On Oct 17, 8:34 pm, wrote:
factory setup is a relevant data point, in that it indicates how much
care the Mfr. puts into final stage QC., less shipping jostling. the
shipping is the real bugger for factory setup... you're always gonna
have to do some alignment to a machine that has been moved. a good
argument can be made that the consumer benefits more from the effort
and QC. going somewhere other than into factory alignment, but it also
can be argued that the production line that aligns each and every saw
will have a better handle on and more interest in all of the upstream
precision machining processes.

me, I mostly buy old machines anyway, so factory alignment is kinda a
moot point in my shop.

I think it's important for the factory to test machinery before it
ships. And, you can't tell if a machine is operating properly
(accurately) unless it's aligned. Aligning it at the factory also
proves that it can be aligned. You would be amazed at the number of
customers who call me to say that they cannot move the trunnions
enough to obtain proper blade alignment because the castings are so
far out of whack. My own unisaw was incapable of blade tilt all the
way to 45 degrees as delivered. I had to go after the castings with a
file (as recommended by the tech support guy) before it worked
properly.

It's not very reasonable to expect that a machine can maintain proper
alignment after riding around on fork lifts, in trucks, and on rail
cars. The amount of vibration and thermal variation that it receives
would challenge the skills of even the best engineers to come up with
ways to maintain alignment. It would be a waste of time and money to
implement such countermeasures to ensure that factory alignment was
maintained during shipping. If a manufacturer really wants to ensure
the best customer experience, then they should sell through dealers
who provide accurate setup and alignment at no extra charge. But, in
this "big box" retail world, it's not a very practical option.

In the 16 years that I've been making TS-Aligners (many thousands of
units), I think I've heard from only 3-4 customers who said that their
machine was accurately aligned from the factory. I chalk it up to
pure luck.

Ed Bennett


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