replying to J T, Xgenei Lithson wrote:
I'm going to put my solutions here because otherwise it's a long, long thread.
So if you're lucky enough to have a magnesium bottom plate with the deep
waffle x-pattern - you won't have a problem with that being flat. It will
break - but not bend. Even thick aluminum will deform - so I'm trying to deal
with my MILWALKEE TILT-LOK Right-hander that I forgot to check for flat-true
before I laid down $50 for it from a craftsman. Sigh - my one before was the
basic HF unit and it was downright DANGEROUS. This one, after much manual
pushing, is about 1/32 out of flat - just along the thin rail on the outside
of the blade - right where you would expect. So for that, I'm going to risk
bending the front or back tab - whichever looks tweaked from a drop, OUT, to
essentially STRETCH that thin piece. I expect this to work but I'll also do
about the same thing - bend those nice thick tabs holding the plate on - if I
need to bring the edge parallel with the blade. If I can't get flat within
1/64th - I will cut and "adhese" (maybe with sheet or spray - doesn't matter)
a new plate that I will have to machine to fit. I will fill any curves or
dents into petrified eternity.
Point is, fellow wannabe craftsmen and women - accepting this much lack of
precision in any tool is just suicidal to all the rest of your efforts. Would
you tolerate a ruler / tape measure being 1/8" off? Anything that you can see
with your eye - assuming a good eye - is unacceptable. And if it's your tool
- that error is going to imprint itself in every single cut. So NO!! and
HELL-NO!!

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