Riping fence alignment

[jcbrowne]

I need to appeal to the experienced and savvy regarding alignment of the riping fence.

First of all the alignment of the fence as per pages 25 and 26 of the Owners Manual has been repeated and in this regard 100% perfect (fence rest, out feed clamp, alignment with the miter slots, and perpendicular to the blade shaft).

But after making some cuts I noticed that the face of the riping fence is NOT perpendicular to the table surface. The top edge of the rip fence face leans slightly away (not vertical and parallel to the face of the blade) from the blade - if on the right or opposite the power plant - the lean was measured as close to 1/16 at the top rim of the fence.

Does anybody have any experience with a situation like this?
The face of the rip fence MUST be parallel to the plane of the blade. I find no adjustable means to correct this other than remaking it.

[paulmcohen]

What model? A picture with a square might also help.

[jcbrowne]

Model 510 I will draw or take a picture as soon as I can (before I take the fence apart)

I can't continue with the work I am doing till this is straight. Guess all these little perks come with the introduction to a new machine (which I love).

[Ed in Tampa]

The fence rides on the fence rails. If the fence rails are not parallel with the top of the table they could hold the fence slightly out of perpendicular.
I would measure the fence rail at each end of the table from the table surface to the fence rail surface and see if they are sightly different. Remember a small difference here will make a large difference in fence.

Even if they measured the same I would be tempted to loosen the rail on the side the fence leans toward and pull it up and loosen the rail on the side fence leans away from and push it down.

Think of an fence sitting on the fence rails as an upside down T _|_ if the fence leans like this _/_ the right side rail is low and the left side rail is high. If the fence leans like this _\_ then the right side rail is high and left side rail is low. Again a very slight movement in the rails will make a fairly large movement in the fence.

This is why the 520 is so nice they give you set up blocks that ensure the guide rail and table are parallel and the fence will be perfectly perpendicular to the table.

[charlese]

"... this regard 100% perfect (fence rest, out feed clamp, alignment with the miter slots, and perpendicular to the blade shaft).

But after making some cuts I noticed that the face of the riping fence is NOT perpendicular to the table surface. The top edge of the rip fence face leans slightly away (not vertical and parallel to the face of the blade) from the blade - if on the right or opposite the power plant - the lean was measured as close to 1/16 at the top rim of the fence.

Does anybody have any experience with a situation like this?
The face of the rip fence MUST be parallel to the plane of the blade. I find no adjustable means to correct this other than remaking it.

Yes, J.C. I had this very same problem. Sounds like you dropped the rip fence onto concrete. At least that's what I did. Since my fence, like yours, was adjusted parallel to the miter slots and saw, I put up with the lean for quite a while. (All of this time thinking about buying a new fence)

Since I didn't know what part of the fence is bent, (base assembly or Fence extrusion) I repeatedly checked the base and after tweaking the cast circular "grab extrusions" (the cast arms that grab the fence) worked with it that way for a while.

Finally, I bit the bullet and thought, "If I can't straighten it - I'll buy a new one" --Had nothing to lose by putting some umph to it. Again, Not knowing if the little arm that fits into the aluminum fence had twisted, or if the fence was twisted I did the following that completely fixed the fence;

I attached and tightened down the fence, making sure it was Parallel to the miter slot. Then, after covering parts of the fence with rags, took two large pairs of water pump pliers to the fence. Getting the pliers' jaws as parallel to the sides of the fence as I could - I grabbed the sucker and reefed on it to straighten it. The fence is now square and vertical! The only marks from my reefing are two small gows near the top right side of the fence where the pliers went through the rags,

[jcbrowne]

Thanks for the pointers.

I ran to check out the alignment of the fence rails in relation to the table. I found that they were not parallel to the table top. Measuring fence rail top to table top left corner to right corner I got: in feed 1.306-1.350 / out feed 1.320-1.303. Slant to right on in feed was 0.044 to the left over 16" and on out feed 0.017 to the right.

With a 6" wide rip fence face (plywood applied to the rip fence) I measured the lean at 6"from the table top and found 0.037" (+1/32").

Guess I need to start by aligning the fence rails to the table and then see how things result before being drastic.

And Charlese, fortunately I did not drop the rip fence yet so the concrete effect does not apply here. The truth is I am having fun fixing things as I discover them in the course of familiarizing projects.

[charlese]

"...With a 6" wide rip fence face (plywood applied to the rip fence) I measured the lean at 6"from the table top and found 0.037" (+1/32")."....

Heck! J.C. - you don't even have a problem! 1/32" at 6" high sounds pretty good to me. After all your saw will only reach up about 2 1/2". If you can get it better than that - go for it!

[jcbrowne]

Thank you Ed for your suggestion and guidance.

Charlese, Thanks to applying Ed in Tampa's suggestion I corrected the error down to 0.017 (1/64)

Maybe 1/32 or even 1/16 are adequate to build a house or even a table or tenon, but let us say that I am a perfectionist.