdust that is preventing the blade to be dialed back to 90°.

It could also be that your blade has been damaged and is no longer flat.

[ 12-16-2005, 05:38 PM: Message edited by: BadgerDave ]

[mrlttlman]

The blade is set perfectly 90 deg.
No saw dust.(all blown out)
Cut perfect when blade height is at max
Starts to taper or bevel the cut when blade is lowered and it only happens on the back of the blade...
Brand new Dewalt 80 tooth Blade.....
Actually does this on all blades (CMT Amana Freud)

[BadgerDave]

mrlttlman, well in that case then I guess I gotta go to the ole standard standby answer for problems like this............. I don't know.

[mrlttlman]

Thanks anyway

[makindust]

I think I have the same problem as mrlttlman. I adjusted my trunion from below, using a dial indicator which slides in the miter track, and a flat bar instead of a blade (so the indicator touches at 7-8" radius from arbor for better resolution than a 10" diameter blade). I set the blade angle to 90 degrees, and max blade (arbor) height. After getting the Left-Right angle perfectly aligned to the miter track (same reading on dial indicator on front and back), I found that it goes out by .010" (difference in front and back readings) when I lower the arbor to a 1" blade height. My saw has very little arbor runout, but I am even eliminating that by rotating the bar so I hit the exact same spot on the back reading as the front. It's like the arbor is twisting slightly as the height is changed. I'd like to fix the problem (so it stays true for all heights), as opposed to "centering" the error on my most-used blade height. Any ideas are greatly appreciated.
My tablesaw is a model TS2424.

[billmoy]

Hi folks.

Im gettind back into woodworking after an absence of over 20 years. I recently purchased a TS3650 and encountered what I think may be the same problem

I have seen heat from a series of ripping cuts cause the stock blade to wobble momentarily. As the blade continues turning with no load the wobble goes away as the blade cools. If I stopped the saw right after the last cut as the saw stops the wobble can be seen. when the blade cools and you check the alignment it seems fine. Try a better quality blade.

[mrlttlman]

Thanks Billmoy,

I have tried various numbers of blades (dewalt, freud, Amana, Cmt)
This all seems to happen even before you turn the saw on......
At max blade height everything is cal. fine, once you lower the blade thats when the calibration goes bad.....

Thanks

[Lorax]

At max blade height are you pressing against the stop? That will cause the blade to tilt.

[makindust]

Thanks for your responses. My saw has a maximum runout (out-of-true) of .003" at the edge of the blade (brand new Forrest Woodworker II blade), and I'm not against the stops (which I agree, can cause some twisting if over-cranked). Like Mrlttlman, this problem (alignment changing with blade height) can be seen without turning on the saw.

Thanks.....