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otforme (Charlie Self) wrote in message ...
Josh writes:

Thanks for the info. The model # is 36-755, but the previous owner had
added a biesemeyer fence instead of the original jet-lock fence.

I had already aligned the blade to the miter slot using the ts-aligner
(jr.) and was aligning the fence to the same miter slot. I don't think
there is a way to align the fence directly to the blade using the ts-
aligner.

Should be.

Sorry, there isn't. And, there shouldn't be. It's just not a good
practice. I recommend against it.

I don't have my Aligner in my hand at the moment, but...if you can't
figure a way to use that, try the old fashioned way.

Mark one blade tip at the front of the table (unplug that sucker first). Set
the fence along the miter slot, as close to a dead on line up as you can.
Measure from the blade tip to the fence. Rotate the blade so the tip is at the
rear of the table (or as close as it gets, of course). Measure from the blade
tip to the fence. Keep it up until you cannot see the difference, or until
you've reached a 1/64th inch kickout at the rear of the blade.

Charlie, this just sounds like you should give it some more thought.
Generally speaking, those who advocate a deliberate misalignment (for
safety) are talking about adjusting the fence 1/64" in relation to the
miter slot. If your slot is 24" long, that amounts to about 0.00065"
misalignment per inch. So, for the eight inches or so of exposed
blade, it amounts to about 0.005" total blade misalignment. It's
plenty safe but on the edge of what I would call acceptable for
quality. And, you aren't going to be able to eyeball this with a
scale no matter how good your eyes are. The advice you give here
(1/64" of blade misalignment) would amount to nearly 0.016". Sharp,
young eyes shouldn't have any trouble seeing this on a scale.
However, this degree of misligment is (in my opinion) outright
dangerous.

I think the
Aligner will work for this, too, giving a much more precise measurement, but
it's a bit more complex. I don't recall if it is in the tape or not, or the
manual.

For adjusting the fence alignment with respect to the miter slot, yes,
the Aligner works quite well for this. I'm not sure I would call it
"more complex", just read the number directly off of the dial
indicator. 1/64" is roughly 0.016". It's a heck of a lot easier for
an old fart like me than to try and read a 64ths scale!

You're right, though: if the miter slot lines up with the blade and the fence
lines up with the miter slot, all should be well. It just makes me itchy to
introduce a third variable when two can be used.

This sounds distinctively Leedsian. Such haunting words...repeated
verbatium. It sends chills up my spine. Especially this "third
variable" idea. The best practice which most consistently yields
accurate results is to align both the blade and the fence to a single
"machined in cast iron" refrence: the miter slot. It's just not a
good practice to allow the blade to dictate your fence alignment.

Ed Bennett