Craftsman Rip Fence alignment

[Larry R. Rosing]

Having a problem aligning my Craftsman Rip Fence the miter slot of my Craftsman Table Saw. The saw is about 4 years old ( bought it new). Model number 315.228390, Rip fence model number is 315.22830. I have tried aligning with a dial indicator but could not bring it in. Also, are there any suggestions for a replacement fence for this saw that would achieve accurate cuts? Thanks, Larry

[David G Baker]

I had major problems with my old Craftsman rip fence. The lock mechanism broke and I rigged a new set up so I could use it. The fence never would align with out doing several measurements, adjustments and a few taps with a block of wood. Finally I gave up and purchased an aftermarket fence that has worked great for the past 12 or so years. Got it form Sears and paid around $150 for it. Do not know the manufacturer.
I think a lot of the after market fences will fit the Craftsman.

[Lee Schierer]

I tossed my original Craftsman fence after putting up with it for years. Mine is an older model than yours by about 20 years. I put on a Biesmeyer 34" commercial fence and have no regrets at all. http://www.home.earthlink.net/~us71na/lsfence1.jpg. The fence installs quickly. I think I had to drill two holes. Best of all is the repeatability and accuracy right out of the box.

[Mike Zozakiewicz]

I have a nine year old craftsman and I have to measure both ends before I cut. It just won't align properly. The other issue is the arbor on many of the craftsman are not the same diameter across their length, thus dado sets don't lineup correctly without futzing around and using plumbers weld to build up the arbor thickness.

If I keep the say, I think I will eventually replace the fence.

Mike

[Larry R. Rosing]

Thanks for the help and advice! I am thinking about a Biesmeyer fence for the Craftsman saw. What do they cost and where is the best place to purchase one?

Thanks,

Larry

[Art Davis]

I tossed my original Craftsman fence after putting up with it for years. Mine is an older model than yours by about 20 years. I put on a Biesmeyer 34" commercial fence and have no regrets at all. http://www.home.earthlink.net/~us71na/lsfence1.jpg. The fence installs quickly. I think I had to drill two holes. Best of all is the repeatability and accuracy right out of the box.

Lee,

I think you have added a steel plate to accomodate your Grip-Tites, no? Any words of advice? I did the same, but ran into problems. Have corrected them to a degree, but I would be interested in hearing what you did.

Art

[Pat Germain]

I had the same issues with my Craftsman CS fence. Using it was just an exercise in futility. Since the fence doesn't even weigh enough to be a boat anchor, it has no real use.

I opted for the MuleCab Accusquare fence, which works quite well. Of course, you can't go wrong with a Bies, but I don't think those were readily adaptable for my saw. Perhaps a Bies will work for your saw since it's much newer than mine.

[Larry R. Rosing]

I went ahead and purchased a T2 at Lowes for a sale price of $135.00 today. When I got it home I discovered that none of the holes matched up (frond and back rails). I was expecting that some of the holes would not match up, but not all. Now I have to figure out how to get everything aligned and the holes drilled. I don't know how far to align the top of the angle iron in relation to the table top (1 half thick. is this starndard?) or where the the end of the angle iron has to be in relation to the left end of the saw extension. Could really use some advice on this because i don't want to make a mistake on the holes. Also, how much space should there be under the fence to the saw table. If this were a Delta saw, of course there would be no problem!

Larry

[Tom Henderson2]

Lee-

I'm headed down the same path -- fitting a nicer fence to my mid-sixties Craftsman contractor saw.

What was involved with fitting the Bies to your saw? Any thoughts you care to share about that process would be very much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

-Tom H.

[Tom Henderson2]

Hi Larry-

Any progress on fitting the T2 to your saw? I'm hoping to add a decent fence to my Craftsman CS and am hoping to learn what I can from you folks that have already gone down that path...

Thanks in advance.

-Tom H.
Ventura, CA

[John Skibo]

I gota Sears TS , rarely have alignment problems with the fence.
Would like a longer one but have no room , unless they make a detchable one!

[Lee Schierer]

Lee,

I think you have added a steel plate to accomodate your Grip-Tites, no? Any words of advice? I did the same, but ran into problems. Have corrected them to a degree, but I would be interested in hearing what you did.

Art
Yes the steel plate is for the grip tites which are a great investment for feather boards. I love them and use them all the time. My website Lee's Website (http://home.earthlink.net/~us71na/fence.html)has additional photos of the fence cover and steel plate. It was part of a special package at a woodshow. Since the grip tites don't need to go all the way down to the table when mounted on the fence, The steel plate is mounted on the surface of the 3/4" board/ I ripped a thin strip the thickness of the steel and glued it under the steel. I covered that with a piece of UHMW adhesive tape so pieces slide easily and the wood won't wear. The surface of the tape and steel plate are exactly even. The strip I ripped was thicker than the steel when I glued it on. I ran the board through my planer trimming only the width of the strip until it was the right height to match the steel with the tape added to it.

Shoot me a private message if you have more questions.

[Scott Schwake]

I'm in the same boat as you guys, looking for a replacement fence for a Craftsman. I like the Beis, but the price was holding me back. I ran across a brand called Vega which seems to get good reveiws here and on Amazon, and the price is a lot more pleasing, check it out.

[Greg Just]

I have a 20 year old Craftsman TS and upgraded with a Vega fence about 7-8 years ago.Works great!

[Allen Boynton]

I had a vega on my old craftsman......it worked super. I see them on eBay fairly often...new ones.

[keith micinski]

I still have my old craftsman saw in my basement and was wondering how you guys addressed the the throat plate flexing and causing a bad cut. My saw is probably from the 60's and the throat plate is stamped steel that can't be replaced and the wide side flex's and moves terribly and I finally just gave up and bought a delta.

[James Suzda]

While I was reading about the problems people are having with the alignment of the fence on the Craftsman TS I happened to think if these folks have ever checked to see if the front angle-iron is exactly the same distance from the table along its entire length. If I remember correctly, my old 113 series there are spacers between the top and this angle iron. If this angle-iron would be just off a few thousands from one end to the other it would throw the end of the fence off by quite a bit.

Maybe I was just lucky, but my old fence was pretty accurate but it was one that tightened up by turning a handle rather than clamping.

[Tom Zielinski]

I have a early 90's craftmans saw I got for free from my brother, when he no longer needed it. The fence that came with it was terrible to the point that to keep it square I would have to hold it down when locking it. Not to mention the weak adjustment screws that stripped out.

I upgraded to a mulecab accusquare fence. Rockler was reselling them and I got one on sale for with a few gift cards I had for $100 out of pocket.

It is far better and more accurate then what was on there. Not as nice as a beis, but I am trying not to spend a lot on this saw. Since in the near future I will be moving (with the hopes of more shop space) and will invest in a good cabinet saw, if not a slider or combo machine.

[Gary McKown]

Keith - would that be one of the old Craftsman "100" series, with a 1/8" throat plate? On my old '70s Cman, the plate is about 3/16" thick, still flexes too much and is not especially flat, so I use ZCIs made from ½" material with rabbeted edge to fit the ledge. For the stock plate, it helped to shim it level all along the circumference (rather than just at the corners). I once thought about reinforcing the underneath somehow but never got around to it.

Part of the problem with these old saws is that the blade is positioned very close to the left edge of the plate. Plow out a long, 3/8" or 1/2" wide path (to allow blade tilt), and there is not much material remaining on the left side. A ZCI helps here, for 90 degree cuts.

[Keith Beck]

If that's the Craftsman Align-A-Rip fence, good luck ever getting that thing aligned. I put up with mine for a couple of years and finally kicked it to the curb and replaced it with a Vega. I loved the Vega.

Keith

[Jerome Hanby]

For what it may be worth...

I've got the Craftsman made for them by Emerson/Ridgid, don't have the model number with me at the moment. I was checking my fence with a dial indicator and mine sloped a good bit measuring from front to back. U found that of i pulled the back of the fence towards the blade while locking it down, it was very close to square in relation to the blade and miter slots front to back.

I'm still going to replace mine as soon as funds are available. I'm looking at the
Incra LS32-TS TSIII possibly with the joinery add-ons. Anyone familiar with those?

[keith micinski]

Yes it is a 100 series I think. I thought about trying to make my own but it didn't seem like there was enough room to work with. I guess at the end of the day the saw needs a new fence and the motor is pretty weak on it. I will probably just keep it for rough cutting stuff and using for a work bench. I would hate to guess what the run out on the arbor might be the whole trunion system has probably seen better days anyway.I hate to say it but the geared adjusting on the fence for micro adjusting works really well unfortunately the fence itself takes about 5 minutes to square up every time you move it.

[Larry R. Rosing]

Having some major issues with this. Drilled holes, to line up with the existing holes in the table top, but this made the fence too high and the nylon adjusting screws and the site glass screws for the tape are above the table hight by perhaps a sixteenth, which means that a board you want to rip is raised above the table at the front end. Also did not get the alignment for the measuring tape correct. So, not sure what to do at this point. Am thinking about redrilling into the cast iron table to lower the fence rail, however inorder to line up the tape measure, none of the existing holes can be used. Needless to say, I am a bit frustrated. That's how you learn I guess!

Larry

[glenn bradley]

Applying a new tape is the least of your worries. I would not drill the steel. I would line up the rails where I want them, clamp them in place and drill the CI. I'm assuming something like 3/8" holes for 5/16" bolts to allow fine tuning as my Bies has(?).

[Jason Scott]

I too used to have all kinds of problems out of the fence and other things on my Craftsman tablesaw, I finally got fed up after a while and bought a Powermatic with the Microglide fence. It is unbelievable to me how nice woodworking could be again with a great tool. Once I set it up it is accurate evertime, well unless I mess that up lol. I got mine for a good deal on craigslist, just look around. Mine was actually new in the box, but I see even better ones than mine that are used for steals. I saw a unisaw the other day the guy only wanted like 700-800 bucks for. If you can swing it, maybe just buy a different/better saw used? Just my .02, good luck with it, oh and if I remember correctly Sears still makes a fence system called "align-a-rip" for those saws, suppose to be accurate but don't know anything about them.

Jason

[Larry R. Rosing]

Glenn, thanks for the reply. I agree with you. I am going to do just that and hopefully with a little patience, I'll be able to get thing where I want them!