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SawStop Contractor Saw Blade Alignment Procedure

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20K views 17 replies 7 participants last post by  aktrout  
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#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
I have a SawStop Contractor Table Saw which I love. The only concern I have had is the alignment of the blade to the left side miter slot.

SawStop has a procedure they will give you for improving the alignment of the blade but it is very much a trial and error system. Then the procedure is written with enough cautions that a person could be hesitant to even give it a try.

I have spent a considerable amount of time speaking with a SawStop tech about this. He was very helpful. With his impute I have spent quite a bit of time exploring and experimenting on how to do this. I have put together a five page description with photos of what I learned. I came up with a procedure that allowed me to quickly and easily get the blade alignment dead on.

All of this is too lengthy to post here, but I want to get it out there on the Internet so others won't have to spend as much time as I have figuring this out.

If you would like a copy of what I have written, email me at nicholsmr@gmail.com and I will send you a PDF file copy.

04.04.2020

This is the addendum I wrote outlining the experimentation I did and the precise procedure I developed from that.

I have been getting so many requests for these two documents I am going to try and post links to them.
https://nicholsconsulting-my.sharepoint.com/:b:/g/personal/mel_nicholsconsulting_onmicrosoft_com/EZ5cWNQyc7JBnlp0zzV92EoBKjVGxJJkwmK19_9mxemdjA?e=ESbGB4

This is what I got from SawStop and is the "Trial and Error" Method.

https://nicholsconsulting-my.sharepoint.com/:b:/g/personal/mel_nicholsconsulting_onmicrosoft_com/EYhotOzSFZJNmD5icOWG_ykBQZNM830JN4wfAl43h5tbZA?e=yFkwyf
 
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#5 ·
There are two documents I have. The first is the official SawStop procedure. The other is about four or five pages long and outlines my conversations with SawStop and the experimentation that I did and how it turned out. If I could simply post the two PDF files I would, but if you can do that I haven't spent enough time to figure out how to do it. I don't want to have to re-enter everything I have in the two documents.
 
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#6 ·
You can copy and paste the text from PDFs into a blog post, assuming the PDFs are not scanned as images.

It's also possible (though more technical) to copy the pictures out as well.

You could also post the PDFs to Dropbox or some other place and link to them from the blog post if there's content there you can't get into the post.
 
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#14 ·
I do not know what the situation is now, but when I bought my saw there is no procedure in the book for making such an adjustment. I had to call SawStop to get a supplemental document that explained how to do it. Then it was very much a trial and error process.

Are you sure you are talking about the Contractor Saw? The enclosed table saw has a procedure for this in the instruction manual and it is quite easy and straightforward. The procedure I am talking about is the contractor saw, which is not in an enclosed cabinet.
 
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#15 ·
A note that might help with alignment. Forest saw blades makes calibration disks for this purpose, but you have to call them to order. The item is not listed on their website. I stumbled across this a endemically, when i called them to ask if their dampening disks could be used and that's when they informed me about the calibration disk. The disks are flat to +\- 0.001 inches as opposed to their dampening disks which are +\- 0.01. The product number is TD-XX with the XX being the size disk that is ordered. For me, I have the 10 inch SawStop contractor saw, with a 10 inch blade, so my part number was TD-10 (Testing Disk 10 inches). Cost was $61.00 plus shipping. Using the disk means you don't have to premark and individual saw blade tooth.
 
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#17 ·
I used the procedure provided by SawStop and was able to get alignment to 0.002", but there is a lot of back and forth with the back trunion, tap on the left, move a little on right with screw driver wedged between trunnion and sheet metal casing. Back and forth until it's dialed in. If I fussed a little more I think I could have achieved less than 0.001". O ONE NOTE, ALIGN WITH MOTOR BELT INSTALLED. THE WEIGHT OF THE MOTOR WILL KNOCK IT OUT OF ALLIGNMENT BY ABOUT 0.008.
 
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