Getting a Cabinet Saw back into alignment after dropping i!!

[Keith Avery]

I am in the multi-year process of setting up a hobby workshop(8mo old and 3 year old) and very little personal time right now. Yesterday I had a few hours and thought I would get around to moving my Jet cabinet saw to the barn now that I have elctricity in it. It is a approximately 10 year old 3hp Jet left tilt long fence and it has/had the router lift table and cabinet on the far right side. While attempting to get it on my trailer I tip it over and it fell pretty hard. The cabinet underneath the router is in many pieces and will need to be rebuilt completely(particle board isn't too tough). I am more concerned about the saws fence/alignment. The fence rail broke at least(I haven't really looked at it too closely yet, wanted to cool off a little) 2 bolts and is clearly not in perfect alignment anymore. I think the fence rail(front) is still straight and the real damage is to the angle iron it is attached too.
Wanted to know opinions on viability of fixing this without spending 100hours? I am worried that even the slightest bend will result in never being able to get the fence set right. I have always been very happy with this saws performance and will really only be using it for ripping and sheet goods as I have a 16" Delta RAS with a 30"(approx) crosscut that will be used for crosscutting operations and dado stuff.

[Ray Newman]

I 'dunno' about the fence alignment as that would be a relatively easy fix.

You did not mention this, but I would be more worried about the internal parts --have you attempted to raise, lower, and tilt the blade?

Do these adjustments still work smoothly? To be on the safe side, remove the cast iron top to check it, the motor mount, the gears, etc. for any cracks, broken teeth, etc.

These cast iron parts are expensive and a PITA to remove and replace.

[ian maybury]

Hard to know without seeing it, and I'm not familiar with the saw and I've no idea how well saws bounce. My thought though is that if the cabinet is significantly dinged that given the springback of steel it could require some surgery to straighten it. Which probably means repainting - although a lot depends on if it's a welded up fabrication, or one that's bolted up. (?)

The bits that matter in the end (beyond cosmetics) though seem likely to be to get the table sitting flat on the cabinet and bolted down with no stresses, and to verify/ensure that the spindle and tilting assembly, controls etc are correctly aligned. The fence, the tilt mechanism etc and other assemblies would be a case of checking the parts one at a time/measuring for straightness etc, deciding on repair/replacement and re-assembly. I guess if it was a slider rather than a basic cabinet model (?)any misalignment in the cabinet/chassis would be a bigger issue, plus there would be the possibility of damage to the slider.

It depends on how bad the damage is, if it's localised (rather than the whole cabinet/chassis having been knocked out of whack - bit like in the case of a car) then it may well be possible to avoid a full strip down (checking stuff as you go) and rebuild - but there could be some risk of missing problems/problems coming to light after money has been spent to start the repair.

Sounds like it would be best if it was sized up by somebody with the right skills and a methodical approach - then price the labour and a definitive list of the parts required for the rebuild...