Squaring The Blade

[Vector01]

Recently read an interesting post about a person having problems cutting puzzles. I thought it would be some good information especially for the new scrollers out there.

Evidently while attempting to cut a puzzle this person noticed that the lower portion of the pieces were coming out wider than the top. This caused problems removing and replacing the puzzle pieces. Asking for some help, this person stated that the table was level and they couldn't understand why the pieces were off?

I think that this is a common misconception with a lot of new scrollers. It's not the table being level as the blade must be square (90 degrees) to the table. Although you can have both with some adjustments to both the blade set screws in the blade holders and the table itself. A majority of times when making these adjustments you will end up with your blade square to the table but your table itself will be slightly off level. The important part is that your blade is square to the table. This will ensure your puzzle pieces or other flat cuts will slide in and out from either the top or bottom. In the attached picture you can see that the blade is square to the table but the table itself is slightly off level.

[attachment=0]blade square 1.jpg[/attachment]

[FD Mike]

Firts about square the table. Take a piece of 3/4" wood make a cut about 1/8" deep. Turn the wood around to the back and see if the blade fits nice in the kerf. Most likely the problem you with the bevel cut, is not enough tension. The blade should not move side ways more than 1/8 of an inch and that is almost too much. Second you don't have enough speed and you might be pushing too hard into the blade. Let the blade do the cutting.

FD Mike

[Dan]

Yes, make sure the table is square to the blade. Like Mike said, don't push to hard or the blade will bend to the side and cause the top-to-bottom of the cut to not be perpendicular. This happened to me several times (and still does occassionally). Also, use quality blades and tension them well.

[jjammo1]

Yeah, Silly me. I always wondered why my holes ran together when I was stack cutting. Did that for a long time. The table was set on "0" but was actually off kilter. Now all my pieces come out ok when stacking.

[Vector01]

Hi JJammo1:

 

No biggie..There was no mention of blade alignment in my Dewalt manual. Tells you how to insert a blade and drill holes for fretwork. Unless you're familiar with these procedures then you think that the saw is ready to go. Thinking back, my Hitachi CW40 manual did briefly mention blade alignment in the manual. I guess some (companies) do and some don't. Would save a lot of aggravation for the new scrollers getting their first saw.