You measure your blade to slot alignment to within 0.0001 inches. Perfect! However, the blade has 0.002" runout which makes a wider kerf than the specs call for. Now what? You have to go by the kerf, nothing else matters. This is why I have an extended/sacrificial fence on the miter gauge and make my cut registration on the appropriate side of the kerf. Nothing else matters.



Measurements are "theoretical" ... the real world is the test fit.

I guess that I am the outcast here. I set up my equipment with dial indicators, and measure wood with calipers. I can tell when a piece of equipment gets out of tune. I am sure there alternative methods that will work...


we make a lot of tongue and groove, and mortise and tenon joinery. calipers are the quickest way to make sure they will fit. jmho.

Other than "Go , No Go " gauges I don't know how else you could maintain the accuracy required. We end up using the means and methods that work best for us, in our shop, with our machines.


No you are NOT an outcast!


You are probably producing larger quantities where a "misfit" would be very expensive. Tool/cutter wear is another factor you would need to be very aware of. When a blade is switched out from excessive wear, the settings must be recalibrated to the new blade.

if you actually used a dial indicator for the task you would quickly realize that post has nothing to do with what is under discussion.

That's what happens when your measuring instruments are more accurate/sensitive than the devices which hold them. The errors of

each device "stack up" and are cumulative so the entire result is now in question.



Mounting a dial indicator so it's a precise fit in the miter slot is as simple as a snug fitting piece of wood, another with a single screw

to hold the indicator. Plenty of ideas are on You Tube:


https://youtu.be/ZwfPxAJnOYE?t=288

your post, not his.

I have both a wood shop and a metal machine shop. They are in two different rooms. I take a different approach to accuracy depending on which room I am in. In the metal munching room, aside from the lathe and mills (two), I have calipers, dial indicators, micrometers, feeler gauges, precision rules, machinist levels, triangles, 1,2,3 blocks and on and on. The parts that I need to make while in that room must often be precision down to tenths of thousandths of an inch tolerance. I spend a heckofalot of time on machine and stock setups, and I spend an even greater amount of time on measuring and execution. Precision is not just anything; it is the ONLY thing.

The woodshop (in my opinion) does not command the level of precision that is paramount in the other room. I absolutely build to a level of precision that most always translates to very nice examples of my skillset. However, I have never set up a saw blade to within tenths fence or miter slot to front/back of the blade. I’ll wager that arbors, bearings and most blade washers on the average table saw aren’t precision enough to keep ultra-precise measurements repeatable. Also, that amount of precision cannot be measured in the finished cut without special tools. The marks on an average steel rule are even thicker than a single thousandth!

I do insure that the fence is parallel to the blade within the tolerance of a steel rule. Never failed me yet. Time and place for everything. And as an aside, I do not crosscut on my table saw, so miter slots are not a showstopper for me anyway.

Cheers,

people who don't use dial indicators to set up their wood working machinery and don't know how one would be used to set up woodworking machinery should probably not worry about the topic.

My set up is similar, separate shops, different machines, totally. I do have vernier calipers and micrometers in the metal shop and I also use one on the reloading bench. Reloading is another hobby that requires precision measurements or bad things will happen. I don't think blanket statements are helpful at all. We will end up using what works best in our own shops and for our own projects. No one will be converted unless they are having fitment issues or mechanical problems.


I use the metal lathe to make woodworking machines:
https://www.woodworkingtalk.com/memb...-modification/

Like I said earlier, measurements are "relative" because each measurement requires a judgement call unless it's a digital readout and repeatable. If I had to measure seven different pieces that were all required to fit within a specific dimension, there would be a stack of errors of judgement that may or may not work.