Silvan wrote in message ...
I'm trying to line up my new saw as best I can without buying any fancy
dongles to take ultra precise measurements.

Snip

Until I got my $25 magnetic dial indicator, here's what I did:

My miter gauge had some slots on the vertical surface (the "back") of
it. I screwed a piece of 2x4 onto the miter gauge so that the end of
the 2x was about a half inch from the blade. I screwed a screw into
the end grain (on the blade side) of the 2x until there was about a
half inch sticking out. Pick a saw blade tooth and bring it to the
height of the screw. Screw or unscrew until the screw head is just
touching the blade. Mark tooth with tape, crayon, blood, etc. Slide
2x to the back of the blade and rotate mark to where the screw hits
the marked tooth in the back of the blade. Adjust as necessary. Pick
another saw tooth and repeat.

I've never adjusted a saw such as yours (nice neener, BTW), but I
would think that the process of adjusting your saw table would be
pretty much the same as mine. There's a few bolts holding the table
to the base, right? Loosen some (or almost all) of them and twist the
whole table surface until the miter slots are parallel with the blade.
Then, carefully tighten bolts down. It took me about an hour to do
mine.

Incidentally, my 2x4 screw method (that I think I got from Charlie
Self--thanks, Charlie) proved to have less than .001" deviation as
measured with my cheap-ass dial indicator. Knowing that, I still use
the ol' 2x4 screw method for periodic checks of my miter slots. It's
easier than the dial indicator.

I would say that .014" is kinda a lot, though. If you're not getting
any burning, it may be that the rip fence is parallel to the blade,
but not to the saw table. Or maybe that the carbide hangs over the
edge of the blade by that much.

My brother-in-law called my saw Old Smoky for a while there.

Hope it helps, Sylvan.

-Phil Crow