Helpful Tips for Setting up a Table Saw, Part 2

A few tools and a makeshift carriage I built for my dial indicator helped me align the tabletop to the blade’s surface.

In my previous post, I shared two useful tips to streamline the assembly of a SawStop cabinet saw. In this installment, I’ll focus on aligning the tabletop and the miter gauge slots with the saw blade.

After setting up the wings and rails, I turned my attention to checking the parallelism between the blade’s surface and the miter gauge slots. While I expected a reputable company like SawStop to have things dialed in straight from the factory, I was surprised to find a significant gap between the rear and front measurements of the blade. To check this, I raised the blade to its maximum height and used a tri-square for precise measurement.

Checking parallelism with a tri-square revealed that the cast iron table top was misaligned with the blade.

The difference—roughly 1/16”—was unacceptable. So, I turned to the manual to learn how to adjust the tabletop to align with the blade. Fortunately, SawStop’s engineers made this adjustment more user-friendly compared to other saw brands. On many saws, adjusting alignment involves loosening four mounting screws between the cabinet and the cast iron top, followed by manually tapping the top left or right until you reach the right setting. This method can be frustrating and inconsistent.

In contrast, the SawStop’s top is hinged at one end (closest to the operator), and pivots left or right using two accessible set screws on the opposite corners. While you do still need to loosen the four mounting bolts underneath the top (a bit of a pain), the set screws eliminate the need for manually thumping the top into place. This more precise approach makes alignment significantly easier. SawStop’s manual and online videos explain this process well.

To fine-tune the adjustment, I recommend using a dial indicator mounted on a carriage that can slide along the miter gauge slot. While you can buy specialized table saw gauges with dial indicators (I’ll show a few in the next post), I chose to make my own. I used a short piece of wood, slanted one end, and mounted it with a bolt over the miter gauge slot’s track. Then, I attached the dial indicator to the wooden cleat with another bolt and nut. If you don’t have a miter slot track, you can mill one out of hardwood, but I suggest purchasing a pre-made track since they’re useful accessories in any woodshop.

Aligning for Parallelism

After assembling my makeshift dial indicator carriage, I measured both the front and rear of the blade and confirmed that they were indeed misaligned. I used the set screws to pivot the top until the blade was within acceptable tolerance. I then partially tightened the mounting bolts and rechecked the alignment to ensure tightening hadn’t thrown anything off. Once everything stayed in place, I fully tightened the bolts.

Probing between the miter gauge slot and the rear of the blade at the end of the alignment process.

Probing between the miter gauge slot and the front of the blade at the end of the alignment process.

Now that the saw blade was parallel to the miter gauge slot, I could adjust the fence to perfectly align with the same slot. Toward the end of the process, I noticed that moving the top had pushed the throat plate to the left, causing the edge of the throat plate’s groove to rub against the blade. To fix this, I lowered the blade and raised it again, which widened the throat plate’s groove.

Looking Ahead

Next time, I’ll introduce a few more valuable jigs to help fine-tune and set up your table saw for optimal performance.