Cabinet Saw Blade Won't Fully Retract

[Steve Gilbertson]

I recently acquired a used Jet JTAS-10XL for a good price, and am about to get it dialed in. Prior to aligning the table to the blade, though, I noticed the blade protrudes the table by roughly 1/16" when fully lowered. I have already cleaned the trunion and worm gears, and nothing seems to be interfering with the range of motion. Short of lowering the trunion (not sure that's possible), my only thought is to shim the top by 1/16" at each of the four mouting bolts. Is that a reasonable solution? I've been a long-time lurker here and learned a ton. I've searched quite a bit without seeing this issue, so I'm looking for suggestions, thanks!

[Lee Schierer]

There is probably a collar or a stop screw on the raise lower mechanism that can be adjusted for the limits of travel. Look at your owners manual or chck out the exploded parts diagrams on e-replacements.

[Jamie Buxton]

Lee's probably got it. But if you can't figure that out, you might look for a smaller-diameter blade. Many blades which are called ten-inch blades aren't actually. I have one which is about 9 3/4" diameter, and there have been reports here on SMC of blades which are even smaller than that.

[John R Green]

Make sure the trunion is not hitting on the 4" dust collection hose below it......happened to me

[Steve Gilbertson]

Thanks guys. Set screws were the first thing I checked, and this model only has stops for the miter angle, not the height adjustment. I also confirmed this in the manual. I can see where the cast portion of the swing arm comes back and tests against a cast part of the trunnion assembly, so if I wanted to increase the range of motion I would need to grind the excess of the arm (it seems to serve no purpose besides the positive stop). For now I have added a washer under the table which allows the blade to be a hair below flush. That was primarily was I was asking, if it's common or ever necessary to do that. I can't see it causing an issues, and I was able to dial in all the alignments nicely. I'm still concerned about creating zero clearance inserts though, since the blade is essentially level with the top. I appreciate the suggestion for slightly smaller blades. Currently I have Freud Diablos in my collection which measure exactly 10". No dust collection hoses interfering either though haha, thanks. I'm really excited to have a solid saw now - just finished restoring the top. How much blade travel below flush is common? Thinking along the lines of making more ZCIs down the road. Thanks!

[Lee Schierer]

My Craftsman saw will lower the blade more than 1/4" below the table top.

Be careful grinding that stop to insure you don't lose gear engagement.

[Mike Cutler]

Steve

Your saw should go well below flush with the top as long as the correct blade is on it.
I have Jet table saw also, and at one time it did the same thing as your is doing.
What had happened was that as time, dust, and grease had accumulated in the raise lower mechanism, and tilt mechanism, the worm gear that engages the trunnions had actually skipped a few teeth and was starting late. This caused the actual travel to stop before it should have. The entire mechanism traveled normally, but stopped early.
I only found it because I actually took the whole top off the saw and turned it upside down on the bench to figure out why it wouldn't travel correctly any longer, and to finally align the miter slot to the blade properly. It used to slip, so when I finally got it aligned, I applied Loctite to the screws.

[John Patric]

Steve,

I have the Jet JTAS-10XL and with a 10" blade the blade only goes to 3mm below the table. The riving knife sits about 1mm below although that can be lowered. I cut new inserts using an 8" blade. The picture shows the blade fully lowered.


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[Robert Engel]

I wouldn't hesitate to call Jet tech support. I have had very good experiences with them over the years.

[Steve Gilbertson]

Thank you all for the help! Upon further inspection, I noticed that it's the cast ends of the height gear "rack" that come to rest on each end of the worm gear that set the limits. There are no adjustable stops, but by loosening the set screw and sliding the worm gear along the shaft I should be able to lower the blade to any height I chose. As it stands, with the blade just 1/32" below flush, the max blade height is right at the published value of 3-1/8". In the future I may remove my table shims and lower it by another 1/8" or so. Thanks again!