rip fence

[Andrew Melamed]

How do I adjust the fence on my craftsman 10" benchtop table saw? I make it paralell with the miter gague slot but there is a lot of play. it locks in place fine but when its unlocked it can wobble a lot and I can never find where the paralell mark is.

[glenn bradley]

You don't mention a model but all my Craftsman fences except the Align-a-Rip did this.

[Glen Blanchard]

Are you saying that there is a lot of slop in the fence when it is locked down? Or only when it is unlocked?

[Andrew Melamed]

only when it is unlocked

[Glen Blanchard]

only when it is unlocked

If it is secure, stable and parallel with the miter slot when locked down, I would not worry about it.

[David Klug]

Andrew I got rid of my Craftman fence and bought a Vega. The smartest thing that I ever did for my TS.

DK

[Andrew Melamed]

If it is secure, stable and parallel with the miter slot when locked down, I would not worry about it.

thatss the problem, the wobbling makes it imposible to know if your lined up with the miter gague.

[Glen Blanchard]

thatss the problem, the wobbling makes it imposible to know if your lined up with the miter gague.

I thought you said that it was stable, without slop when locked down.

[Andrew Melamed]

I thought you said that it was stable, without slop when locked down.

yes, when it is unlocked it wobbles left and right, so i would lock it down and it wont be exactly paralell with the blade.

[John Gregory]

I have a Ridgid TS that might have a similar fence. The alignment is governed by the head of the fence. As I adjust the width of the cut, I push the fence towards the front rail, then lock it down.

[Glen Blanchard]

Andrew - Most fences (if properly tuned) while not necessarily square when unlocked, will square themselves when locked down. If you have tuned your fence and it does not self-square when locked, you have a potentiallly dangerous situation there.

[Jim Becker]

Andrew...my very first TS was simlar to yours. Unfortuantely, the fence design isn't condusive to remaining consistant. You may very well have to carefully measure each time you set the fence. Or consider one of the Rouseau portable table setups that include a very serviceable tee-square fence that the benchtop saw can just sit in. Once you put the saw in it and lock it down, you have an accurate fence. (That was the route I chose...until I upgraded to a larger, more accurate saw)

[David G Baker]

How do I adjust the fence on my craftsman 10" benchtop table saw? I make it paralell with the miter gague slot but there is a lot of play. it locks in place fine but when its unlocked it can wobble a lot and I can never find where the paralell mark is.
I have a Craftsman 10" table saw that had a terrible fence on it. I could get it to lock down tight then take a tape measure and a 2x4, measure from your miter slot to the fence at the back of the saw then measure from the miter slot to to the fence at the front of the saw. Use the 2x4 to tap the fence until it is square with the miter slot at the distance from the blade edge that you need. The best thing I ever did was put the fence in a garbage can and bought an after market fence.
David B

[Greg Sznajdruk]

The after market fence businees grew as a result of cost effective (cheap) fences. I switched to Accusquare fence on my Ridgid saw performance is night & day.

Greg

[glenn bradley]

Hi Andrew,

I too fought a fence that locked at the front and rear and was not self aligning. Fences that do this correctly align and lock at the front and then lock at the rear as the locking handle is moved through it's arc. A pic or a model number might help but, bear in mind that some fences just don't do that. I had to measure front and rear and from the blade each time I moved the fence. It's a good driving force to nudge you to a new fence or saw ;-)

[Tom Ricochet]

Greg is right. I also have an Accusquare, and after two+ years it is rock-solid. Web address is <mulecab.com.>

[Doug Shepard]

I used to have a CMan Contractor saw, and continually found it necessary to measure both at the front and back of the blade numerous times to make sure the fence locked down parallel with the blade. I think it's just the nature of the fence design. One thing that did help was one of these gadgets.
http://www.squeakyfloor.com/prodparaend.html

[Curt Harms]

How do I adjust the fence on my craftsman 10" benchtop table saw? I make it paralell with the miter gague slot but there is a lot of play. it locks in place fine but when its unlocked it can wobble a lot and I can never find where the paralell mark is.

Andrew, how big is the top? If it's too small, an aftermarket fence might be take up most of the top. The problem here might be that it's a Benchtop saw. I haven't dealt with this saw, but most aftermarket fences are intended for contractor saws. If the front of the saw is square and perpendicular to the top, you might find an aftermarket fence that would work, but I suspect Jim B. has the best idea with the Rousseau setup. Just my somewhat informed opinion.

Curt

[Jim Becker]

As far as I know the Rousseau setup (or something similar) is the only option for a fence upgrade on a benchtop saw. The downside is the cost...but you do get a much larger work surface in addition to the fence for pretty much what the saw originally cost... ;)