I made a cut today on my DeWalt 10" contractors saw and could see it wasn't square, so I devoted an hour to cleaning and adjusting just about everything. When I  was satisfied about squareness, I ripped an oak board 13"x 2"x  1/2" to a new thickness.

Then I got my digital micrometer  out and measured the difference in thickness on each end.  It was 0.011"

 

My question is   Does that fall within reason for a table saw? 

I would think so, but others may not

I wonder how it would measure if I turned the board around and made a pass. 
Gonna try it

Hey, just your technique could account for that. The real question is, which end is closest to the distance you measured from th blade to the fence?

1 minute ago, Ron Altier said:

I wonder how it would measure if I turned the board around and made a pass. 
Gonna try it

Interested to see that, too.

I wonder how it would measure if I turned the board around and made a pass. 
Gonna try it

 

Made no difference

5 minutes ago, Ron Altier said:

I wonder how it would measure if I turned the board around and made a pass. 
Gonna try it

 

Made no difference

Didja move the fence?

was the edge to the fence perfectly straight???

is the fence straight???

Could the riving knife be pushing the stock away from the fence?

I think I would want to run a longer piece thru the saw for this test to see if the variation increases. As was stated, it could have been the technique used in pushing the board.

Is there any runout in the arbor??  Is the blade true??  To me that is dead on. Wood will naturally move more than that when completing a project. Hand made projects is the name of the game. Or else CNC is the way to go. 

The edge of the fence was ok. I did not check the riving knife. Will do tomorrow. 

Back to the original question;;;;;;

 

 

Then I got my digital micrometer  out and measured the difference in thickness on each end.  It was 0.011"

 

My question is   Does that fall within reason for a table saw? 

It's probably better than mine, although I've never really measured mine with a digital micrometer to know for sure.

I think it is well within reason for a table saw. Can you get it closer ? yes ! but why.

7 hours ago, Ron Altier said:

The edge of the fence was ok. I did not check the riving knife. Will do tomorrow. 

Back to the original question;;;;;;

 

 

Then I got my digital micrometer  out and measured the difference in thickness on each end.  It was 0.011"

 

My question is   Does that fall within reason for a table saw? 

11/1000ths...

cut today..

measure in a few hours...

the measure will be different...

well within reason...

Less than 1/64, most likely good enough for woodworking.

Don't know about you guys but, I want every cut to be within 3/1000. Not!

Heck, my arm hairs are thicker.

Edited December 22, 20169 yr by Gene Howe

I think some time we forget that we are working with wood and it does change thickness along its length . Then there is another variable was the side against the fence "perfectly flat" , not likely . I think your results are well within the norms for a tablesaw and we have to stop thinking like machinists.

Thanks guys. I was over thinking it. This is not a metal lathe or a precision devise. I'm going to cut the board in the middle and place them on a flat surface, side by side. I seriously doubt I'll see or feel the difference.

I made some "Keva Planks" for my grandsons a few years ago.   To work right, they need to be pretty close.   If I recall, I ripped the strips then ran through a planer to get within a thou.    I know a guy nearby that makes wooden "burr" puzzles that need to be fairly precise to work.   He said that his planer (not necessarily be design) cuts about 1 thou lower on one edge than the other.   So he runs them through the right side and if too thick runs through the middle or left.

 

I can tell you after doing 1024 planks that each plank has six sides and eight arrisses.  Thankfully, they do still play with them.

 

http://www.kevaplanks.com/new-to-keva/