Square bandsaw miter slot to blade - help please!
#21
John, with all respect you seem to be more engaged in making your point even if it means it does not apply. Cutting tenon cheeks isn’t performed with a miter gauge, full stop. I stand fully by my prior comments and add I would never consider cutting dovetails to the line and not allowing final trimming for best fit with any type of saw.
Any free advice given is worth double price paid.
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#22
Place a large neodymium magnet on the flat of a wider blade approx.1” above the table. Place a steel rule on the magnet. Align the slot to the angle of the rule.
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#23
(07-27-2019, 01:09 AM)Woodenfish Wrote: John, with all respect you seem to be more engaged in making your point even if it means it does not apply. Cutting tenon cheeks isn’t performed with a miter gauge, full stop. I stand fully by my prior comments and add I would never consider cutting dovetails to the line and not allowing final trimming for best fit with any type of saw.

I've done that many, many times.
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#24
(07-26-2019, 06:25 AM)KC Wrote: Don't release the tension.  I know that's the popular thing to do, and there's likely some science behind it... but I think I've broken two bandsaw blades in the last 20 years.  And one of those was rusted all to hell from sitting for a couple of years (and coincidentally, not under tension due to a move).
.......................
Don't release the tension.

The only time I release the tension is when I change blades....35 years on a 14" Delta and never have broken a blade.
Often Tested.    Always Faithful.      Brothers Forever

Jack Edgar, Sgt. U.S. Marines, Korea, America's Forgotten War
Get off my lawn !
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#25
(07-27-2019, 06:58 AM)Phil Thien Wrote: Place a large neodymium magnet on the flat of a wider blade blade approx.1” above the table.  Place a steel rule on the magnet. Align the slot to the angle of the rule.

Very clever!  -Howard
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#26
(07-25-2019, 06:54 PM)cputnam Wrote: Finally got my Grizzly G0513X2 assembled (took this long to get help to move it from the shipping pallet to the mobile base.)  I managed to square the table to the blade although it seems to change with every tension release.  I am at a loss for squaring the miter slot to the blade.  Grizzly says to put a ruler parallel to the blade and measure to the miter slot.  There is at least a 20 degree arc at the ends of the ruler and my actually straight ruler appears to cover a gullet and 1 or 2 teeth of the ½" blade provided by Grizzly.  And of course, the table is held to the trunnions by 4 bolts and just slides around limited only by to holes bored into the trunnions.

So how do you folks deal with the issue?

TIA

I square the table exactly like Grizzly tells you too. My saw is G1073 , about 22 years old . There are only two locking knobs on my saw. I loosen the knobs enough so the table can be adjusted with a rubber mallet. I take a rule from a combination square and place it in between teeth and flat on the table . Sometimes I install a small magnet on the blade and the rule. I tap the table til the rule looks parallel to the slot. I don't bother measuring . If it looks parallel I tighten the locking knobs. Rarely have to adjust the table again after tightening the knobs. The magnet is not absolutely necessary as long as you place the rule back on the blade after tapping the table. 
I am not sure what the 20° arc is supposed to mean. I'm assuming the blade appears to be out of parallel to the slot by that amount. Follow Grizzly info and you will be able to rip straight after aligning the fence to the slot. I adjust the tension first, open the top door and push on the blade towards the wheel. I adjust common blades to 3/8" belly . This works for most brand blades. Some blades require more or less tension depending on the manufacturers instructions.
I never release the tension, no particular reason just do not give it a thought.
mike
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#27
According to Alex Snodgrass (Carter demonstrator) and others, there is no such thing as blade drift on a properly set up saw.
Thanks,  Curt
-----------------
"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards."
      -- Soren Kierkegaard
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#28
(07-27-2019, 01:09 AM)Woodenfish Wrote: John, with all respect you seem to be more engaged in making your point even if it means it does not apply. Cutting tenon cheeks isn’t performed with a miter gauge, full stop. I stand fully by my prior comments and add I would never consider cutting dovetails to the line and not allowing final trimming for best fit with any type of saw.

Actually, it does apply and in both examples.  You are right that the workpiece registers against the fence when cutting tenon checks.  However, the fence is first set parallel to the miter slot, at least in a properly set up bandsaw where drift is eliminated when the saw is first set up (as the OP asked about) rather than compensated for.  

Just because you would never consider cutting dovetails w/o allowing for trimming doesn't mean it can't be done  Go look at Michael Fortune's article in FWW #270 for inspiration.  In that article he uses sleds to hold the workpiece.  Those sleds have runners that ride in the miter slot.  In order for the angles to be correct, the miter slot has to be parallel with the blade.  

A well tuned bandsaw is a very capable machine.  

John
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#29
(07-27-2019, 06:58 AM)Phil Thien Wrote: Place a large neodymium magnet on the flat of a wider blade approx.1” above the table.  Place a steel rule on the magnet. Align the slot to the angle of the rule.

Axminster sells just such a beast - for $20. I ordered one. DHK says here tomorrow
Thanks,  Curt
-----------------
"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards."
      -- Soren Kierkegaard
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#30
(07-25-2019, 06:54 PM)cputnam Wrote: Finally got my Grizzly G0513X2 assembled (took this long to get help to move it from the shipping pallet to the mobile base.)  I managed to square the table to the blade although it seems to change with every tension release.  I am at a loss for squaring the miter slot to the blade.  Grizzly says to put a ruler parallel to the blade and measure to the miter slot.  There is at least a 20 degree arc at the ends of the ruler and my actually straight ruler appears to cover a gullet and 1 or 2 teeth of the ½" blade provided by Grizzly.  And of course, the table is held to the trunnions by 4 bolts and just slides around limited only by to holes bored into the trunnions.

So how do you folks deal with the issue?

TIA

Measure the wood, not the blade. This accounts for the combined variations and wobble in the blade, wheels, and guides. If the saw cuts true, there isn't a problem.
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