On Wed, 02 Oct 2013 22:16:39 -0500, Leon lcb11211@swbelldotnet
wrote:

On 10/2/2013 5:29 PM, Edward A. Falk wrote:
In article ,
wrote:
***The below is referring to the 5-cut method of squaring a table saw sled fence to 90 degrees.

Unless I am mistaken, it is a misconception to think that the 5-cut method squares your table saw
blade to the sled fence. What it really does is square your fence to 90 degrees of the direction of
travel (miter track). If the blade was angled by a small amount the process would still align the
fence 90 degrees to the direction of sled travel.

If the table saw blade were a cutting laser projecting 90 degrees to the table, the 5-cut method
would still work. Because this is true, the thought that the 5-cut method squares your fence 90
degrees to a blade can not be true.

Am I missing something? I know it's picky but it makes me cringe when people make that claim.


The best you can hope for on a table saw is to use the slots in the
table as your "master". That's because those are the one thing
you can't adjust.


Actually with cabinet saws, you do adjust the location of the slots.

Yep. The blade is fixed and you align the top to it.

Everything else must either be parallel to the slots (blade, fence),
or square to the slots (cross-cut sled).

If your blade is not parallel to the fence, the cuts you make on it
will still be true, but the kerf will be wider, and narrower on the
top than at the bottom, which is a bad thing, but for small errors,
usually unnoticable.


Up to a point, if the back of the blade is enough further away than the
front, from the fence. the work will taper as you feed it. the blade
will pull the work away from the fence.

Or pinches the wood between the fence and the blade, bending the blade
and burning the wood.