Lay your measuring tape down on top of the Felder tape for the rip fence and see if they agree. ?
Have you calibrated your digital crosscut stops yet? ?A full PDF of directions is here: ?? Additional photos and videos of the process are here: ?
If you have the crosscut stops calibrated accurately, you can cut yourself a known-good stick that¡¯s as long as you want to compare with what the rip fence is giving you for the same distance. ?If they disagree, either the rip fence distance tape is not accurately marked, or there is some kind of cockpit error on your part, or the round bar that holds the rip fence housing is severely angled relative to the front edge of the cast iron top ?and saw blade.
I¡¯ve asked before, but never heard a response: ?is there some reason you didn¡¯t have Felder commission your machine?
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? Hi David,
Made a precise 6¡± block, then calibrated the scale to that, then produced 5 additional ones. ?Lined them up against a 36¡± long cut I made and I¡¯m off by almost a 1/16th. ?Please see attached pictures below.?
Thx,
Wade
 ? To achieve precise results, your machine needs to be precisely aligned. ?To get your machine in alignment, you need a few specialized tools, and a workflow that eliminates as many sources of error as possible. ?We don¡¯t - for instance - know if your tape measure is accurate. ?I have seen accuracy of conventional wind-up tape measures vary by as much as 1/8" over 4 feet. ?I posted some results about my tape tests a while back, and I recommend you read that post which is here: ?? Starrett tapes are the only once use in my shop. ??
You might first lay your tape measure down against or on top of the distance marking strip provided as part of your rip fence. ?Check to see if they agree. ?You would also benefit by having a decent flat steel measuring straight edge such at this one: ? I have two of these in my shop and use them all the time.? ? A conventional yardstick is no a precise measurement device. ?
The process I outlined will eliminate many sources of potential error in checking your rip fence distance tapes. ?What you care about is the results of the cut, not what your handheld tape against the fence to saw blade is suggesting the resulting cut might be in length. ?I¡¯m working under the assumption that you do not have a 12¡± digital caliper or a precise straight edge with known-good markings such as the one linked to above. ?So the process I outlined (assuming you have a 6¡± digital caliper) will get you to a string of 6¡± long blocks that when put together end-to-end should represent a known-good reference point for checking another longer off-cut length.
If you want to invest in a good but relatively inexpensive 12¡± digital caliper, I recommend this one - I have two of them and use them all the time in my woodworking workflow. ??? ?If you want something cheaper, there is this unit: ?? ?Or if you want a high quality unit, get the Mitutoyo like I have: ??
David,
That¡¯s an interesting approach. ?I¡¯m going to perform what you described, because I¡¯m very interested. ?I will admit I don¡¯t fully understand how it¡¯s going to explain the scale being off when I take simple measurement from the same tooth each time to the fence, at different distances. The further out I measure off the same tooth, the more off the scale reads.?
But I¡¯m going to try your method now.
Thank You,
Wade ? Again, without some photos or a video, I can¡¯t tell if you have a measuring cockpit error or what¡¯s going on. ? You should be measuring the results of a cut, not trying to measure from a blade tooth to the fence. ?The same is true of the crosscut stop - the measurement scale should be adjusted to agree with the precisely measured length of a piece of material cut using that stop position.
If you have a 6¡± digital caliper, here is one way to check accurately. ?Get yourself some 1 x 1 wood material. ?Set your fence at 6¡± as a bump stop, not overlapping the blade, and crosscut cut one piece using the crosscut fence and the rip fence as the bump stop. ?Measure it with your digital caliper, then adjust the fence as required, repeating the cut as necessary until the off-cut measures precisely 6¡± long. ?Then adjust the position of your measuring scale so the 6¡± mark aligns precisely with the fence face. Then cut five more of the 6¡± long blocks, and line them up on the bench end-to-end. ?That should be 36¡± long. ?Then position your fence at 36¡±, and make another off-cut there and compare that to the stack of blocks for length.
That¡¯s what I¡¯m wondering I might have, a faulty scale.
Wade On Feb 12, 2022, at 2:16 PM, Steve Lyde via <stlyde@...> wrote:
? I have not noticed my Felder measurements being off but I did have that with the slider system on my sawstop. ?It turned out to be a faulty measurement scale from Sawstop not a faulty setup procedure.? Steve Lyde ? I do not understand your setup and how you are measuring that generates the error. ?Please make a video and post it somewhere so we can see what you¡¯re seeing.
I¡¯ve got the toe out dialed in right where spec says it should be. ?Then carefully tightened the other two remaining bolts on the support bar, while checking the indicator each time. ?Everything is good and tight. ?So then I calibrated the rip fence scale at 10¡± from the blade. ?Then I proceeded to measure at 5¡±, 10¡±, 20¡± all dead on. ?Then I get to 30¡± and it¡¯s off by a 1/32¡±, then out at 40¡± it¡¯s off en entire 1/16¡± of an inch. ?There has to be something else wrong here.
Thx,
Wade
? I think you¡¯ll find an analog (rather than digital) dial indicator far more useful for alignments. ?Generally speaking, you¡¯re looking for relative measurements rather than absolute - like in the case of the eccentricity of your rip fence wheel. ?Get yourself something like this:
?
David, your a smart guy!
Video attached. ?It just went over .010 in one spot! ? I¡¯ll forward this to Felder as well
? Rotate the rip fence housing around and upside down. ?Mount the dial indicator mag base somewhere inside the rip fence housing and indicate over and down to the wheel. ?Then carefully rotate the wheel and observe the indicator reading. ? If the indicator reading changes more than say 0.010¡± as it¡¯s rotated, then the wheel is defective and causing your fence to bounce up/down as it traverses the surface of the machine. ??
Yes, Just bought one prior to the saw showing up. ? Thx, Wade On Feb 12, 2022, at 9:13 AM, david@... via <david@...> wrote:
?
Are the two nuts, circled in red, only to adjust the rip fence 90 degrees to the table surface? ?And the ONLY way you want to dial in your toe out is through the adjustments of the large 50mm support bar as you described David?
Correct.
Do you have a dial indicator with magnetic base? ??Similar to this?
David Best
<magneticbasedialindicator.jpg>
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David P. Best