Ed Bennett responds:

Hmmm.... Well.... Actually.... No. The saw blade just doesn't make
a good alignment reference. I would (and do) advise against this
practice as it can easily lead to a dangerous misalignment condition.
It's always better to pick a miter slot and align everything to it.

Only argument there is that eventually the blade has to be part of the mix. As
a preference, I'd use a Freud flat disc, after checking the arbor and arbor
bearing for runout and, for the latter, flatness on its internal side.

Most people, though, are going to use the blade tips, I'll bet.

Still, if you're using the TSAligner, then there really isn't a whole lot of
excuse for sloppy measuring, though I don't consider .003" sloppy with
woodworking tool set-up. I see you don't, either.

Otherwise, I'm doing pretty well for a fat old guy who has bounced around too
much in the past 3 years or so. Just got back from Atlanta Monday--not IWF, but
a press deal for Ryobi--and am fairly well determined never to go there again.
Too big, too crowded, too---much, I guess.

Considering I was born and raised just outside NYC, that's saying a lot, I
think.

Charlie Self
"A judge is a law student who marks his own examination papers." H. L. Mencken