Basic Table Saw Questions

[Larry R. Rosing]

I recently purchased a Delta T2 Rip Fence for my Craftsman contractor style TS (only a few yrs. old) because I couldn't get the fence parallel to the miter slot. Of course the holes on the T2 didn't line up, so I drilled new holes, but when I installed the fence the fence is about one eight inch above the surface of the table. There really isn't enough room in the angle of the rails to have drilled the holes higher in order to lower the fence once it was installed. Is a fence that high generally a problem? Also have a bit of a problem aligning the fence parallel to the miter slot. Which slot, right or left should the measurements be taken? I'm a novice at this.

Thanks, Larry Rosing

[Lee Schierer]

I would say that having the fence rail above the surface of the table will not be acceptable over the long run. Cross cutting or ripping anything wider than the distance between that rail and the leading edge of the blade will be a problem. Here's how my Beismeyer fence mounts.http://www.home.earthlink.net/~us71na/lsfence1.jpg

I am right handed so I use the left miter slot most of the time and that is the one that I used to align my fence. The right miter slot also lines up, so in theory on my saw you could use either one.

You may need to drill and tap new holes from the back side into the leg of the angle to attach it to the table. Or drill new holes in both the saw and the angle to mount the rail below the top surface.

[Bill Huber]

Maybe I don't understand the question but I have my fence set 1/16 above the table. I don't think you want it setting on the table, you want someplace for the saw dust to go.

The only time this would be a problem is when you are ripping something less the 1/8 thick. If you are ripping something very thin just use a ax fence for that, I just use a strip of hard board when that happens but that is not very often.

My fence is on the right of the blade and I use the right slot for the blade settings and then the same slot of the fence.

I can not help on the adjustment, there has to be a way to loosen the fence from the mount to adjust it.