easy wood projects
After seriously a couple of hours of toying with the blade alignment, Ive got it where I want it to be. The good news is that we now know that it is possible to align the blade of this type of saw.
To align the blade on the Ridgid R4512, you remove the back panel and loosen the four bolts that secure the trunions to the table top. Thats a bit easier said than done. Three of the bolts were no big deal, but that fourth bolt was behind the motor, so I had to pull a Plastic Man move to be able to get to it. Once they were all loosened, I was ready to start gently persuading the trunions to move a tiny bit. At one point I had it very close, Id say about 4/1000ths away, but I just had to go the extra step. Of course, I hit it too hard and knocked everything out of alignment in the other direction. That meant I had to start all over. Also, tightening the bolts was even affecting the alignment. I had many moments of frustration, which my wife can attest to. Then I discovered another way of moving the trunions without having to use a deadblow hammer.
I loosened the screws and applied a clamp between the trunions and the side of the saw. That way, I was able to sort of dial it in. When I was close enough, I tightened the bolts, then removed the clamp. I geeked out a bit more, but Ill stop there. Suffice it to say the blade is now between 2/1000th and 3/1000th out of parallel with the miter slot perfectly acceptable.
I used a dial indicator, but Im not sure if it helped or hurt. It helped in that it was very accurate. But it hurt in that I found myself struggling to achieve a somewhat arbitrary measurement instead of quality saw cuts. Doing some test cuts with a good quality crosscut blade, I was able to make smooth-as-glass cuts with no tear-out at all. Thats the result I was going for all along. I ordered a new blade -- a Forrest Woodworker II combination blade -- and it should be here any day now (I will not comment on how many times per hour I hit refresh on the FedEx tracking number!). I cant wait to try it out.
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Im working on my full review of the saw and will have it up soon.
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