ts wrote:

An update -- I got a dial indicator. The blade is .02 out of parallel
with the mitre slot back side is further out. Theortically if I
adjust the fence to be almost parallel to the blade rip cuts should
be ok, at least in my thinking. I only rip on the tablesaw, crosscuts
are done on my sliding miter saw.

I think trying to get the blade parallel with the slot would be a real
pain.

..020 is a lot to be out. Most of us try for under .004. (At least I
believe that's what I was told when I first undertook to align my
Craftsman). Getting the blade parallel is a bit of work, depending on what
type of saw you have. Contractor saws typically have the the trundle bolted
to the underside of the table which means you have to remove the table from
the body of the saw. Often, the mounting flats where the bolts secure the
trundle to the table are not machined perfectly flat, so you have to be
careful when tightening them down after making adjustments, or the trundle
will shift. Since we're talking only a couple of thousanths here, any shift
is going to be too much shift. It's not as bad a job as you may think, but
it does take attention to detail, check, re-check, re-check, etc. to ensure
that you end up with a properly aligned blade. That's a good time to clean
up all the threads for the tilt and the raise/lower as well, since
everything is accessable.

You'd probably spend a couple of hours going the full route. Since you're
just going to rip - I'd do just as you suggest above and just align the
fence to the blade. I'd try really hard for dead-nut, and settle for a thou
or two. I believe conventional wisdom around here is that anything over
..004 is going to start showing problems for you. It should be easy enough
to bring your fence in perfectly - much less effort than aligning the blade.

--

-Mike-