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#1
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Delta Blade Alignment Procedures - Contractor's saw models 34-444and 34-445Z series
On Friday, June 2, 2000 2:00:00 AM UTC-5, Bob Sosenko wrote:
Just thought I'd pass this along to those that have been having difficulty in aligning the blade parallel to the miter slot on these particular contractor saws. They may also apply to other Delta series saws as long as they have two tie-bars as part of the undercarriage. I installed a new blade the other night and checked alignment using my TS Aligner Jr. and found that it was off by nearly 5 thousandths (front to rear - using same tooth on blade as ref). Decided to align and while doing so, managed to snap a trunnion bolt ! Well, the saw was due for a good cleaning and lube anyway, so I pulled out the whole undercarriage mechanism. It was a fairly simple process actually and not nearly as difficult as I was anticipating. Luckily, the bolt I snapped was left with a few threads exposed and was easily removed. There is no printed spec for these bolts in their literature so I called Delta tech support and finally got connected with a very knowledgeable and helpful individual (Ron as I recall). He said a grade 5 bolt (same size) will do - but add lock washers to each of the four trunnion bolts as long as I have it apart. These will help maintain the alignment. There also is no spec for how tight these bolts should be but "good 'n snug and not over-tightened" is all that's needed he said. The trunnion bolts are not marked with a grade number and using a grade 5 means that I probably will never be able to snap the bolt again, it will most likely strip out the threads in the base before it breaks. So a word of caution - tight enough is one turn before it strips or snaps - wherever that is ! Considering that I was using a 6" long 1/2" box wrench and was not leaning on it when it snapped, the original bolts are definitely not grade 5. Now for the interesting part. Delta faxed me a two sheet procedure that describes how to do this alignment. It's called "Blade Alignment Instructions for Original Contractors-Type Saws (when the saw has two Tie-Bars)". Pages are marked CS07 and CS07a and are not in the manual. I've included the instructions below but since binaries are not appreciated in this ng, I didn't scan the diagram. Here's the procedure (minus diagram) as faxed to me: (unplug the saw first) I've added a note or two to help which are denoted by (My note....). .......................................Delta Procedures........................................ ............. Initial Measurement: 1. Raise the sawblade to it's maximum height and mark one tooth, at the front of the blade as a reference. 2. Using a combination square, measure from the left edge of the right-hand miter gauge slot to the sawblade tooth that was marked in step 1 (Note this measurement). Then rotate the blade to the rear and measure from the same marked tooth to the miter slot. (Note this measurement). IF the two measurements are NOT the same, proceed with step 3. Note: refer to parts diagram on the following page for part locations. (My note...this is the step I never knew had to be done, nor have I ever heard anyone mention it before.) 3. Remove the sawblade. (Remember, it is still at it's maximum height) 4. Place a flat plate (or similar flat object) on top of the two tie-bars.. (The size of the plate should be at least 6" by 8", and the flatter the better). Depress one corner of the plate and if it rocks, the tie-bars are not parallel. This must be corrected as it will affect the alignment of the blade. To make the Tie-Bars parallel: 5. Loosen the tie-bar locknuts (2ea. ref #245) located at the rear of the saw. 6. Grasp the motor bracket (ref #244) and move it left and/or right. Check the rocking of the flat plate and when it can no longer rock, the tie-bars are parallel...re-tighten the locknuts. Aligning the saw undercarriage: 7. Remove the flat plate and re-install the sawblade. 8. Loosen the front trunnion bolts (2ea. ref #207) and the rear trunnion bolts (2ea. ref #243). 9. Move the entire undercarriage around while measuring as in step 2. 10. When the two measurements are the same, re-tighten the front two trunnion bolts (ref #207). 11. Before tightening the rear trunnion bolts, push forward on the rear trunnion bracket to allow the undercarriage to snugly fit between the two trunnions. 12. Re-check the blade to miter slot measurement and if they are still equal, re-tighten the rear trunnion bolts (ref #243). 13. If the blade to miter slot measurements have changed, repeat steps 8 thru 12. .........................................End of Delta Procedures........................................ .... Without a diagram to look at this may be confusing but I suspect most of us never thought about the tie-bar alignment steps 5 & 6. If these are not parallel to each other then you can tap / hammer / move / and swear at it until the cows come home and it will never align correctly. Move the blade (up / down) then recheck alignment and you will find that you're out of alignment again ! You must keep the trunnion brackets tight to the rest of the mechanism. I'm off to find some grade 5 bolts, lockwashers and a flat plate (glass maybe if I can't find a steel plate of some sort). I'll be reassembling and aligning tonight. If I find a better or easier way, I'll make a follow-up post and let you know what I did. If you try to contact Delta tech support, (800) 438-2486 you'll most likely get a busy signal like I did for two days. Finally contacted HQ at (901) 668-8600 and they paged tech support for me and he was on the line in less than a minute. Course I was nice to the sweet young thing that answered the call, told her I'd been trying for two days and could she help - sure 'nuff ! I'll ding Delta for not including these procedures in the manual or at least posting them on their web site but tech support (Ron) was very helpful and friendly. He also gave me a few tips on how to adjust the blade height (worm-gear) mechanism since mine is a bit to tight when raising/lowering the blade. The worm-gear is pinned to a shaft that goes thru another guide-shaft that has an off-center hole bored thru it. By loosening the nut near the worm-gear end, the shaft (with the off-center bore) can be rotated which adjusts the gear meshing clearance between the worm-gear and the gear-height mechanism. Confusing explanation but when you look at the mechanism, it will be clear to you. Hope all the above is useful to someone and provides a better explanation on why we're having problems when making the blade to miter slot adjustment. Bob S. Thanks for posting Bob. I really appreciate it. I had an issue after a couple of 45 cuts and could not get the blade back in alignment. The back of the blade was closer to the fence than the front and all the trunion adjustments would not get it back in line. Finally found your post and found out the tie-bars came out of parallel. After following your post, it all as right as rain! Thanks! Tom |
#2
Posted to rec.woodworking
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Delta Blade Alignment Procedures - Contractor's saw models 34-444and 34-445Z series
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#3
Posted to rec.woodworking
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Delta Blade Alignment Procedures - Contractor's saw models 34-444 and 34-445Z series
snip....of long post...
This had been posted many years ago on either this site, or various other forums. Good to see it again. I had done this, but still can not get 45 degree cuts to be dead on, the blade does not track straight. When I get my saw stop, I will enjoy not fighting my 45 degree cuts. -- Jeff Jeff, Been a number of years but there were some follow-up posts by others that addressed the misalignments at angles other than 90° when the blade is tilted. I found on my own saw (at the time) that the trunion lands on the underside of the top were not at the same height. So when you adjust the tie bars at 90°, they are not parallel at any other setting. Turn the saw upside down, use a flat plate and check at 90° and then again at 45° and see if the plate wobbles. You have to hold the plate to the bars obviously but you'll know if they're parallel or not. The procedure for finding which land was not at same height others was trial and error. I simply placed a small shim ( a thou or two) on one of the trunion lands and rechecked alignment until I found which combination of shim and position worked. I have to attribute that tip to Ron at Delta also. We talked for quite awhile that day and he mentioned that some of the iron Delta got for the tops was not aged the full 3 years and would warp after being machined. So while he didn't have a good procedure to give me, he said it was worth checking and trying to adjust for it by adding shims. Conversely if a land is higher, stone or file it down but keep it flat. I don't recall if I ever made any posts on that trial and error procedure since others were already coming up with ideas on how to check and make that adjustment. Trying to think of the right terminology to search on but coming up blank at the moment. Glad that original post was found to be helpful to others. Bob S. |
#4
Posted to rec.woodworking
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Delta Blade Alignment Procedures - Contractor's saw models 34-444and 34-445Z series
On 10/7/2013 9:59 PM, Bob wrote:
snip....of long post... This had been posted many years ago on either this site, or various other forums. Good to see it again. I had done this, but still can not get 45 degree cuts to be dead on, the blade does not track straight. When I get my saw stop, I will enjoy not fighting my 45 degree cuts. There is no guarantee of that. That said the chances of any new cabinet saw not being set up properly from the factory is probably close to zero. BUT the Sawstop, at least the industrial model, has specific instructions to correct that problem should it occur. Typically with most cabinet saws you use shims between the table and the trunnion/yoke. The industrial SawStop has an engineered adjustment found at the back inside of the saw cabinet. Now simply making the blade parallel to the miter slot at the 90 degree bevel setting is a piece of cake with the SawStop. |
#5
Posted to rec.woodworking
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Delta Blade Alignment Procedures - Contractor's saw models 34-444 and 34-445Z series
"Bob" wrote in :
When I get my saw stop, I will enjoy not fighting my 45 degree cuts. Bob -- Could you post the pdf somewhere? Thanks!! |
#6
Posted to rec.woodworking
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Delta Blade Alignment Procedures - Contractor's saw models 34-444 and 34-445Z series
Bob -- Could you post the pdf somewhere? Thanks!! .................................................. .................. Have any idea how old that post was and how many computers I've had since then....;-) I never had a pdf file, just a fax. But I did do a search of all my hard drives (13 of them) and then did a quick Google and if you can believe it, I found it he http://media.ptg-online.com/media/dm..._Cs07m.TSD.pdf After all these years... It doesn't say it's for the Delta 34-444 / 445Z series but the reference numbers and diagrams are what I put in my original post. Hope it helps - at least you now have a diagram. Bob S. |
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