Rip measurements

[Al Sherred]

After ripping a board ,and measuring the width along the length what is an acceptable amount of deviation on the deminsion?

[Peter Aeschliman]

Al,

The answer to your question depends on the intended use of the workpiece. If it will be used for a piece that will be part of intricate joinery, then your tolerance will be different than if it's a solid table top that will be attached with table top fasteners, or trued up after glue-up.

Sorry I'm sure that doesn't help, but we need to know more about your application.

[Al Sherred]

Thanks for the reply. I ask this question because I just went through all the alignment checks, miter slot to blade, blade to fence, and so forth, and I had to adjust my miter slot to the blade, and then the fence to blade. I guess I want to know if .007 in is acceptable after measuring both ends of a ripped board.

[Carl Carew]

I am going to guess that the ripped board must be at least 4 inches wide, and I am assuming you have a good micrometer to make the measurement. That said an difference of .007 could just as soon be mostly measurement error take your plane and plane a couple of fine shavings and measure them, just for perspective. I think you can pat yourself on the back and say you have that saw as good as you will ever need it and go have a beer. Good job

[Wade Lippman]

I've never measured anything I have ripped, but if it came out better than .007" I would be shocked. It will probably move 10 times that during the year.

[Al Sherred]

I measured with a digital caliper. It must be good enough ,it sure seemed to go through the blade very nicely. Thanks for the replies.

[Jebediah Eckert]

After reading this I had to go to the saw and make a test cut and see where I'm at. I couldn't find the .007 on my tape measure so It's going to have to be good enough.

[Steve Baumgartner]

Oh come on! It's right there next to the .006!

[Mort Stevens]

For furniture building 1/16" deviation over 48" length. For home building 1" over 25'.

I know a lot of guys here like to get out the micrometer and boast something like 0.003", but I've yet had the need to measure a piece of wood with metalworking tools.

[Mike Cozad]

For furniture building 1/16" deviation over 48" length. For home building 1" over 25'.

Whoa there.... The builder of my home would argue that rule of thumb.... 1" over 4' is the standard here in Perrysburg, OH....

[Brian Hale]

Just for fun, cut a piece 6" or wider and measure it. Then let it sit for a few days and measure it again and see how much it changes.

[Brian W Smith]

Obviously depends on your project requirements.Throw 10 or so,.007 "taper'd" pcs of stock together so that all the wide ends are oriented the same and you have .07".Still not a big deal to some folks.

But reason for post was a suggestion;if you've taken the time(and it appears you have)to dial in your saw........give it a little time.Check your "taper" after running some footage through the setup,say after a cpl hundred feet.And consider the stock....ply vs hdwd...softwood...grain...yadayada.Further,look at the finish of the cut,"off the blade".

Here,I'd say .010 in ten feet would start to get my attention on a nice pce of hdwd and a good blade setup.

[Roger Pozzi]

It depends on the length of your board. .007 in 12" compared to .007 in 60" makes quite a difference.

[Justin Ludwig]

Did you feed the board perfectly? Does your table saw blade "run-out" at fast feed rates? Did the stock have a perfect jointed face to begin with? Is there a gnome in the cabinet of your table saw?

With all things being equal and perfect, no, I wouldn't like .007 difference. I rip my stock an 1/8" fat, plane it to desired width/thickness, then drum sand to near perfection. This is for face frame parts, glue-ups, and door material.

Only be as picky as what you're building needs you to be. Over-stressing things takes the joy out of building - unless you're an engineer.

[Jim Andrew]

In my career of building homes, I ran across these highly recommended framers, with the crappy tolerances. 1" in 25' was probably right, because all 4 corners were out of plumb. So I just quit hiring those losers and framed my own homes. I could get all 4 corners plumb. Sure makes the rest of the job easier.