Contractor Saw splitter alignment? (long with pics)

[Ronnie Ferrell]

I've read every contractor saw alignment article I can get my hands on and cannot find the answer to my question. Let me start by saying that my issue is not with parallel alignment from blade to miter to fence. With trial and error to try and fix the issue I DO have, I've set the parallel alignment on my saw at least 20 times. I'm an expert on that subject now. I can easily get my saw within .001" parallel alignment at both 45 and 90 degrees.

Here is my issue. The front splitter/blade guard mount does not stay aligned with my saw blade when I tilt the blade from 90 to 45 degrees. At 45 degrees, the splitter shift to the left of the blade enough that the piece of wood that passes by on the left side hits the splitter. (I'm guessing the whole back trunnion is not staying in alignment somehow. Again the blade stays aligned to the miter slot and fence at 45 degrees. Only the splitter is not aligned.

Here are a couple of pictures to show the shift. What you are looking at is the rule of a square being held against the splitters front mounting bracket. The bracket is securely attached to the back trunnion.

The first picture is with the blade at 90 degrees. Notice that there is enough clearance between the mounting bracket and the blade for the rule to slide against the side of the blade.



The second picture is the same setup as above but with my blade tilted to 45 degrees. Notice that the saw blade teeth now hit the rule when held against the splitter's front mounting bracket.
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Does anyone know of a way to permanently fix this issue? As is, I have to use different width shims on my splitter each time I tilt the saw's blade.


Any and all input is welcome!

FYI: This is a 2-3 year old Grizzly 1022PROZ. It has had this issue since I got purchased the saw.


Ronnie Ferrell (aka SouthPaw)

[John Hemenway]

I don't know if the innards of your Griz are similar to my Delta so this might be all wrong...

There are two 'tie rods' that go front to back, are solid and about 1" diameter. They need to be parallel. You might check them.

The process from the Delta site is:
4. Place a flat plate (or similar flat object) on top of the two tie-bars. (The size of the plate should be at least 6" by 8", and the flatter the better) Depress one corner of the plate and if it rocks, the tie-bars are not parallel. This must be corrected as it will affect the alignment of the blade. To make the Tie-Bars parallel: 5. Loosen the tie-bar locknuts (ref# 245) located at the rear of the saw. 6. Grasp the motor bracket (ref# 244) and move it left and/or right. Check the rocking of the flat plate and when it can no longer rock, the tie-bars are parallel...re-tighten the locknuts. Aligning the saw undercarriage: 7. Remove the flat plate and re-install the sawblade.

[Ronnie Ferrell]

I don't know if the innards of your Griz are similar to my Delta so this might be all wrong...

There are two 'tie rods' that go front to back, are solid and about 1" diameter. They need to be parallel. You might check them.

The process from the Delta site is:
4. Place a flat plate (or similar flat object) on top of the two tie-bars. (The size of the plate should be at least 6" by 8", and the flatter the better) Depress one corner of the plate and if it rocks, the tie-bars are not parallel. This must be corrected as it will affect the alignment of the blade. To make the Tie-Bars parallel: 5. Loosen the tie-bar locknuts (ref# 245) located at the rear of the saw. 6. Grasp the motor bracket (ref# 244) and move it left and/or right. Check the rocking of the flat plate and when it can no longer rock, the tie-bars are parallel...re-tighten the locknuts. Aligning the saw undercarriage: 7. Remove the flat plate and re-install the sawblade.

John- Thank you! Yes, my saw has the 2 tie rods like the Delta. I'll check to see if they are parallel. I've wondered if it had anything to do with the tie rods. I did not know how to check and see if they were out of alignment or not, I was over thinking it. The above procedure is so simple...

I hope this is the issue!

Thanks again,
SoutPaw

[Howard Acheson]

The most frequent cause is a tie bar misalignment as John has said.