On Oct 3, 6:02*am, Puckdropper puckdropper(at)yahoo(dot)com wrote:
It took less than half an hour to diagnose and fix a minor alignment issue
with my table saw. *The combination square indicated the blade was parallel
to the miter slow, and the fence was out slightly.

The initial sign of trouble was that the rising teeth would throw up quite
a bit of sawdust. *If I stopped pushing the wood through, there would be a
circular "rainbow" left where the blade was.

After adjusting the fence the cuts are much smoother, the rising teeth
aren't throwing up as much sawdust, and there's no more unwanted "rainbow"
effects. *The difference is like going from an ok blade to a good one.

Why did I wait so long?

Enjoy your "new table saw" !

Some people -- when they lay out the steps for a new project --
include "setting up all the machines," (saws and jointer, for me,
primarily) before they begin.

I don't do it *nearly* so often, but ... I think of setup as I think
of oil changes, and probably with the same frequency.

Like everything else, once you're in the habit, it only takes a few
minutes with a good square (combination, machinist's, or other) to be
sure that everything is square and parallel, as it ought to be.

On the bandsaw, for example, the square checks take ... like a minute,
and -- almost always -- checking bearing clearance is a lightning fast
visual. Mine don't seem to come out of adjustment, unless (obviously)
I've done a blade change.

And the difference -- to carry on the car analogy -- IS improved
safety AND performance.