Why is there a gap between my fence and stock past the blade?

[Greg Woloshyn]

I have a Delta contractor saw with the stock T-square fence which seems pretty good. It's well tuned and within .005 parallel to the miter slots. My blade is also parallel to the miter slots. Could there be any other reason why when I make a cut there is a 0-1/8" gap between my stock and fence at the far end?

[Wade Lippman]

If I get sloppy in feeding the stock there might be a 1/32" gap; but it would be difficult to force a 1/8" gap.
I think you are mistaken about everything being parallel.

[Greg Woloshyn]

I'm sure the fence is, I checked it with an indicator that slides in the miter slot.

There is only so much room to check parallel on the blade but I'll double check that it is dead on.

[Matt Day]

Is your fence itself flat? And you're saying that when you're feeding stock, it starts against the fence then somehow is 1/8" away from the fence at the end? Something is clearly wrong.

Are you applying pressure toward the fence as you push the stock through?

[glenn bradley]

What are you cutting? Solid woods can stress-release when cut often pulling to close the gap which would pull the right hand part of the material away from the fence. This is why we have splitters and riving knives. That not being the case, I too would question alignment.

[Greg Woloshyn]

As far as I know the fence is straight and I'm beginning cuts with the stock flat against the fence and applying pressure towards the fence as I feed. This has been happening with the plywood I've been cutting. The edge against the fence is straight as well.

[glenn bradley]

This has been happening with the plywood I've been cutting. The edge against the fence is straight as well.

Well, there goes the stress-release theory. A tablesaw's job is to cut straight. When aligned, it really is tough to get it to do anything else. If you have a 90* corner at the sides against the fence and toward the operator position, is the corner of the just-cut side and the side toward the operator now 90*? In other words are the side parallel and perpendicular? Probably not but, where is the deviation?

[Matt Day]

Hmmm. Ok, so if the blade is below the saw top and you push the stock against the fence there's no issue right?

So you're saying that the stock gets pulled away from the fence by the blade while cutting? That tells me the blade is not parallel with the fence/miter slot. What method did you use to align everything? Maybe forget about the calipers for now and KISS? Maybe just use a simple square to get it close?

[Jeff Duncan]

I'm sure the fence is, I checked it with an indicator that slides in the miter slot.

There is only so much room to check parallel on the blade but I'll double check that it is dead on.

Fence should be dead on to the blade, miter slot if you use it, otherwise that measurement is less or even non-relavant. You don't need any precision tools either. Take a short narrow block of wood and use it to check the spacing between the fence and blade…..with the fence locked down. You can also mark a tooth and spin the blade to check at different positions. Some guys will go a step further and use a brass screw in the end of the wood block to really dial it in. Either way make sure your fence is dead on to you blade and you should be OK.

good luck,
JeffD

[Joe Kieve]

Are you using a guard with a splitter on it, maybe the one that came with the saw? Check to see if it's in alignment with the blade. That would definitely pull stock away from the fence if it's not.

[Adam Wilson]

If I properly understand your question. I think all table saws have this as a built in feature. Once the wood is cut at the leading edge there is no reason for the far end side of the blade to be in contact with the wood. It only creates wood twisting and binding opportunities.



I have a Delta contractor saw with the stock T-square fence which seems pretty good. It's well tuned and within .005 parallel to the miter slots. My blade is also parallel to the miter slots. Could there be any other reason why when I make a cut there is a 0-1/8" gap between my stock and fence at the far end?

[Andrew Fleck]

Are you sure your lumber is straight in the first place? If it has a bow, what you describe can happen.

[Jak Kelly]

Maybe you need a feather board??????

[Myk Rian]

I have a Delta contractor saw with the stock T-square fence which seems pretty good. It's well tuned and within .005 parallel to the miter slots. My blade is also parallel to the miter slots
Make the miter slots parallel to the blade. Then, make the fence parallel to the blade.

[johnny means]

If I properly understand your question. I think all table saws have this as a built in feature. Once the wood is cut at the leading edge there is no reason for the far end side of the blade to be in contact with the wood. It only creates wood twisting and binding opportunities.

How would one build this feature in?

OP, is your fence face flat? This is probably the first thing you should check.

[Adam Wilson]

This first link explains the dangers of not having your blade parallel or slightly skewed away from the fence.

http://www.raygirling.com/kickback.htm

This link provides information on how you go about adjusting and fine tuning your table saw.

http://www.woodmagazine.com/wood/pdf/delta/ds-038free.pdf


How would one build this feature in?

OP, is your fence face flat? This is probably the first thing you should check.

[John Sanford]

Does this happen regardless of the width of the piece being cut? It is possible that your fence rail(s) may be tweaked. If so, you can get a "good" parallel reading on the fence near the blade, then the fence can skew a smidge once you've moved it out past the tweak point. The way to check this would be to make multiple cuts at different widths.

[johnny means]

This first link explains the dangers of not having your blade parallel or slightly skewed away from the fence.

http://www.raygirling.com/kickback.htm

This link provides information on how you go about adjusting and fine tuning your table saw.

http://www.woodmagazine.com/wood/pdf/delta/ds-038free.pdf

I'm aware of the notion that the fence should skew away from the blade, though I don't buy into that notion. But, even if you do, your material would still ride against the fence the entire length of the fence.

[Greg Woloshyn]

Make the miter slots parallel to the blade. Then, make the fence parallel to the blade.

If the both the blade and fence are parallel to the miter slots, shouldn't they be parallel to eachother? Both my blade and fence are within .005 to the miter slots.



Does this happen regardless of the width of the piece being cut? It is possible that your fence rail(s) may be tweaked. If so, you can get a "good" parallel reading on the fence near the blade, then the fence can skew a smidge once you've moved it out past the tweak point. The way to check this would be to make multiple cuts at different widths.

This is a good possibility, I'm going to check this for straightness and see what I find.

[Pat Barry]

I'm aware of the notion that the fence should skew away from the blade, though I don't buy into that notion. But, even if you do, your material would still ride against the fence the entire length of the fence.
I feel more comfortable with a very subtle skew away from the blade but it is very small. Maybe 1/32 over the 10 blade dimension. More than anything this is to ensure it is not binding in any way

[Lee Schierer]

Make the miter slots parallel to the blade. Then, make the fence parallel to the blade.

You can't move the miter slots, so you have to make the blade and the fence parallel to the miter slots. I use a dial indicator and get exceptionally close alignments. I also check them periodically to insure that nothing has changed. Material pulling away from the fence usually indicates that the blade is angled away from the fence at the back ans is pulling the material away from the fence as the cut is made. If there is a splitter, it needs to be checked to insure it is aligned with the blade. The splitter can be pulling the material away from the fence as well. CHeck the splitter width relative to the blade. It should be just slightly thinner than the blade.

[mreza Salav]

You can't move the miter slots, so you have to make the blade and the fence parallel to the miter slots. I use a dial indicator and get exceptionally close alignments. I also check them periodically to insure that nothing has changed. Material pulling away from the fence usually indicates that the blade is angled away from the fence at the back ans is pulling the material away from the fence as the cut is made. If there is a splitter, it needs to be checked to insure it is aligned with the blade. The splitter can be pulling the material away from the fence as well. CHeck the splitter width relative to the blade. It should be just slightly thinner than the blade.

Actually in a cabinet saw it is the miter slots (i.e. the top) that you move to make parallel to the blade...

[Greg Woloshyn]

My splitter is removed right now and my blade is within .005 to the miter slot. After cutting multiple strips of MDF last night I noticed little to no gap when using my featherboard and ensuring I feed the board in flat to the entire length of the fence before it reaches the blade.

I think the problem I have is due to some of my stock not being straight, and the way I feed the boards. If the stock isn't fully against the fence at the blade and at the very front, I will run into this problem.

[Michael Kaplan]

is your blade sharp? A dull blade can pull on your stock, especially if one side of the blade has more build-up of resin/pich/whatever...

[Mark W Pugh]

After reading this thread and just disregarding it, I did some TS work today. I never look at the end of my fence during a cut. My concentration is on the fence, prior to the blade, and the blade itself. Well, today, I looked at the far end of the fence. Guess what? My wood was not against the edge of the fence at the end of the fence. The fence was extending away from the cut. Problem? NO. Everything was cut square and parallel. So. I'm not too concerned what happens at the far end of the fence past the cut. I could be wrong though.

Just what happened to me.

[johnny means]

After reading this thread and just disregarding it, I did some TS work today. I never look at the end of my fence during a cut. My concentration is on the fence, prior to the blade, and the blade itself. Well, today, I looked at the far end of the fence. Guess what? My wood was not against the edge of the fence at the end of the fence. The fence was extending away from the cut. Problem? NO. Everything was cut square and parallel. So. I'm not too concerned what happens at the far end of the fence past the cut. I could be wrong though.

Just what happened to me.

Mark, if your fence is straight and your board's edge is straight, it would be impossible for the two to be in contact over any length without being in contact over the entire length. Basic geometry dictates that something is not straight. The question is when will it matter and will you know where and how to compensate. I once had to work with a jointer that sagged at the ends. Both tables were adjusted to the cutter, but not parallel to each other. Knowing what was wrong, I was easily able to adjust my technique to get to get flat boards.

[Bob Grier]

Try a different blade, a new or recently sharpened blade?

[Chris Parks]

Once the wood being cut is full engaged with the blade from front to back the wood will follow the blade not the fence, it can't do anything else. If the fence slants away from the blade on the out feed end then there will be a gap, it can't be any other way.

[peter gagliardi]

I don't think we are accurately measuring here? I would guess that the measurement reported is between the front and the back of the blade in reference to the table slots. It is nowhere even close to an accurate method. The best way, is to raise the blade high, then nest a precision steel straightedge against the teeth at the front and rear of the blade, then measure at the front and rear table edges to the miter slots AND the fence when locked. You are going to be plenty surprised I think. IF you decide to have the fence can't away from the blade, it should only be .005 over the whole distance front to rear of table!
In the absence of a good steel straightedge, you could use a good quality extruded aluminum level which is accurate enough for this task.

[Loren Woirhaye]

Operator error can be a factor.

You might try one of those accessories that clamps to the fence and pulls the stock in tight with canted wheels. Pushing wood in consistently against a rip fence is trickier than we may want to admit... minor errors don't interfere with many types of work, but I advise to be wary of blaming the tool anyway, assuming it's set up right enough. Tracking down tiny errors in machine alignment can be interesting but won't give "perfect" results without the most discerning user behavior.