# Craftsman table saw fence alignment



## stoogefan (Jun 27, 2007)

I have a 10" Craftsman table saw about a year old and have had nothing but trouble with getting the fence to align properly. Every time I set it up and check for accuracy, the back side is nearly a ¼ inch out of square from the front. I have done what was suggested in the owner's manual but still can not get it to the correct settings. Do have any suggestions short of buying an expensive replacement fence?


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## WayneC (Mar 8, 2007)

My uncle had similar issues with their job site saw and ended up taking it back. What process are you using to align the fence?


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## Hawgnutz (Mar 29, 2007)

If it under a year old you still have the original warranty. If so, take it back! The switch or motor usually burn out after a year's use on Craftsman table saws. My switch burnt out after 11 months. Thank God it was still under warranty.

Their fences are hard to align. Try tightening the screw that runs under the fence to adjust it, if it has one. If not you might well consider replacing it with another table saw that has "normal" fittings like a 3/4" x 3/8" miter slot. I replaced mine with a Ridgid and have been totally satisfied with the improvement!

If that is not an option, then maybe place a clamp behind the fence where it strays from the true. Or clamp the top of the fence to the table.

I am boycotting Craftsman power tools. They are usually made by someone else beside Sears but Sears puts their name on it and sells it for about 20% more, reduces the warranty, and then trys to avoid honoring the warranty when it breaks. Today, most of Sears' power tools are made by Ryobi, so buy them at Home Depot and enjoy a 2-year warranty at noextra cost!

I hope this helps!

God Bless,
Hawg


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## woodspar (Mar 6, 2007)

I am sorry that you are having difficulties. I have a Craftsman table saw from the eighties that does really well. I am not saying that it has a Biesmeyer fence, but I can set it up and align it well. Can you post the model number or can you post a picture that shows the type of fence that it is?

I actually have two Craftsman table saws, a pseudo contractor model and a bench top model here so if there is any way that I can help let me know.

With the larger table saw I was able to produce my shutters.

You might be able to return it, as Sears seems to be pretty good about that, but I think that the limit on power tools is 90 days.

Of course I should admit, that as soon as I can swing it, I will be getting a cast iron top 3hp 220v saw.


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## Greg3G (Mar 20, 2007)

Dennis, Sorry to hear you got sucked in by Sears as well. I have a Craftsman TS that I bought when I first desided to get back into wordworking. I too have some minor problems with the fence as well as keeping the blade alinged to the table. I did purchase the warranty when I got the saw, but being true to form, every time I call Sears to perform any work or maintance on the saw, they send out a lawnmower tech who knows nothing about tools. Not learning my lesson from that, I puchaced their new 12" bandsaw that had the 7" resaw capacity. The only problem, Sears doesn't sell replacement blades for it. I have to have them custom made for a company online. I am about to purchase an aftermarket fence for the saw to solve the fence problem and will be ordering the PALS kit for the alingment problem. (just as soon as the budget recovers from my medical leave.) I have already purchased the link belt and matched custom pullies. Those made a world of difference right away.


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## Dano (May 12, 2007)

Dennis, I have an older Craftsman saw circa 1990 and bought their version of an upgraded fence. Seems to me that I paid 250 to 300 bucks for the fence and it does OK but I wish I'd bought something else. All in all the saw has done me well but I think I'll buy other brands from now on. Back when my wife bought me the saw it was one of their top saws at around 500 dollars, that coupled with the added fence raised the price considerably 17 plus years ago. Like others have said here, more bang fewer buck options are available.


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## stoogefan (Jun 27, 2007)

Thank you for your replies. Sorry it took so long to get back with you. I was waiting for my son to take a picture of the saw and fence. My table saw is a Craftsman 10", model no. 152.221140. I have made adjustments to the fence according to the owners manual. They included two adjustment screws on the top. My son and I adjusted the fence but the fence remained about 1/8" difference from front to back, the back being wider than the front. When we adjusted the back and locked it down, the front moved out of line. When we adjusted the front and locked it down, the back moved out of line. Do you have any suggestions?

Have a happy and safe Fourth of July.

Here's the picture:


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## WayneC (Mar 8, 2007)

Can the fence be adjusted while the mount is locked down? Also are there hex adjustments on the T part of the fence. There looks like there may be one to the left of the knob. Perhaps these could be adjusted. Sears.com does have a detailed diagram. I was not able to find a users manual on line.

Here is a write-up on your saw. http://users.adelphia.net/~thundereagle/ts.html Did not see anything on the fence.


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## doyoulikegumwood (Jun 21, 2007)

i relize this may not help but i have a small sears saw with a simular fence i dont use it mutch but i could never get it right eatheri ended up just usinging a a pipe clamp with a box built around it like the one norm built for the table saw station he made a few years back sorry i know its no help but i dont know many who have ever had any luck with the craftsmen fences


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## GuyK (Mar 26, 2007)

Dennis, sorry you are havinag problems with your Craftsmen TS. I have all Craftsmen tools in my shop ( check out my shop photos ) and have not had a major or minor problem with any of them. I have the table saw like yours , the 14inch Bandsaw , 10inch Miter Saw and several others. I know this doesn't answer your question and is of no real help to you, but it seems that everytime someone has a problem with a Craftsmen tool, everybody has complaints about theirs. I wonder how many problems are out there with the other tool companies that we don't here about?? Sorry for venting, just gets annoying sometimes.


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## mski (Jul 3, 2007)

Hi I have the same saw I love it!!!, 
The two Allen bolts on top of the fence (inside the red plastic top) in the rear are used to adjust the fence to blade, the screws on the slide track are to adjust sliding and fence to table.
I adjusted mine once and it hasn't gone out of wack in four months.
I will say the first time I tried adjusting it I got confused by the manual.
As far as Sears bahers out there everthing is made in China or Tiwan or ? You got to watch what you buy EVERYWHERE. I too am used to The Sears we had 30 years ago.


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## drknoxy (Nov 12, 2008)

Might be a silly question, but are you aligning the fence to the miter slot or the blade?


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## toolman (Jul 14, 2008)

I think the best thing to do is grab the nearest sledge hammer and go to town on the craftsman. No in all seriousness, we had the same problem when we tested the craftsman table saw. We never could figure out how to resolve the problem. We also had a portable job site craftsman saw and the motor went out twice on us.


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## dusty2 (Jan 4, 2009)

Before you get out the shedge hammer:

Is the blade parallel to the miter slots? Rotate the blade (power off) to check for excessive runout. If the blade is flat and the arbor is properly aligned, the blade should remain parallel to the miter slot throughout the entire rotation.

Is the front rail perfectly straight?

Is the rip fence perfectly straight?

After you have completed what you consider to be an alignment….does the fence lockdown at different locations with the same degree of accuracy (or inaccuracy as the case may be).

In your photo, the fence appears to be parallel to the miter slot. Verify this…do you have a dial gauge to check with?

I have never worked on this particular fence but if it was mine and I was having your trouble, I would disassemble that puppy to see what it is made of. Then, while putting it back together, thoroughly inspect every piece for any sort of defect that could attribute to misalignment.

The two screws on the top, in feed end of the fence….are these the screws used to align the fence. I would guess they are. I assume that you can loosen them, relocate (align) the fence and then secure them in the aligned position. Have you done that?

Good luck. Hope this helped some.


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## Jiegris (Jul 31, 2016)

I know this is an old thread, but I recently bought a used craftsman saw with an exac-o-rip fence and had some issues with it. It's frustrating when you just want to get results quickly.

The first thing is make sure that your table surface is flat, if it's not flat then you're wasting your time. You can always assume that the miter gauges are square to the table, so the first thing is to make sure that your blade is parallel to your miter slots. ( I had to loosen the mounting bolts for the motor to get it accurate). I used an inexpensive miter gauge caliper to check that the blade was square to the table. I then lowered the blade to check the fence was also square to the miter slot. So we are now parallel direction of feed wise. In my case the fence was off over 1/64 the distance of the run. There is no real adjustment except for the mounting screws from the fence to the perpendicular bar the fence attaches to. I used a known square parallel piece of lumber clamped to the fence to align it with the miter groove. Loosened the screws, moved it till square and re-tightened. It took a few tries and I got it to .003, not bad… It has been accurate for some months now. Patients will reward you!


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## HerbC (Jul 28, 2010)

> ... Patients will reward you!
> 
> - Jiegris


Only if you're in a medical profession!

Sorry, I couldn't resist…

Herb


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## Jiegris (Jul 31, 2016)

I blame autocorrect on my iPad. I'm sticking to it… Lol


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