some newbie observations

[milobloom]

Well, I finally broke out the 3100 for some real cutting this weekend. I found a few things that caught me off-guard that I didn't think of and didn't see mentioned here until I ran a search. I thought I'd post to help others who might be getting started.

1) When I made some test cuts to check everything, I found that I was losing an extra 1/8 of an inch -- for example, when I was trying to trim something down to 12 inches, i was coming out at 11 7/8. I finally realized I wasn't accounting for the kerf of the blade when I set the fence. Bumping the rails 1/8 to the left -- as in setting them so the indicator was at 1/8 when the rail was against the blade -- fixed that problem.

2) Then for the rip fence... take the time to actually measure the fence to make sure it's square to the blade. I simply did it by sight and it looked fine, but when I started ripping things, they weren't square. At first I blamed it on bad CS cuts on my part when I was ripping down the panels, but when it kept happening, I checked and found the rip fence was out of square by about 1/8 of an inch on the back end.

Just a few noob observations that hopefully others can avoid.

[mehranh]

Welcome to the madness . Do you use the fence on the left side of the blade? Is that your preference or is there a reason for it? Regardless...if you like you can simply move the rails to compensate for the blade kerf.

I suprise that the rip fence was so much out of line. My fence was nearly perfect out of the box, although, some fine tunning is certainly indicated. But 1/8" seems alot, have you confirmed the proper position of the fence on the rails, locking mechanism, and the back rail lock?

[leehljp]

That 1 /8 inch makes a big difference. Many on the forum use the scale, but I would guess that the majority do not use the scale, opting instead to use a rule, and then use the rails to slide from side to side for greater flexibility and table area on one side or the other.

I mentioned the sliding rails in case you were not aware of that. It sure is handy but it also means you have to reset the rails in order to use the scale.

[milobloom]

I'm using the fence on the right of the blade, but at the moment I'm trimming about 1/4 to 2/3 of an inch off plywood panels that range from 24 to 37 inches in length. So rather than set the fence to 30 inches to get a 30-inch panel from a 30 1/2 inch piece, i'm setting it to 1/2 inch and cutting them that way. It's just been easier.

Once I get to the bigger panels of this thing, I'm switching to the router method with a straight bit, most likely. or the CS again.

[Tundra_Man]

I'm reminded back to my early days of woodworking 20 years ago, when I was building a speaker box for my first car. I drew out all my cuts on a big sheet of particle board, then cut them out using my dad's circular saw, centering the blade by eye down each line I'd drawn.

Later when I assembled it, I wondered why nothing lined up right.

Yep, the kerf makes a big difference!

[Mainemarc]

You know, I think this is a really great observation and Milobloom should be commended for posting about it. What seems so obvious to many of us can be completely overlooked by someone just starting out.

Reminds me of my early days in woodworking. I could not for the life of me figure out what they meant by a 50" rip fence on a table saw, or how it could increase rip capacity. I looked at the catalog pictures, wracked my brain and I still had no idea what they were talking about. It didn't even make any sense to me; I couldn't see how an extra long fence would have any effect cutting capacity.

Then I finally figured it out: there is no such thing as a 50" rip fence; it's the rails that are longer! But everyone referred to it that way and most people still do. Everyone accepts it without considering how confusing it can be to newcomers.

The thing I like about this particular site is people actually take the time to not only post, but to consider who might be relying on that information and writing it in a way that can be understood.

We got all levels of knowledge and ability here and it's not just the most experienced we can learn from.

[gmack5]

Well stated, Marc. Something we all need to be aware of, all the time.

[PeteFohl]

A quote on the wall of my college physics lab that I will never forget:

"Nothing is obvious to the uninformed."

[milobloom]

I just had a spontaneous thought and felt the need to clarify here. If you're cutting so that your finished piece is between the blade and the fence, then the fence SHOULD be set to 0" when against the blade. In my case, I'm trimming the edge off pieces that are too big to fit between the fence and the blade, so my finished pieces are to the left of the blade. That's why I've had to make that adjustment.

[Ken Weaver]

Brian -
To tell the truth I obessed about my rails at first and then finally gave up trying to use the scale. It was just easier, faster and more reliable to whip out the tape measure. That way all I worry about is how wide was the final piece is going to be. After I set the fence, I take a second measurement at the front of the blade and then a third again at the back. If the fence sets up out of square (rare event), its immediately noticeable. That also freed me up to take advantage of the adjustable rails and make full cuts without worrying about what the scale said.