LumberJocks Woodworking Forum banner

Biesmeyer fence falls into miter slots

3K views 8 replies 8 participants last post by  Rick Dennington 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Does this happen to anyone else or do I have my fence setup wrong. As I am sliding my fence across my table saw, when it goes over the miter slots, it kinda rocks a little and each side will fall into the miter slot. I have to coerce the fence to go across the slots. Is it just me?

Alan
 
#2 ·
That is not normal for any fence and ertainlly not a Biesemeyer. One thing to check is the height of the front rail to which the guide tube mounts. If that is too low it will cause that interference with the miter slots and can cause problems locking the fence in place on the tube if it is a big error. The fence kit should have a spec for how far beneath the table surface the front rail should be. You have to get that dimension right for the fence to work properly.
 
#3 ·
I've found that this happens on nearly EVERY t-square fence I've ever used, including the Biesemeyer and my own custom-built t-square fence. The exception to this is some of the Steel City fences, which have a support that rides on a piece of angle steel on the back of the table saw. I've closely examined how the Biesemeyer fences are built, and the plywood sides are mounted slightly lower than the bottom of the fence tube steel. There is a piece of UHMW or HDPE nestled on the bottom of the fence tube, toward the end furthest away from the cam-lock. It is supposed to support the far end of the fence and keep the fence sides from falling into the miter slot. Over time, this plastic can wear down (or it may be too thin to begin with…) causing the fence sides to "fall" off of the table saw's surface and into the slots. There is adhesive UHMW tape available that can be applied to the bottom of the existing plastic glide to 'shim' the fence back up to a proper height, preventing the sides from ever dropping below the saw top. You want to get the bottom of the fence sides to ride just barely above the table surface. As soon as you move the fence over a miter slot, the sides should remain elevated above the slot, and the plastic piece underneath the fence should be the only thing touching the top of the TS.
 
#7 ·
Thanks for everyone's replies! I bought the saw and fence used and had to reattach the fence rails when I got it all home. I'm not sure that I got the fence rails attached at the proper height, so that might be my problem. I'll look for a simple adjustment on the fence itself tonight and decide how much trouble it's going to be to fix. Thanks!

Alan
 
#8 ·
I just installed one on my saw this evening. The front rail is installed with the horizontal surface 2-27/32" below the table surface. Mine came with an L shaped template to adjust it. You can easily make one. The short part of the L (inside) needs to be 2-27/32" long. Also, inspect the plastic pad on the fence itself for damage. Maybe it's missing.

-Rocko
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top