: Hi All,

: One great use for the fence on your table saw is to calibrate your tape
: measure to it and then re-calibrate if you drop your tape measure. If you
: drop your tape it can bend the metal hook on the end and throw out the
: tape by up to 1/4 inch. If you calibrate all the tapes in your shop to the
: same fence they will all read exactly the same.

: Once you have done this you can be sure that all measurements taken with the
: tape will cross over perfectly to the table saw. I never knew this was
: such a big thing until I saw my brother-in-law do it in his cabinet shop
: and insist that all his employees do the same on the same fence. Now his
: employees can send him measurements from job sites over the phone and he
: can duplicate them exactly in the shop. He builds all his cabinets offsite
: and only goes out to measure the job and install the finished cabinets.

: Just a thought,

: Ian

Hi Ian

This is very true as it pertains to the more expensive shop saws. But, if you were a poor dumb slob like me that bought a Sears saw during the time when they were saving money on the tapes and sold them with a plastic stick on tape, well, they shrink in the heat. And it's usually 1o5 in the shade here in the summer. Mine lasted about two weeks and now it is permanently 5/16ths off from end to end. They, like others, used to use the steel tape, or cut the marks into the fence rail, but, when I bought mine, they had a better idea. Wrong!! If you have one with the stick on tape I'd use something to check it's accuracy before I used IT to check anything else. Double check everything.

Rehd