I adjusted and squared everything. When I flip my pieces over and put them
back together they fit perfectly. Except...

The table is flat, but when I move the arm to 45 degrees, both right and
left, the blade is a sixteenth close to the blade then when it is at 90
degrees. This doesn't make any sense to me; it is like the arm droops a
sixteenth when I turn it.

Any advice on what this is, or how to fix it. Or, does it even matter?
Unless I am cutting a diagonal dado, it probably will never make a
difference, and I have never cut a diagonal dado. Any other times it would
affect the results?

Other than that, everything seems well in hand; I can't wait to see if it
stays in adjustment. The guy I bought it from says he got rid of the riving
knife and hold down because they are just a safety things and got in the
way. Well, I don't expect to be ripping on it, so it isn't much of a loss;
but they would be nice to have anyhow. Oh well.

No, there is one more question...
A while back people recommended "Fine Tuning Your Radial Arm Saw". What is
in there worth $15 that is not in the instructions?

I had one of those that I cursed for forty years. When I moved my shop
I left it behind with my lawyer. He is very proud that he built a
rustic porch for his cabin with it. We're both happier.
The table won't stay leveled and there is no fine adjustment to set the
angle locks true. It was also underpowered. Good riddance!
Bugs

Toller wrote:
I adjusted and squared everything. When I flip my pieces over and
put them back together they fit perfectly. Except...

The table is flat, but when I move the arm to 45 degrees, both right
and left, the blade is a sixteenth close to the blade then when it is
at 90 degrees. This doesn't make any sense to me; it is like the arm
droops a sixteenth when I turn it.

Did you mean that the blade is 1/16 closeer to the *table*? If so, then
either the column is seriously out of whack or your table *isn't* flat
and level - it is bowed downward in the middle.

I vote for the latter. The cure is to go through the saw alignment
steps paying particular attention to the two recessed bolts in the table
that allow differential "warping" of the table.


--
dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

Toller wrote:
I adjusted and squared everything. When I flip my pieces over and put them
back together they fit perfectly. Except...

The table is flat, but when I move the arm to 45 degrees, both right and
left, the blade is a sixteenth close to the blade then when it is at 90
degrees. This doesn't make any sense to me; it is like the arm droops a
sixteenth when I turn it.

Any advice on what this is, or how to fix it. Or, does it even matter?
Unless I am cutting a diagonal dado, it probably will never make a
difference, and I have never cut a diagonal dado. Any other times it would
affect the results?

Your table is not level. Flat? Maybe but not level.

IIRC (only have to go through this drill when I replace the table of the
saw) remove the blade from the saw. Rotate the head so the arbor is
pointed downward. Loosen (so they are just snug) all the metal brackets
holding your MDF or plywood top to the RAS frame. Now, crank the arbor
down until it just touches the top. Move it all around and level the
top in this fashion. You'll likely find two (maybe more) set screws in
the field of the table that allow for adjustment over the inner support
members of the RAS frame. Adjust the table in this area in the same
fashion using the screws to raise/lower the table.

Once everything is "level" tighten down the mounting bolts on the sides,
etc.

"Toller" wrote in message
...
I adjusted and squared everything. When I flip my pieces over and put them
back together they fit perfectly. Except...

The table is flat, but when I move the arm to 45 degrees, both right and
left, the blade is a sixteenth close to the blade then when it is at 90
degrees. This doesn't make any sense to me; it is like the arm droops a
sixteenth when I turn it.


The trouble with RAS's, is that they need to be adjusted in 10,489 different
ways. Well not really.

If your blade is closer to the table when you rotate the arm in either
direction it sounds like the front end of the table is low than the back
side. Most RAS set up instructions cover using the motor arbor pointing
down to check that the table is coplanar with the path of the arm. Also
many tables have t nuts that help to take out sag when the table does sag.

On Tue, 27 Dec 2005 14:25:17 GMT, Unquestionably Confused wrote:
Toller wrote:
I adjusted and squared everything. When I flip my pieces over and put them
back together they fit perfectly. Except...

The table is flat, but when I move the arm to 45 degrees, both right and
left, the blade is a sixteenth close to the blade then when it is at 90
degrees. This doesn't make any sense to me; it is like the arm droops a
sixteenth when I turn it.

Any advice on what this is, or how to fix it. Or, does it even matter?
Unless I am cutting a diagonal dado, it probably will never make a
difference, and I have never cut a diagonal dado. Any other times it would
affect the results?

Your table is not level. Flat? Maybe but not level.

Probably not flat.

I built a replacement table as described in the "Mr. Sawdust" book. Two layers
of 3/4 Baltic Birch, with a few steel bars embedded in it. The table is very
flat, and resists deflection when croscutting. Waaay better than the stock
table.

--
Art

"Art Greenberg" wrote in message
ink.net...
On Tue, 27 Dec 2005 14:25:17 GMT, Unquestionably Confused wrote:
Toller wrote:
I adjusted and squared everything. When I flip my pieces over and put
them
back together they fit perfectly. Except...

The table is flat, but when I move the arm to 45 degrees, both right
and
left, the blade is a sixteenth close to the blade then when it is at 90
degrees. This doesn't make any sense to me; it is like the arm droops
a
sixteenth when I turn it.

Any advice on what this is, or how to fix it. Or, does it even matter?
Unless I am cutting a diagonal dado, it probably will never make a
difference, and I have never cut a diagonal dado. Any other times it
would
affect the results?

Your table is not level. Flat? Maybe but not level.

Probably not flat.

I built a replacement table as described in the "Mr. Sawdust" book. Two
layers
of 3/4 Baltic Birch, with a few steel bars embedded in it. The table is
very
flat, and resists deflection when croscutting. Waaay better than the stock
table.

I agree it is probably not flat, but my straight edge says it is. I have
redone everything from scratch. One of the rails the table sides on was off
by a hair. I fixed that, but the end result is the same.

So what is this Mr. Sawdust book? The table can certainly use an upgrade.

On Tue, 27 Dec 2005 16:40:47 GMT, Toller wrote:
I built a replacement table as described in the "Mr. Sawdust" book.
Two layers of 3/4 Baltic Birch, with a few steel bars embedded in it.
The table is very flat, and resists deflection when croscutting. Waaay
better than the stock table.

I agree it is probably not flat, but my straight edge says it is. I have
redone everything from scratch. One of the rails the table sides on was off
by a hair. I fixed that, but the end result is the same.

So what is this Mr. Sawdust book? The table can certainly use an upgrade.

http://www.mrsawdust.com/

--
Art

On Tue, 27 Dec 2005 16:40:47 GMT, Toller wrote:
I agree it is probably not flat, but my straight edge says it is. I have
redone everything from scratch. One of the rails the table sides on was
off by a hair. I fixed that, but the end result is the same.

It is possible that the column is leaning under the weight of the carriage &
motor. If that's the case, a prefectly flat table cannot be adjusted to keep a
constand depth of cut at all possible blade locations. Have you tried
tightening up the column? If your model is like mine, there are two bolts on
the column that are a different color than the rest. Try tightening them just
a little. Too tight, and the column will become very difficult to raise and
lower.

--
Art

The table should have leveling screws. the table needs to be level to the
swing of the arm.

"Toller" wrote in message
...
I adjusted and squared everything. When I flip my pieces over and put
them
back together they fit perfectly. Except...

The table is flat, but when I move the arm to 45 degrees, both right and
left, the blade is a sixteenth close to the blade then when it is at 90
degrees. This doesn't make any sense to me; it is like the arm droops a
sixteenth when I turn it.

Any advice on what this is, or how to fix it. Or, does it even matter?
Unless I am cutting a diagonal dado, it probably will never make a
difference, and I have never cut a diagonal dado. Any other times it
would
affect the results?

Other than that, everything seems well in hand; I can't wait to see if it
stays in adjustment. The guy I bought it from says he got rid of the
riving
knife and hold down because they are just a safety things and got in the
way. Well, I don't expect to be ripping on it, so it isn't much of a
loss;
but they would be nice to have anyhow. Oh well.

No, there is one more question...
A while back people recommended "Fine Tuning Your Radial Arm Saw". What
is
in there worth $15 that is not in the instructions?