4 Easy Ways to Align a Table Saw Fence 

You do have to spend some time setting the saw up... blade, fence, etc. But once done, the saw is great. Fairly compact which is Nice ru-vid.comUgkxXh-4_3-ZT1fFWP91ZV7iVqzElr0lEb-a I did get an Incra Miter Gauge which takes some setup as well. The stock miter gauge can be adjusted in the miter slot with a little painter's tape... this tightens up the side to side play a lot.

I worked in a cabinet shop for several years and the owner (master craftsman) set all the fences with 1/8" toe-out. His theory was that the distance from the front of the blade to the fence was all that mattered as that's where the cut is made. We did turn out good work and never had a burn mark on the wood to sand out.

Newbie Dan, these videos are great! Thanks to your Table Saw Tune-Up series I learned a ton! Firstly, I have an older Ryobi table saw, similar to the one you mention at various points. I was having trouble getting consistent measurements, so, like you said, I kept looking for things that were inconsistent. After a while, when tapping the board face and back, paying very close attention, I noticed a very slight movement (back and forth play or slop that I think is referred to as runout) in my arbor. Not something I can fix, but it was great that I finally knew about it and could move forward knowing that my measurements may not be as accurate. I measured the amount of runout and accounted for it in my measurements going forward. I was still getting more inconsistencies than could be accounted for by the runout, so I decided it was time to shell out some dough, to get a couple of identical engineer squares. I had always assumed that my table saw's top was dead flat. Boy was I wrong. Placing the engineer squares on end on the table saw surface, with the square blades touching back to back, depending on where they were placed around the table, they would show light between them at either the top... or bottom... and sometimes none at all. This told me that my table saw isn't flat, and, in fact, has a considerable dip right next to the throat. Ok. Also something I can't fix. At least not without more effort than I'm willing to put in. But at that point, being aware of it let me know that I could expect less consistency in my measurements than others might get with a dead flat table saw surface. Moving on, I decided to check the miter slots with the square blades back to back also. Slightly curved miter slots. I was beginning to see a pattern. The fence, after locking, measuring near and far sides, unlocking, relocking, and remeasuring near and far sides, consistently measured between +0.008 and -0.006, a swing of 14 thousandths, just by unlocking and relocking, which isn't very consistent at all. But I wanted to get it as close as I could. So I decided to measure 30 separate times in each step for the blade alignment and fence alignment, each time writing down my result, and using the average of those measurements as my result. Then, after making the appropriate adjustment to the blade, measured another 30 times and used the average as my result. I just kept doing that, and repeated the process until I got an averaged result of +0.001 for each, the blade and the fence. I know. This doesn't mean I'm going to have super accurate cuts. But it does let me know that my results are limited by the saw I have, in addition to my "Newbie" status, and that, one day, when it's in the budget, my old Ryobi will get replaced by a high quality, easily tuned saw. So, for now, I can be content doing my best with what I have, and look forward to more videos from my favorite Newbie Woodworker. I hope it's ok that I post this to all four of your table saw tune-up videos, so that other Newbies can possibly take something from it. Thank you for all you do for our community! :)

Great video. I used the Woodpecker saw gauge (well worth the money) to align my fence for about 0.004" toe out to keep work from burning and reduce kickback.

Thanks man I was super annoyed by the misalignment of my miter Guage but with your tips it will be perfect cuts every time.

This is an old video, but I just found it...checked the price of the Woodpecker tool and it is now $130!!! Won't be paying that much to verify my fence!!!

Those are some great tips! You just saved me a bunch of money!! Thanks!!

Love ur enthusiasm and they way u make them kudos

Great video Woodpecker has great products but they really pricey for me Thanks for all your great videos

I use the iGaging unit and it seems to work fine.

Hey newbie looking good and thanks for sharing good information look forward to hearing from you God bless Ken

Thank you!

How do you feel about the stability and consistency of the fence on the Sawstop Jobsite saw? I liked how all the parts store away, including the saw. The fence on the one i handled was not vertically square to the table, and the fence seemed like the lock should held it in place more consistently and securely -- both of those could just be adjustment issues, if there are adjustments for those aspects of the fence. The one i used was from just after the saw was released. SawStop safety feature makes it the only saw i will consider. Or, it may be my assessment of the probability (that it is high) that i will "make a mistake" means i should only consider a SawStop.

Yes but how do you align your fence after finding out if it towed one way or the other? Very I formative though for a newbie

Thanks for “several” tips on how to check you table saw fence alignment. I have a Ryobi and the runners on that thing are the weirdest I’ve ever seen. They have 2 narrow parts on each runner so it is the hardest thing to make runners for anything. Talk about a joke....I bet I used 15 strips trying to make runners for my sled! What a mess! I love the Saw but making runners was to time consuming for me so I cut the 2 extended pats off, case closed!

Great advice!

How did you align the fence?

What made you choose the portable sawstop versus a similar saw around the same price range?

I use the gauge from Woodpeckers. Well worth the $.

Why is my blade vertical alignment (to the miter slot) almost perfect when set at 90 degrees but at the 45-degree angle it's off by 30 thousandths! Help!

I just discovered you channel and I'm glad I did. Love your videos Dan!

Hey. Caught your tip video while searching ways to upgrade my tablesaw after breaking rule #1 on accident. Let my thumb hit the saw while it was running. Didn't loos it but got a hell of an ouchie. I came up with you first tip on my own. Like the others. Im old fashioned so no gagets for me please. Eh. 60's baby.

did you modify that combination square to work in the miter track

👍 yeah that's funny! ....👍 Keep up the good work big blue thumbs up 👍

I got one of those woodpecker ones and even on the largest setting the needle is still an inch and a half away from the blade on both sides. Asked woodpecker if there was a fix and they said I am out of luck. :(

Can a Speed square be used?

OK but how do I adjust my fence I know where to put the Allen wrench but I don't know how to make it lineup at something you forgotten your tutorial I need help

Kobalt is the house brand of tools sold at Loew's. The Kobalt saw I have has a feature that makes all your alignment techniques unnecessary. First, you move the fence so it's touching the blade and is perfectly parallel to it. Then you lock it with clamps on both ends of the fence. Then you lift a handle and the fence rides along precise bearings any distance away from the blade. It's like a table saw "sled" that moves perpendicular to the usual direction. Once you get used to this feature, all other methods seem crude.

what if if i have a cheap delta $300.00 table saw with the two lock downs on each end of the fence?

The way I aligned my fence was I took a 4 ft level and set it so that it would fall into the miter track and then brought the fence up to it and checked it that way

I don't see the point of method 3. Don't you have to have a square fence to cut a straight runner?

To get it straight enough for most stuff (not always perfect, but good enough for method 3 later), unlock your fence and slide it so it hangs halfway into the miter track. Take a rafter square (aka roofing square aka carpenters square aka big flat “L”), clamp it onto your fence so that it rests on the bottom of the miter track. Slide the fence all the way over, pressing the square against the side of the track, then tighten up Note: this only works with a fence that you’re not obligated to micro-adjust. You have to be able to fully loosen the fence so it wobbles all over. You can still do it I guess, but it’d be harder than these other methods (because you’d have to be able to tell if there’s a gap somewhere)

Where is the “Description Below” when viewing on an iPad?

I got a new used table saw and the fence is junk, I swear though, even when I have it lined up, it never cuts straight and the wood never makes it all the way between the blade and the fence.

You did not show how to adjust the fence to make it line up.

You never explained how to actually align your fence like in the description. You only show to determine if the fence is out of alignment.

You didn't say how to adjust the alignment

What if you have a harbour freight table saw? Lol

I’m guessing that most people that needs to watch this vid....doesn’t have a saw stop fence. Or any other expensive fence.

0:46 Your hands are shaking like crazy here. 2:52 Here also

The video had nothing to do with the lining your table saw. It was about finding out if your table saw needs alignment

Despite your title, you didn't actually show how to align your table saw fence. It was more about how to see if your fence is aligned.

The title of your video should read "4 easy ways to CHECK the alignment of your table saw fence". Hence the word CHECK. There was nothing in your video on how to align a table saw fence. What a waste of my time and bandwidth. Oh, nice commercial for a couple vendors.

This video didn't help me align my table saw fence AT ALL. This video should be called how to CHECK IF YOUR FENCE NEEDS ALIGNMENT.

You talk the talk, but you didn't align the fence top to bottom. That's the other 50% of the procedure.

Horrible video. You don't actually show how to adjust the fence, you just show how to measure it. How do you actually change it though?

I'm definitely tired of my fence, but I always measure twice anyhow. Great video.

I recently bought a DeWalt DW745, but traded it in a few days ago for a Hitachi C10RJ. On the DeWalt, I set the fence as close to even with the miter track. It worked, but I found some cuts were getting tight near the end of the cuts. There was a little play in the fence, but almost not noticeable to the eye. The fence rack was defective and started folding over, so I returned the saw to Lowes. I traded up for the Hitachi because it had a higher table on the stand and a much larger table top and fence reach. When I checked the fence, it was pigeon-toed in a little bit, so when I set the fence, I purposely set it toed-out about 1/32 inch. My cuts are within single-digit/ 100ths of an inch, but the piece does not get scraped by the teeth at the back of the blade. Yesterday, I saw an older video about configuring your table saw and the carpenter said that he prefers his fence about 1/64th of an inch toed-out and for the same reasons. In either saw, when you set the fence onto the table, there is a little play so the fence might not be the same every time you attach it. So, what I do is to push the front of the fence in towards the blade and the back of the fence away from the blade before locking it onto the track (not locking it down for the cut.) This makes sure the fence isn't toed-in. For those of you scratching your heads, the two table saws I am talking about have rack-and-pinion fence tracks that move the fence equally in front or back of the table saw together. Once the fence is locked onto the track, it remains at the same angle no matter how much you move the fence left or right. Most contractor saws, and other saws as well, have fences that loosen up when unlocked to be moved and therefore the angle can change whenever you adjust the fence for another cut. Once the fence is attached to the rack-and-pinion mechanism, the fence angle is pretty much locked in stone. You can't change the angle of the fence without forcing it, and then, it is likely to spring back when you release, unless you broke it, LOL. BTW, if you happen to have a Hitachi C10RJ and want a perfect miter gauge, call DeWalt customer service and order the miter gauge for the DW7491. It's is a super quality miter gauge and fits flush with no rocking or pivoting in the Hitachi T slot. It's the fit that should have come with the Hitachi, LOL. Oh, it only costs $20 plus shipping and tax. Of course, you'll have a bright yellow "DeWalt" name shining out from your green saw, LOL. I don't care. It's cheaper than spending $60 to$250 for another brand name. Funny, though, the DeWalt miter gauge is loose and wobbly on its own saw.

Great video, but you seem to be making sure that the fence is aligned to the t track, rather than to the saw blade.

to me, the issue of fence aligment is rooted in the ... fence design, with only a few screws on one end of the long fence, for sure the accuracy won't hold

Soo how are you going to cut a runner for the miter slot that’s accurate if your using the fence that’s not aligned to begin with

Sir, how do you have so little subscribers and viewers?! High quality videos and great presentation skills!

That woodpeckers precision gauge has gone up $40 in 4 yrs 😡

You're so funny! I appreciate that.

That woodpeckers tool had gone up $40 in 4 yrs 🤬

This is great. I had my first day with a rented table saw yesterday and made some key mistakes. The saw kicked back a piece of wood that hit my garage door and may have made a dent. I'm very happy I knew not to stand right in front of the saw. I have since learned how critical it is to calibrate the fence. The Makita saw I'm using seems great, but the fence has some play in it which is concerning. Any ideas on how to fix this? Also, do you have a favorite table saw you would recommend? I am thinking of buying one - hopefully second-hand.

If you look at the woodpecker saw alignment gage, you will see it references off the very top of the miter slot. Now this is fine if you have very very sharp edges, or you have uniform bevels on the referencing edges of the miter slot. I say that if you want the most precise feedback from your chosen method, you must first have faith that the reference point is true. So using a miter bar as long and as tight as possible will span any small deviations and give you a much more accurate response. Woodpeckers gage can under the right conditions give you a chase your tail reading that is not indicative to either the bade to miter, or the miter to fence . If you have a nicked up cast iron table or a stamped steel table. Go with a solid piece of aluminum or hardwood that fits correctly in slot, align your blade and your fence to the slot so you don’t compound error.

I have the woodpeckers guage and it's awsome. Worth the money

I've been using the WoodPecker miter track gauge for a couple of years now. Agree, it's overpriced as are ALL WoodPecker products, but it is very accurate. I guess you get what you pay for.

What miter gauge are you using for your JSS? Do you like it? I know the one that comes with the JSS is terrible.

My table saw is cheap and has no way of adjusting the fence so what do I do to get a straight cut

Subscribed. Thanks for making and sharing these videos

Your videos are super helpful. Clear, fast paced and entertaining. Thanks.

Video shows how to find if fence is out of square. Then says 'align it'. That is what I wanted to know in the first place. This video doesn't do anything to align the fence; only how to tell the fence is not correctly aligned and which way. I know that.

Your video's are just great! I am learing a lot

Man, it's expensive to be creative. Having the tool isn't enough, you need to dump another boatload on crap just to use it properly. This is enough to discourage anyone from even trying.

All well and good if you actually have a fence that is adjustable.

Great simple tips, enjoyed your presentation style, easy to listen to no BS Subscribed from NSW Australia

I've watched a couple of your videos now and really enjoy them, thank you. I have a question I keep coming back to though. As an auto mechanic I have used dial indicators and a precision straight edge and understand precision. What I'm having a hard time with & I confess I know very little about wood working, is why are all these videos worried about less than a hundredth of an inch when they are measuring their cuts with a tape measure that only reads to a sixteenth of an inch? I get that if the blade isn't aligned front to rear it will make a wider than necessary cut but worrying over thousands of an inch? I'm just looking to get a table saw to make some storage cabinets and shelves for the garage. You are the first I've seen to show just using the combination square and that seems to me to be more than adequate. Thanks for the great videos.

happy st patricks day!!!!!

good and simple information. LIked and subscribed :)

Just found you, very happy. Love that you have the same table saw I do. Just subbed.

Beginning was so cool