Customer Reviews

MasterGage MP-1 MasterPlate

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

[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.

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.

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.

When using the Master Plate to tune up the cabinet saw, I found it to be much more accurate than using the saw blade. The Master Plate provides a machined, stable surface to work with and it is a quick and easy way to check alignment.
I have used it, with the Master Guage, to align the table saw, cabinet saw , radial arm saw and the dirll press. The Master Plate and Master Guage are worth the investment.

If you are looking to get the best performance out of your table, radial, or miter saws,
this is a must have! I purchased the MasterPlate along with the MasterGage Classic and
my table saw and miter saw have never been so accurate....it's scary. No burning, no blade marks,
dead on square cuts, AND above all SAFETY. No binding, and no kick-back. It doesn't matter how expensive your saw is, if you don't take the time to tune it you are not doing yourself any favors. I am getting amazing results for all my cuts and fits. It's a no brainer...

After years of reading the reports I finally popped for one of these to check my 13 yr old Jet JTAS. Was a great help to reset the 0' and really helped me dial in the 'heel' of the blade. Was able to take it from .012" to about .006", might have been able to get closer with a new side on the fence but was a great improvement. would recomend it to anyone. Will try it on my DeWalt 708 this week end.

I was expecting accuracy to "within + or - 1/1000 . I didn't get it. The plate wasn't flat enough to get those tolerances. The plate is good for lining up an engineering square to check for 90 degree cuts. But that's about all. If you are using a quality dial caliper you quickly see how un-flat it is. I wouldn't mind (I also wouldn't have bought it) if they didn't say it could achieve that kind of accuracy but it can't. I feel you can spend your money on better things. Maybe it would be better to spend three times as much if what you're getting actually works as advertised.

As the product blurb states, the MasterPlate is a much more appropriate tool to use when attemping to set up and align your table saw.
The thick clear anodized plate readily fit onto the 5/8" arbor of my table saw and once secured to the saw (remember to disconnect power to the saw) I was ready to align the various components (I used the MasterGage Classic for setup). The increased, flat surface area the MasterPlate offers over a normal saw blade makes the job much quicker and simpler and there is virtually no risk that you could be aligning the saw with a blade that may be out of shape or not overly flat. Plus there are no saw teeth to get in the way of measuring equipment with the MasterPlate. Overall it is an essential bit of gear to accurately align your table saw and ensure the saw is set up with reference to a true flat surface. Thumbs up from me!

If you want to adjust your table saw to perfection, you need a verifiable and repeatable reference.

When I first setup my Delta Cabinet saw I used a dial gauge and my quality table saw blade to get the miter slots to within 1/1000".

I was always skeptical because you have to move the blade under tension to do front and back.

A year later I did it again and decided to use this master plate, I tried it first using the blade and thought I was close - then I used the plate and realized I was off.

With this plate I was now able to easily and quickly get my miter slots on my table saw to 0/1000" tolerance.

POSITIVES:
THIS IS PROBABLY THE BEST WAY TO CHECK/SET YOUR TABLE SAW ALONG WITH THE (SUPERBAR 400-01) FOR THE PRICE. WITH ITS 6" X 10" X 1/4" THICK MACHINED GROUND PLATE ITS MUCH MORE ACCURATE THAN USING YOUR SAW BLADE TO CHECK ARBOR TO MITER SLOT PARALLELISM AND TO MAKE SURE YOUR TABLE SAWS 90 DEG. IS TRUE, WITH A PRECISION SQUARE. ITS SIMPLE TO SET UP ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS REMOVE YOUR BLADE AND REPLACE IT WITH THE MASTER PLATE, DEPENDING ON WHAT YOUR CHECKING FOR WILL DETERMINE WHETHER YOU SET IT VERTICAL OR HORIZONTAL TO THE TABLE BY USING ONE OF THE 2 SUPPLIED (5/8") OR 2 (1" HOLES). IF YOUR CHECKING FOR PARALLELISM YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY PURCHASE THE SUPERBAR THEY WORK HAND IN HAND WITH EACH OTHER.THE PLATE SURFACE WAS MUCH MORE SMOOTH ACROSS THE SURFACE THAN MY BIESEMEYER FENCE. SO YOU CAN ONLY GET SO ACCURATE WITH THE PREEXISTING LIMITATIONS OF YOUR SAW.

NEGATIVES:
IT DOES NOT COME WITH THE SUPERBAR. (BUMMER) WHEN CHECKING PARALLELISM THE 2 HOLES THAT ARE FOR CHECKING TRUE 90DEG. SOMETIMES MADE SLIDING THE DIAL INDICATOR ACROSS ITS SURFACE KIND OF CUMBERSOME, THE GAGE WOULD SHOOT THROUGH THE HOLES AND YOU WOULD HAVE TO RESET IT, THIS WILL PROBABLY LINE UP DIFFERENT FROM TABLE TO TABLE AND IF YOU WERE TO USE THE SUPER BAR OR SOME OTHER DEVICE TO CHECK WITH, IT MAY NOT INTERFERE THE SAME WAY. I CAME ACROSS ONE MORE PROBLEM, IF YOUR MOTOR OR BELT TURNS EASILY THE PLATE WILL ALSO TURN, NORMALLY YOU WOULD THINK THIS WOULD NOT BE A PROBLEM BUT IT IS, FIRST OFF THE PLATE IS ALUMINUM SO IT CAN GET MARRED EASILY AND SECOND THE HOLES COME IN TO PLAY AGAIN WHEN YOU SLIDE THE DIAL INDICATOR ACROSS IT MAKING IT FRUSTRATING TO USE. ONE WAY TO FIX THE PROBLEM IS TO USE TWO SPRING CLAMPS, ONE ON THE FRONT AND ONE ON THE BACK KIND OF LIKE SAW HORSES TO KEEP THE PLATE FROM MOVING.

ALL IN ALL THIS PRODUCT WORKED VERY WELL FOR ME. JUST BE PREPARED TO GET DUST IN YOUR EYES WHEN ADJUSTING YOU TRUNNIONS. GOOD LUCK!