(Probably stupid) Table Saw Question / Idea

I bought a used Craftsman Contractor Series table saw yesterday. got a pretty great deal I think. It's a 3HP saw, 22 or 23 wood blades, 6-8 metal blades, and a nice miter gauge all for $120.  I noticed the guide for the rip saw fence doesn't have a rule on it. That's not a huge deal, but it got me thinking. If I were to put a rule on it, it could only be accurate for one blade due to different blade thickness and carbide tips vs non-tipped blades.  
That's where my warped mind comes in. Would it be possible to mount a laser measuring device in the fence, aimed at the blade, with a display somewhere visible? 
Other than grabbing my metal scale (only 18" long) and measuring for every cut, what options do I have? 
Just some pictures for no real reason. 

I have one of these:

And I've found it's pretty accurate for general carpentry...  However, you're doing precision work, you will still have the issue that just hitting the blade itself won't take into account the tooth overhang, so you may need to measure that as well to add in that .020" or whatever if you're trying to hit a tight tolerance.

But, to be fair, I'm a machinist, so I can't really deal well with 1/16" tolerances... :)

You probably could mount a laser to it, but that's a lot of work to get it located perfectly. Make sure the saw and table are trued up as well as possible. The blades on those tend to get out of square, ie not parallel to the fence.

But a new ruler on the bed is easy, and it shouldn't matter what blade you have mounted, as it always mounts to the same arbor face. The blade thickness change should be on the "away" side.

Personally, I just measure with my tape from a tip point on the blade to the fence.

Awesome saw! 

I have nothing for you on the laser/measure deal, but my little Craftsman 10" tabletop saw has been one of my most-used wood butchering tools for the last 30 years.

Just get a 6" scale and be done with it.  Here is one for $2½ bucks.

6" pocket scale

I have a similar Craftsman Table Saw.  Mine has a scale on it, but it is not accurate, at least I would not rely on it.  

Great deal you got!  Those table are work horses.

Another vote for "just measure from the fence to the blade with a tape measure" here.

Also, throw away most of those blades.  Stamped steel (no carbide tip) blades have been obsolete since the 70's.  

Maybe a DRO connected to the fence, then you could slide the fence up to the blade, zero it, and then set the desired cut. 
 

DRO google search

Most fences have an adjustable cursor to compensate for different blades.  Every time I change blades, I remeasure and reset the cursor, although I likely don't need to.

Most blades are pretty close.  Even if you have a 1/8" blade and switch to a 1/16" blade, there are two things to remember:  1) that only means you'll be off by 1/32" at most, and 2) it depends on how the blade is constructed and which side the arbor is on.  If you have a carbide blade where the teeth are fatter than the body of the blade, it might make a difference.  If you have a non-carbide blade where the teeth are just stamped/cut from the steel body, it doesn't make much of a difference unless you're cutting on the non-arbor side.  The inside face of the blade is fixed by where it mounts to the arbor.  Adding thickness to the blade doesn't change your cut because it's still the same distance from the fence to the arbor.  The thickness you add (or subtract) is on the kerf side of the cut.

In reply to KyAllroad :

Are the stamped steel blades something that SHOULD be thrown away, or are they just not as good as todays blades? 

Thanks No Time, that's interesting. 
I hadn't even looked at which side the arbor is on. It makes perfect sense that it's designed that way to totally negate the thing I'm needlessly worrying about LOL.  What a doofus I can be sometimes. And yeah Curtis, you're right. the actual difference would be smaller than my margin for error, meaning I'll screw it up more than 1/32" all by myself haha.  

Thanks all. I'm pretty excited to start using it. I've been watching the used table saw market on FB for weeks now. When this popped up, I knew I had to pull the trigger. Even with the trailer rental, I'm only into this $141.00. 

KyAllroad said:

Also, throw away most of those blades.  Stamped steel (no carbide tip) blades have been obsolete since the 70's.  

Amen, brother!  A good blade totally transforms a saw. 

I'm pretty good at screwing up by more than 1/32" all by myself, too.

The blade type is up to you.  Carbide will likely last longer and they can be resharpened (at a cost that is usually about the same as a new blade).  Carbide can also take more hits on a staple or nail and still be sharp.  I lovingly refer to them as cats because they have nine lives.  Repeated hits on nails or staples will kill them, but occasional oopsies don't mean changing blades every time.   I have had some stamped blades that turn into "rotary smoke generators" the first time they hit a piece of metal.

Non-carbide (stamped/cut) is fine for most soft woods.  The more teeth you have, the cleaner the cut will be at the expense of speed.  It also has a lot to do with how you're cutting.  If you're cross-cutting you can get away with a finer tooth than if you're ripping with the grain.  Going with the grain tends to "clog" smaller teeth and it can be slow and ineffective.

I do a fair share of both cross and rip so I have a Diablo carbide blade that shoots the middle.  It's fine for theater.  If it blows a little chunk out of plywood or chatters when ripping luan, I'm not concerned.  I need long life and fast, clean cuts.  I also need something that doesn't "fight" the wood which can be a safety issue for volunteers that I have learning carpentry.  If I were doing cabinetry or finish carpentry, I would have something with a finer tooth and less aggressive ramp.

I think this is the one in my table saw and I find it to be superb.

I have this fence which is sadly no longer being made evidently.  Notice the two clear plastic cursors.  They are held on with screws in slotted holes so you can adjust for different blade thicknesses.

Slide fence to blade. Set zero. Done. 

$140 on Amazon. 

I should also mention that before I had that fence system, I just used a tape measure and no one died.  Perfectly acceptable.

It is a much bigger deal to make sure that your fence is squared up.  Ours managed to get just a little bit tweaked over time.  It wasn't much - I think my brother said it was somewhere between 1/32 and 1/16 from front to back - but that was enough that when you cut sheet goods long-ways, it was definitely off in an unacceptable way.

I have almost that exact saw, bought new in 1991.  It is "marketing" 3HP, actually the motor is 1.5HP.

The arbor face is facing the fence, so the thickness of the blade does affect the distance from the fence to the cut.  I haven't found that to be an issue, I don't actually change blades that often, and I usually just measure with a rule or tape for each cut.  If I really care, I take a scrap piece and make a little cut and measure the results.  I also try to make all cuts that I want to be the same width with the same fence setting so even if the measurement is not exact they are at least all the same.

Get the manual (it can be found online) and tune up the saw before using it.  At minium, make sure that the fence is parallel to the miter grooves and the blade is also parallel to the miter groove.  You can use a dial indicator or an adjustable square.  You want to make sure that the same tooth is the same distance front and back (use the same tooth so your adjustment is not affected by runout in the arbor).  Put the adjustable square against the side of the miter groove, adjust the rule so that the tooth just barely touches the the end of the rule.  Move the square to the back of the blade, rotate that same tooth to the back and make sure it is the same distance.  You adjust by loosening the trunion bolts (underneath) and wacking them with a stick of wood and a hammer.

If you want to be really good, you can check if there is a particular position of the a blade on the arbor that minimizes runout (where the runout of the blade cancels the runout of the arbor as much as possible).  I have to admit I have not done this.

You should also check that the wings are even with the main table where they join.  When I assemble the saw (after moving), I use C-clamps to get the wings even with the main table before tightening the bolts that hold them together.

With a good-quality carbide blade, this saw is capable of very good cuts.   (I have a Freud LU84 combination blade but there are others as well).  My first few projects I glued up panels from pieces ripped right from the saw (didn't own any kind of jointer, neither power nor a Stanley #8).  I made the last cut on each piece a 1/2 kerf trim, and with a tuned-up saw I got invisible glue joints.

Great buy.  The fancy miter gauge alone is worth a lot of what you paid.  

The 113 is a great saw, and they made a bajillion of them.  The stock fences all suck, the Align-a-Rip one from the 80's - 90's was the best of the lot.  

I will echo Curtis's reccomendation on the Freud blade.  I have the 40T regular-kerf one, and it's good for everything.  I also have this one https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000225UH/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1 which is great for ripping (especially on 110V/1.5 hp) but not fantastic for cross-cutting.  

If precision is important for you also want a set of these when they come back into stock - https://www.in-lineindustries.com/products/contractor-saw-pals/

They make it stupid-easy to keep the blade aligned to the table slot.  

I'm going to be that guy.

Table saws are among the most dangerous tools out there. I was taught to measure both at the leading and trailing edge of the blade. It helps me think about what I'm doing. +1 on new, sharp blades. Give yourself every advantage. 

I lecture because I care. 

There has NEVER been a rule on a table saw that was accurate enough for precision cutting. 

We had an old Craftsman from my grandfather. My dad and I messed with it and never got the guide to allow a straight cut.  Clamps, adjustments and trials over and over and the motor/belt setup was sketchy.   It went to the curb for someone else to enjoy. 

That saw is an excellent little utility saw. But it's not a precision machine. It was designed for contractors- portable enough to be able to get it to a job site to whack some 2x8's or a few sheets of plywood. It's not a cabinet saw. 
 

Enjoy it for what it is. I wouldn't spend much money or effort trying to make it something it's not. 
 

My $0.02. 

In reply to alphahotel :

Excellent guidance, the post covers the essentials of getting your table saw in order. I would not call myself an expert but this is pretty much on the mark

In reply to wheelsmithy (Joe-with-an-L) :

This is what happens after  twenty years working with power tools and you don't pay attention one time. pretty much cut three fingers off, luckily I had a really good hand surgeon. 150 stithes 300? Don't remember almost 20 years ago. I still woodwork, more than I did back then. Just respect the machine.

I'm in the run the tape from the fence to the blade camp. I also often do front and back because my fence sucks and can lock in crooked.

When you run the tape from the fence to the blade, you can put the tape "under" or "through" a tooth to see very accurately where you end up. 

Running the tape the other way is much harder for a variety of reasons.