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Towards that end, MasterGage makes an extremely flate plate that bolts to the arbor, which in combination with their "MasterGage" dial indicator, allows you to align said arbor (and therefore, the blade) with the table, miter gauge slot and fence to within.001-.002". However, since bringing my saw into alignment, gone are the occasions of binding blades and large chunks of wood flying around the inside of the shop. The mantra for working around a table saw is or should be: It's a table saw. The two products purchased together will cost you a hundred bucks, which, for me, is a chunk of change. Well worth the expenditure. Do you know where your fingers are. It cannot be overstressed that the initial set up of a table saw is critical to being able to use that saw safely.
No binding, and no kick-back. I am getting amazing results for all my cuts and fits. If you are looking to get the best performance out of your table, radial, or miter saws,this is a must have. It doesn't matter how expensive your saw is, if you don't take the time to tune it you are not doing yourself any favors. It's a no brainer. I purchased the MasterPlate along with the MasterGage Classic and my table saw and miter saw have never been so accurate.it's scary. No burning, no blade marks,dead on square cuts, AND above all SAFETY.
A year later I did it again and decided to use this master plate, I tried it first using the blade and thought I was close - then I used the plate and realized I was off.With this plate I was now able to easily and quickly get my miter slots on my table saw to 0/1000" tolerance. If you want to adjust your table saw to perfection, you need a verifiable and repeatable reference.When I first setup my Delta Cabinet saw I used a dial gauge and my quality table saw blade to get the miter slots to within 1/1000".I was always skeptical because you have to move the blade under tension to do front and back.
ONE WAY TO FIX THE PROBLEM IS TO USE TWO SPRING CLAMPS, ONE ON THE FRONT AND ONE ON THE BACK KIND OF LIKE SAW HORSES TO KEEP THE PLATE FROM MOVING.ALL IN ALL THIS PRODUCT WORKED VERY WELL FOR ME. ITS SIMPLE TO SET UP ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS REMOVE YOUR BLADE AND REPLACE IT WITH THE MASTER PLATE, DEPENDING ON WHAT YOUR CHECKING FOR WILL DETERMINE WHETHER YOU SET IT VERTICAL OR HORIZONTAL TO THE TABLE BY USING ONE OF THE 2 SUPPLIED (5/8") OR 2 (1" HOLES). SOMETIMES MADE SLIDING THE DIAL INDICATOR ACROSS ITS SURFACE KIND OF CUMBERSOME, THE GAGE WOULD SHOOT THROUGH THE HOLES AND YOU WOULD HAVE TO RESET IT, THIS WILL PROBABLY LINE UP DIFFERENT FROM TABLE TO TABLE AND IF YOU WERE TO USE THE SUPER BAR OR SOME OTHER DEVICE TO CHECK WITH, IT MAY NOT INTERFERE THE SAME WAY. SO YOU CAN ONLY GET SO ACCURATE WITH THE PREEXISTING LIMITATIONS OF YOUR SAW.NEGATIVES:IT DOES NOT COME WITH THE SUPERBAR.
POSITIVES:THIS IS PROBABLY THE BEST WAY TO CHECK/SET YOUR TABLE SAW ALONG WITH THE (SUPERBAR 400-01) FOR THE PRICE. JUST BE PREPARED TO GET DUST IN YOUR EYES WHEN ADJUSTING YOU TRUNNIONS. I CAME ACROSS ONE MORE PROBLEM, IF YOUR MOTOR OR BELT TURNS EASILY THE PLATE WILL ALSO TURN, NORMALLY YOU WOULD THINK THIS WOULD NOT BE A PROBLEM BUT IT IS, FIRST OFF THE PLATE IS ALUMINUM SO IT CAN GET MARRED EASILY AND SECOND THE HOLES COME IN TO PLAY AGAIN WHEN YOU SLIDE THE DIAL INDICATOR ACROSS IT MAKING IT FRUSTRATING TO USE. WITH ITS 6" X 10" X 1/4" THICK MACHINED GROUND PLATE ITS MUCH MORE ACCURATE THAN USING YOUR SAW BLADE TO CHECK ARBOR TO MITER SLOT PARALLELISM AND TO MAKE SURE YOUR TABLE SAWS 90 DEG.
(BUMMER) WHEN CHECKING PARALLELISM THE 2 HOLES THAT ARE FOR CHECKING TRUE 90DEG. GOOD LUCK. IS TRUE, WITH A PRECISION SQUARE. IF YOUR CHECKING FOR PARALLELISM YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY PURCHASE THE SUPERBAR THEY WORK HAND IN HAND WITH EACH OTHER.THE PLATE SURFACE WAS MUCH MORE SMOOTH ACROSS THE SURFACE THAN MY BIESEMEYER FENCE.
The plate wasn't flat enough to get those tolerances. If you are using a quality dial caliper you quickly see how un-flat it is.
I feel you can spend your money on better things. I wouldn't mind (I also wouldn't have bought it) if they didn't say it could achieve that kind of accuracy but it can't.
I was expecting accuracy to "within + or - 1/1000. But that's about all.
Maybe it would be better to spend three times as much if what you're getting actually works as advertised. I didn't get it.
The plate is good for lining up an engineering square to check for 90 degree cuts.
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