On 17 Feb 2006 12:34:39 -0800, "m9er" wrote:

Recently purchased a G.I. builders saw ran into some problems and have
published some info for all concerned. Seems like a great saw, but it's
not perfect.

http://home.wavecable.com/~m9er
Check out that arbor bracket! On my GI if the sawblade is made
parallel to the miter slot at full height,
the blade then moves toward the right and goes out of square as well
when lowered. It is then no longer parallel to the miter slot.
On a 10" saw blade, this translates to .040"(1MM). Since the blade is
also closer to the fence at the rear, burning takes place and can
cause kickback as well. You can check this with a scale if it is out
enough.

On 17 Feb 2006 15:32:43 -0800, "DSNail" wrote:

I've never had much luck keeping my 185 aligned once you start
beveling, etc. I am on my second saw. I complained to GI about the
first and they offered to send me an arbor bracket. Instead, I took
it to my dealer and they gave me a whole new saw. Second one has the
same problem.

The arbor bracket is the problem. GI sent me a new one but it
was out more than the one that came with the saw. The bearing
bores are not parallel to the pivot pin bore.

Recently purchased a G.I. builders saw ran into some problems and have
published some info for all concerned. Seems like a great saw, but it's
not perfect.

http://home.wavecable.com/~m9er

wrote:
Interesting, and good to know. Please keep us updated!

Im Canadian, and have been eyeing a couple GI contractors saws to
replace by craftsman.

One thing to note, the left-tilt is a different design than the
right-tilt. The vertical stop is more robust on the 185 than on the 175.

That said, on the 185 when you change blade widths the scale isn't
accurate anymore.

Chris

I've never had much luck keeping my 185 aligned once you start
beveling, etc. I am on my second saw. I complained to GI about the
first and they offered to send me an arbor bracket. Instead, I took
it to my dealer and they gave me a whole new saw. Second one has the
same problem.

klaatu wrote:
On 17 Feb 2006 12:34:39 -0800, "m9er" wrote:

Recently purchased a G.I. builders saw ran into some problems and have
published some info for all concerned. Seems like a great saw, but it's
not perfect.

http://home.wavecable.com/~m9er
Check out that arbor bracket! On my GI if the sawblade is made
parallel to the miter slot at full height,
the blade then moves toward the right and goes out of square as well
when lowered. It is then no longer parallel to the miter slot.
On a 10" saw blade, this translates to .040"(1MM). Since the blade is
also closer to the fence at the rear, burning takes place and can
cause kickback as well. You can check this with a scale if it is out
enough.

Right. So betwen the two of us we are 0 for 4. My two saws were over
a year apart. And unbelievably GI actually sent you one that was worse
then the one you had (even when you told them the problem). You've
pretty much convinced me that my thoughts of this being a fundamental
problem with GI are correct.

The manufacturer is not in Canada......your saw was made in China. Good
luck!

I'm currently waiting on a dial indicator to check alignment. I
performed a rough alignment using a square and out of the box it was at
least 1/32 out of parallel with the Miter slot. I've read about your
problem in other discussion groups and did a quick check on mine. Just
using the square and my eyeball, I can see the blade move over as it
lowers. Not sure how much it goes out of parallel as it
lowers....waiting on a dial indicator. For some reason, nobody
carries them in my area. I've ordered one. I'm getting the
impression that G.I. is not at all responsive to customer issues....and
it's to their own detriment. No response to my emails.

Discussion groups are starting to fill up with stories of Manufacturer
defects on their saws that should be easily traced back to poor quality
control in Tawain. Not sure what their strategy is, but I wish them
good luck grabbing a market share in the states. They are going to
need it.

If you want the name and phone/extension of the GI service manager,
I'd be happy to send it to you. I went both directions but decided to
deal with the dealer. I haven't followed up with them for the second
saw and clearly it didn't do much for me the first time.. I figure
they would not be as helpful this time. It sounds like GI wasn't much
help for klaatu either. If it were me and I had just purchased it, I
would try to get my $ back. dsnail at email dot com

As the blade is lowered the rear undergoes a .005 inch shift to the
right. So, if perfectly aligned at almost max blade height the blade
will go .005 out of parallel as it is lowered to about 1 inch. I've
repeated this a hundred times and have been sure not to fully raise it
to the stops when taking the high measurement. Also did the quick test
on the tie bars using flat glass pane and they are not perfect.

"MJN" wrote in message
oups.com...
As the blade is lowered the rear undergoes a .005 inch shift to the
right. So, if perfectly aligned at almost max blade height the blade
will go .005 out of parallel as it is lowered to about 1 inch. I've
repeated this a hundred times and have been sure not to fully raise it
to the stops when taking the high measurement. Also did the quick test
on the tie bars using flat glass pane and they are not perfect.


Give a man a micrometer and he'll find a way to trouble himself with it.

Odds on your blade flexes that much in the kerf when actually cutting, or
the piece slips that much as you try to hold it. With probably 75% of cuts
at 1 1/4 blade exposure, set it and forget it.

I agree about the micrometer................am I wrapping myself around
the axle. Also, when I tilt the blade to a 45....the blade goes out by
..012. I took a pane of glass and laid it across the tie bars and two
opposite corners rock........Would shimming that out at the trunions
help with alignment.

thanks for the response...............

"MJN" wrote in message
oups.com...
I agree about the micrometer................am I wrapping myself around
the axle. Also, when I tilt the blade to a 45....the blade goes out by
.012. I took a pane of glass and laid it across the tie bars and two
opposite corners rock........Would shimming that out at the trunions
help with alignment.

thanks for the response...............

Yep, and that procedure has been used on contractor saws for a long time. I
have one such adjustment magazinearticle in my manuals book, table saw
section. I have an ancient Delta, so one adjustment long ago has sufficed
for years of semiannual checks.

I've read a procedure that appears to have you rack the tie bars back
into parallel by jacking with the motor. It seems to me that shimming
the approprate trunion would have the same effect...............is this
true?

"MJN" wrote in message
ups.com...
I've read a procedure that appears to have you rack the tie bars back
into parallel by jacking with the motor. It seems to me that shimming
the approprate trunion would have the same effect...............is this
true?


Never read that one. I did the bars, which would seem the opposite end.

Well this procedure has you loosen the locking nuts on the bars and
then move the tie bars back into alignment using the motor as leverage
then tighten them up. Is that the one you did or did you actually do
some shimming?

I thought this was a good article,

http://www.taunton.com/FWN/ToolGuide....aspx?id=24930

http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/wvt117.asp

You can shim the trunions if the saw goes out of parallel when
beveling.


MJN wrote:
Well this procedure has you loosen the locking nuts on the bars and
then move the tie bars back into alignment using the motor as leverage
then tighten them up. Is that the one you did or did you actually do
some shimming?

On 27 Feb 2006 21:27:07 -0800, "MJN" wrote:

As the blade is lowered the rear undergoes a .005 inch shift to the
right. So, if perfectly aligned at almost max blade height the blade
will go .005 out of parallel as it is lowered to about 1 inch. I've
repeated this a hundred times and have been sure not to fully raise it
to the stops when taking the high measurement. Also did the quick test
on the tie bars using flat glass pane and they are not perfect.
Consider yourself lucky. Set up your saw so that the blade is
parrallel to the miter slot when it is cranked up all the way but not
to the stop. Then the back of the blade will move away from the miter
slot when cranked down by .005. This condition is good. The back side
of the blade will not cut on the fence side. If you want to swap arbor
brackets let me know. I would be happy to.