Product Description

Align, calibrate and tune up your table saw to within +/- .001". this double disk ground aluminum late fits 5/8" and 1" arbors. Measuring 6" x 10", it's designed for squaring and aligning your saw blade to the table, and unlike saw blades, it has zero runout! Precisely measure any angle too!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15601 in Home Improvement
• Brand: MasterGage
• Model: MP-1
• Number of items: 1

Features

• The MasterPlate is a solid 6-by-10-by-1/4-Inch thick aluminum "tool makers" quality plate, ground flat to within thousandths of an Inch
• The MasterPlate provides a full flat 10-Inch surface parallel to the miter slot and a vertical height of almost 7-Inch perpendicular to the table top
• Fits both 5/8 and 1-Inch diameter arbor shafts
• Set both miter and bevel angles on saws to within minutes of a Degree
• Use the MasterPlate to calibrate and troubleshoot table saws, radial arm saws, chop saws and sliding compound miter saws

From the Manufacturer
For precise saw alignment, replace the saw blade with the MasterPlate. Saw blades are made for cutting - NOT for alignment and calibration. Not only could a saw blade be warped, it also has a limited measuring surface because of the carbide teeth, gullets, anti-noise slots and pitch build up. All these factors limit the saw blade as a set up tool. With the MasterPlate, you have a full 10-Inch flat surface to align parallel to the miter slot, versus about 5-Inch on a 10-Inch blade. Mount the MasterPlate in its vertical position, now you have almost 7-Inch of height to square to the table top, versus about 3-Inch for a 10-Inch saw blade. Set any miter or bevel angle accurately to within minutes of a Degree. Comes with complete instructions, plus free technical support from the manufacturer. For maximum results, use the SuperBar [SB-1] with the MasterPlate

Customer Reviews

Nearly essential for table saw owners
[Updated Jan 2, 2007: see end of review]

I found this tool nearly essential, but not cheap. You can get by on a shop-made alternative, such as metal that is thick enough not to flex, or masonite supported with glued strips of oak to keep it flat. Depending on your purposes, these may be sufficient. My goals were to improve the alignment of my Delta Contractor saw, which I have had for five years, and the MasterPlate (with MasterGage) really helped.

For checking that the blade is square with the table, it's much easier to use a machinist's square (or combination square) with a MasterPlate instead of the blade itself. I had adjusted the blade to 90 degrees using the blade and a machinist's square, but using MasterPlate, I found I was off by about a degree, and it was much faster to get it right.

For checking that the blade is parallel to the miter slot to avoid heeling, you may want better accuracy than is possible with the usual "pencil clamped to miter and check the same tooth front and back". If you plan to use a gauge like MasterGage (see my review of that product for more info), you should invest in MasterPlate, which is ground to be very flat.

You can also use the plate to square the miter gauge, and it can be used with a radial arm saw to square to the fence and to the table top surface. These are illustrated in the instructions. They say it can be used to tune up and align a Miter Saw, Chop Saw, Disk Sanding Machine, and Manual Miter Box, though they don't illustrate these uses.

This product does what it's supposed to do, does it well, and was worth buying. My table saw is far more accurate after tuning with MasterPlate and MasterGage than it was with "blade and pencil" alignment approach I tried before.

The main reason for four stars is that it is just a bit too long to fit in the throat plate for my Delta Contractor Saw, which makes it slightly harder to use than if it fit the throat plate, as shown in the picture. The 1" hole also got in the way, though the value is clear for shops that have saws with both arbor sizes.

The manual claims that the plate is precision ground to within thousandths of an inch. Since MasterGage can measure a thousandth of an inch, I think the MasterPlate should be much better - like within a ten thousandth of an inch. It probably is that accurate anyway.

Updated Jan 2, 2007: Another Use in Alignment

The blade on my Delta Contractor Saw was suddenly out of parallel with the miter slot. With the blade raised, it grazed the metal throat plate, and there were sparks - not good!

The Delta Web site has Blade Alignment Instructions for my saw which suggests a check that the tie bars are parallel. You put a flat plate on the bars, then push on each corner: it should not rock. On mine, it did, noticeably.

The Master Plate was ideal for checking this. I had confidence that it was flat (unlike, say, a piece of plywood), and the metal-on-metal made a distinct sound when I pushed on the corners, revealing that the bars were not parallel. Loosening the lock nuts on the tie bars, adjusting out the click, and tightening was not easy (because tightening them caused them to move out of parallel), but the Master Plate was perfect for checking as I tightened an eighth turn, checked, readjusted (a tap with a hammer on the motor bracket), on each side.

With a lot of fussing I got nearly all of the rocking out of the plate on the bars, so they are reasonably parallel now. Then I re-checked the blade alignment with Master Plate and MasterGage and readjusted the undercarriage... and the front-to-back variation got to about 0.005". The result was one of the smoothest cuts I have ever gotten on this saw.

[As an aside, I checked the flatness of the MasterPlate first, but laying it on the metal table surface. It rocked a little. I noticed some dings on some edges, from use, so I filed these off - now it was perfect.]

I can't imagine tuning my saw without the MasterPlate and MasterGage.

Hard to get this one wrong, works as advertised
I bought this tool with its companion, the MasterGage. While I can't recommend the MasterGage the MasterPlate is pretty basic and seems to be a high quality piece. It is simply a rectangular piece of steel plate that is machined flat, anodized and drilled for the arbor of a table saw.

A good basis for accurate alignment
I bought the MasterPlate simply to have a more accurate reference than a blade, or other "flat" material could provide, particularly in measuring and adjusting the tabletop to the blade using a miter slot. A quality saw blade can be assumed flat, however the effective horizontal measuring area of a 10" blade is maybe 7" at best, so you immediately gain about 45% more area and potential precision with the MasterPlate. Other non-machined materials simply have question marks regarding the precision of flatness, so unless you can prove that precision before you start, you're better off to go with a material that has a known precision with a stated tolerance. Speaking of tolerance, I found that the plate I received was within .002", with a very slight bow over its length. Certainly acceptable, but a bit more than I expected from the advertising. I spoke with MasterPlate and was informed that the flatness tolerance is within .003", and that the mention of precision of (1/1000) will likely be removed from future descriptions to avoid this confusion. I was told that they offer a 1/2" thick toolmaker version of the plate, accurate to within .0005", but the cost is 4 times that of the standard plate and unless you've got money to burn, completely uneccessary for this purpose.

The good news about the bow in my plate was that it could be measured and referenced simply by flopping the plate over and remeasuring. In my case, after adjusting the table, the measurement at the front and rear of the plate was nearly identical (less than .001"), with the center of the plate being plus or minus .002" depending on which face of the plate I was measuring.

I would recommend this product, and would have given it the full 5 stars had the precision been stated more clearly. For the money, it is doubtful that you will find a more accurate and flat piece of material.