While all M1 Caliber Tools come with a factory calibration, an onsite calibration is recommended when first receiving the M1 to ensure the most accurate cuts possible and match your specific tape measure. Tape measures may vary based on manufacturer and class rating making it essential that a calibration is performed to match the specific tape measure blade printing. The following procedure allows the M1 to accurately convert rotary motion of the wheel to linear measurement that exactly match a specific tape measure. The following demonstration is made using wood but any material may be used should it meet the proper requirements and should match what you plan to most frequently cut with the M1 Caliber in order to ensure the most robust calibration.
At the bottom of this page you can download a printable version of these instructions as well.
Before beginning, ensure the following:
- The M1 is powered off
- The M1 is properly secured to the fence
- A flat, smooth, and straight piece of material at least 8 feet (2.5m) is available to use
- A trusted tape measure, at least 8 feet (2.5m) long, that will be commonly used, is available
- A sharp tip pencil or pen is available to make a mark
1) With the M1 powered off, turn on the M1 Caliber into calibration mode
- Hold both the zero and units button then click the power button once until "CAL" is displayed
- Be sure to only click the power button once and release immediately. Holding until the CAL displays on the screen will cause the device to power cycle and turn off.
- Screen will automatically transition the display from "CAL" to "ZERO" once buttons are released
2) Slide measuring material under M1 wheel until it is slightly past the blade location
3) Cut the material and select the zero button
The purpose of this cut is to ensure a straight reference edge.
- Note: Do not move material after you had made cut before confirming zero location.
4) Move material slightly to the right and ensure the material is stable on saw setup and select units (ft or m)
. 
5) Using a tape measure, make a mark on the material
- When calibrating in "ft" mode, mark exactly 6ft (72 inches) OR
- When calibrating in "m" mode, mark exactly 2m (200cm)
6) Slide material until mark meets the left side of the blade
Very carefully, ensuring the back of the board is always in contact with the fence, slide the material from left to right, until the left edge of the saw blade is perfectly aligned with the mark made in step (5).
Once aligned, select the zero button to confirm the calibration.
- Screen will display 72" in fractional mode for English calibrations
- Screen will display 78 3/4" in fractional mode for Metric calibrations
- Units can be changed to your preference in the next step
7) Verify your calibration to ensure it was completed successfully
Move material back to where cut was made. Screen should display very close to "0" confirming the calibration was successful.
- If not successful, carefully repeat above steps.
- If you are having difficulties Calibrating your M1, please view our Calibration Troubleshooting Article for additional details and steps to try
In the next and final article in this series, we will set up the M1 and make your first cut.
Comments
15 comments
I got my M!. Thank you. But it's failing calibration. I can hold the buttons and it brings up CAL, but when I release them the screen blanks and nothing happens. Even the Power button doesn't work.
Hello Erich Thompson would you mind sending us a video at contact@reekon.tools and we would be happy to help get this solved for you!
The very first step in calibration should be to enter the kerf width!!!!
I spent half an hour last night, trying to figure this out. After reading reviews complaining about a lack of documentation on calibration, I was surprised because the instructions that came with it seemed to be quite clear to me. There are two problems with the instructions that, if cleared up would make this a five minute process.
1. Step 4 says to move the board slightly to the right to ensure it's stable. Huh? What on Earth is that all about? If you look at the last sentence in step 3, it clearly states to NOT move the board after zeroing it. After zeroing the first cut, the next step is simply to move the board to the 6 ft mark. Eliminate the verbiage, it's just unnecessary and caused me confusion.
2. The real issue, and I can't imagine why this hasn't come up already, is that the instructions fail to mention that the device needs to know the kerf. For the life of me, I don't understand why it would, because moving it to the 6 ft distance should be exactly what it needs to know. It shouldn't matter whether the blade is an inch thick of 3/32. If I train it by moving the board, I should be done. Anyway ... my real point: The very first step in calibration should be to enter the kerf width!!!! I repeated the calibration five times, even trying to zero with the board on the far side of the blade! How can the calibration process possibly succeed without first configuring the kerf width? It can't.
Hi Todd, thanks for reaching out. The kerf width is not required and not used during calibration (and is reset to zero once a calibration is saved). Since we are touching off on the left side of the blade to start and then using the left side of the blade to measure to the 6foot line, the blade width is not used.
That's all good to know. I hadn't realized that calibration wipes out the kerf. I followed the calibration instructions, not realizing there was the additional kerf step and struggled for half an hour, not understanding that after calibration it couldn't reposition to the six ft mark as expected. I still say this tool should be able to implicitly cover the kerf. I can think of a few possible approaches for that. Thanks for the help.
I have been trying to calibrate the M1 to no avail. In the calibration setup I can not get the CAL light to stay on. It comes on for a brief time but when I release the button it goes off. From there, following the instruction, I can not get the display to correspond with the instruction.
What am I doing wrong?
I have been at this for the entire day trying to calibrate. There has to be an easier solution. It would be great if you could talk to a tech on the phone. But in today's companies there is no talking with a tech. What a sad situation. At this point I am so frustrated I want to send this M1 tool back. Sooner the better, but I don't think that is going to happen.
Anyone else having problems with calibration?
Hi Darwin, are you holding the power button or just clicking it once? The symptoms you describe usually happen when you hold all three buttons vs just the left two and the power button once.
Derrick, I am holding the two left ones down then do a push and release on the power button. It comes on for a brief second and then goes off. So can't do any calibration.
Hi Darwin, does it turn on at all normally? If so, then try very quickly clicking the power button while holding the other two.
If still not, please send a video to us at contact@reekon.tools and we would be happy to have someone from our team take a closer look
I've been trying for 2 days straight now to get this thing calibrated and have failed in all my attempts. I do scavenger as the video says and still it's off by a few inches. Also my arm does not come down when I push it up towards the housing. It stays on the up position until I manually pull it down.
So far very impressed, I just got it yesterday. Unfortunately, my unit doesn't match the directions and reference to arm up or down. I now notice there's a ball bearing on the back holding it in place and I can only assume that you just push the arm down. On your instructions and the video it would be nice if during the calibration step it would tell you to hold and continue holding after pressing power to start calibration. Took me several tries for that as well. All in all I'm impressed and glad I purchased your product. I'm looking forward to other Innovative changes you guys are coming out with in the future.
Hey Trent, appreciate the feedback and some great suggestions! The ball spring plunger in the arm is a new feature of the arm for newer M1 units (we have updated the article to reflect this).
I have been working on calibrating this for far too long! I was very excited to get it but so far marking with a pencil seems to be faster
I push the two left buttons and hold and then I just push the power button once and most the time it just comes up with “FLIP” but for the life of me I can’t get it to say CAL. Please help me before I return it
Hey Zachary, the device needs to be turned off to enter calibration mode. From the behavior you are describing, it sounds like it is being done with the M1 on. To enter calibration mode, starting with the M1 off, hold the left two buttons and quick press and release the power buttons (dont let go of the other two buttons until CAL appears on the screen). Please let us know if you are still having issues and happy to help further over our email support!
Please sign in to leave a comment.