SMT alignment for the visually challenged (old)

[Bill Stock]

I crosscut some melamine using the half-lap method to reduce the chipout. The good news is that the chipout was minimal, the bad news is that the top and bottom cuts were out of line by more than a 1/16" in 13". I wasn't too surprised, as I had a lot of burn during the cut.

So I tried to align my SMT using method in the articles section. The instructions talk about aligning the base to within 1/64", but I can't see much under 1/16" even if my square did have gradations that fine. So I'm wondering if using a straight edge along the blade and measuring between the straight edge and the base (front & back) with a caliper would be effective. BTW, the SMT fence was about 1/16" off square when I was done, so the table is off a bit somewhere. This only amounts to about half a tick on the indicator.

[milanuk]

Might try Phil Thien's set up here:

http://www.cgallery.com/jpthien/3k.htm

I've used Lonnie in Orlando's no-measure setup in the past; I seem to get more consistent results w/ a cheap ($20-30)dial indicator from Sears or Grizzly. Apparently I suck at using feeler gauges

[Bill Stock]

Might try Phil Thien's set up here:

http://www.cgallery.com/jpthien/3k.htm

I've used Lonnie in Orlando's no-measure setup in the past; I seem to get more consistent results w/ a cheap ($20-30)dial indicator from Sears or Grizzly. Apparently I suck at using feeler gauges

Thanks that helps quite a bit. I just finished making a stick for my dial indicator yesterday too. The d*amn blade was out about .003 before I took it off to improve it, now it's .01.