Arghhhhh! Unifence not locking

[Dominic Greco]

I think my power tools are plotting against me! All those months of paying sole attention to the lathe has made my other tools jealous. Thats the only reason I can think of for all this to happen now. First my Drill, then my jointer, now my tablesaw. It's a conspiracy I tell ya'!!

:)

Tonight, while I using the Unisaw to cut grooves in some rails, the fence moves on me. Luckily, it wasn't much and I didn't ruin the workpiece. But I've had it happen once before and attributed it to me not locking the handle down. This time I was sure the fence was locked down. So I tested it out. I locked it in place, and then tried to move it. I was able to move it over with just a small amount of effort.

This is the original fence that came with the saw. The only difference is the fence face with is from T-Track USA. When I restored this saw, I even replaced the little nylon pads that the fence slides on. Just for your information, this is the older style Unifence that has the small allen head adjustments on top and the front.

I tried using the adjustments on top to get rid of any slop in the mechanism. But that didn't seem to work. I also looked in the manual and there is no "Troubleshooting" section to help me out. Since it was getting late, I decided to pack it and call it a night. I figured I could ask you folks and see what you could come up with.

So,.....Is there anyone out there who has a Unifence and has had this happen before? What did you do?

[Jim Becker]

Take a close look at the fence locking handle and what connects to it. It's been awhile since I used the UniFence, but there may be an adjustment on the locking mechanism that holds the fence fast to the rails. Something is swirling in my mind that you twist the handle to tighten it, but don't quote me on it...

[Jim Young]

Could the inside of the rail have some saw dust or chips in it? Do you keep your lock mechanism a little loose? I keep me lock pretty tight, I have to push down on the handle with quite a bit of force. Nothing scarier that a part of the saw moving as you run your hand past the blade.

[Daniel Rabinovitz]

Dom
I have an Exacta (spelling) fence on the JET Contractors Saw
But anyway - the little pads of slick plastic or UHMW on the inside of the fence mechanism tended to move (slide) because the glue was "no good".
They moved just a little at a time on the bendable adjusters (for aligning the fence parallel to the blade).
Eventually they slipped off the bent metal adjusters and I lost them in a sea of saw dust.
Also the fence locking lever has a piece of "emery cloth" or "sand paper" "whatever" to keep it from sliding - the emery cloth is on a piece of thin metal that was glued to the lever somehow.
It released and slipped down (yes down) as you clamped the lever
Hence I was adjusting the fence, forever, until I discovered the problemS and received new pieces (or stuff) and used some epoxy to GLUE the slick pads back in place
And the metal tab back onto the lever arm mechanism.

Now I hope that all this BS is not a large muddle but is somewhat helpful.
The adjustments weren't off
The pads were slipping on a curve.
Daniel

[Dominic Greco]

OK guys,
I adjusted the slides, top and sides, and now the fence holds when locked no matter how hard I push against it.

It really took no time at all to fix. So I had some free time to tighten the belts, dry film lube the tilt/blade raise mechanisms, blow out the motor, and true the fence up to the miter slot. It was time well spent.

Thanks for the help.