4 Easy Ways to Align a Table Saw Fence

hey newbie Dan here I've got two extremely easy ways to align your fence to your miter track and they work on any table saw but wait there's more and for today only if you hang around to the end you'll get to count them two additional bonus methods for free sorry this so stupid anyway if that sounds interesting to you stick around before lining your fence you should align your blade to your miter track as shown in my table-saw Tunip video but that's up to you this first method is probably the easiest even if it's not the most exact put a combination square in your miter track pressed against the edge of the track then lock your fence next to the ruler and slide the combination square along the track keeping it pressed against the edge of the miter track if the fence moves away from the ruler or it pushes a ruler away then your fence isn't aligned properly so adjust your fences alignment and try again if you have trouble locking your fence down right next to the ruler like I do try locking your fence down first then extend the ruler to the fence this method is much more exact it requires either a miter gauge or a crosscut sled that's not so wide you can't put your fence on also in either case there should be little if any side-to-side play you'll also need an indicator gauge either analog or digital there's links in the description below if you're using a sled depending on what kind of fence it has you might be able to attach the gauge to the sleds fence mine's too tall for that so if you can't do that or you're using a miter gauge you can cut a piece of scrap wood and then you can screw the gauge to it and clamp it to the sled or miter gauge if you use SPAC screws or grk screws you can attach and remove the gauge using the same screw in the same hole many many times slide the fence over and clamp it down then zero the gauge slide it along the fence and see if the gauge changes much in my case I have a little too much play in my sled so I have to keep it pressed against the side of the miter track before I get reasonable results the defense is off adjust the alignment and try it again this first bonus method is similar to the first method once it's setup it's probably actually quicker to use than the first cut a runner for your miter track but cut it taller than normal if you don't know how to cut a runner I'll give you a quick demo in a moment I'm using 3/4 inch plywood so it extends above the table like this move your fence over to the runner and lock it down then check for gaps if you see a gap at the end your fence is towed out then put your fence on the other side and lock it down this time if you see a gap at the end your fence is towed in in either case adjust your fences alignment and try it again if you don't know how to make runners I have a video on the subject but here's a quick overview cut some stock a little wider than your miter track move the fence in slightly usually by tapping on the edge although I have to use a jig for this trim a little at the end of your runner and see if it fits in your miter trap if it doesn't tap the fence over a little more and try again this is called sneaking up on a cut if you make it too narrow just turn the runner around and start again on the other end once it's the right width cut the entire runner and make sure it fits sometimes you have to trim it one more time as I said earlier for more D see my video on the subject the links in the description below this last method was recommended by a viewer and I haven't tried it on Amazon there's this product from woodpecker's called a precision woodworkers tool saw gauge it fits in your might attract and has a gauge so it works like method number two there's also this one from my gauging called a digital saw gauge it's cheaper but its reviews aren't as good personally of these two choices I'd spend more money and get the one from woodpeckers even though I like a lot of eye gauging products I've got lengths for both of these in the description below if you want to try them out and if you do please leave a comment and let us know what you think in fact if you try any of these methods or have other suggestions please leave a comment if you found this video helpful please give it a thumbs up and consider subscribing if you haven't already thanks check out the description for links to products seen in this video just scroll down click show more and scroll down until you see the links and if you liked what I do here click that subscribe button and don't forget to ring that bell to get notified about new videos thanks you

Channel: The Newbie Woodworker

Views: 129,025

Rating: 4.8327632 out of 5

Keywords: align a table saw fence, align a table saws fence, align a table saw's fence, align a fence, aligning a table saw fence, aligning a table saws fence, aligning a table saw's fence, aligning a fence, how to align a table saw fence, how to align a table saws fence, how to align a table saw's fence, how to align a fence, miter track, miter slot, table saw tune-up, garage workshop, woodworking, newbie, newbie woodworker, the newbie woodworker

Id: 01R7796JoQo

Length: 4min 52sec (292 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 17 2018