# Dewalt Table Saw Fence (Rack & Pinion) problem...



## BGW (Nov 27, 2012)

Friends,

I am appealing to you all for some help with my Dewalt DW745 table saw. As some of you know, this saw boasts a rack & pinion fence system that is supposed to be easy to use and accurate. When I first bought mine, never slid softly like it's supposed to, but it didn't matte that much to me, because I was able to move it.

Over the past year, as I've used and abused it, the rack and pinion gears have become more and more tight…now they completely bindup and I'm virtually unable to move it at all.

Has anyone else had this issue, and if so…how did you rectify it?


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## paxorion (Oct 19, 2012)

Are the gears thrown out of alignment by chance? Any suggestions from Dewalt support?


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## BGW (Nov 27, 2012)

I'm sure that's what it is, I just can't get them re-aligned…


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## gabriellus (Aug 18, 2014)

I have the DWE7491RS with the similar rack and pinion fence. I recently had to entirely disassemble the fence and rail system as the rail was just crazily bogged down, the handle was just impossible to twist. After taking it apart, it was clear it was the rails themselves taking in chips and dust and getting gummed up. I've cut mostly pine, you see. Next time I'll add some teflon spray that I bought since I reassembled, I bet that will help. The rack and pinion part was fine, but you WILL need to realign/adjust the fence when you get it all back together.


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## BGW (Nov 27, 2012)

Thanks, Gabriellus…that's what I was thinking about doing, but I wanted to see if anyone had the same experience. We use it a lot with PT material, so I imagine there is quite a bit of gumming going on.


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## gabriellus (Aug 18, 2014)

Not a problem, glad to help!

As a side note, your post got me thinking to do that work. Having now taken it apart for a second time, I noticed that in my case, the most problematic area in the rail assembly was the contacts of what Dewalt calls the Rail Lock. When you lock the fence in position, you push down a lever which in turn pushes out a metal pin against inside the front and rear rail, locking it in place. It seemed like in the unlocked position, the pin was still too far out, binding up the rail. In any case, disassembling everything and hitting all sides of the rail/gear/teeth/runners pretty hard with this seemed to get me back to near factory condition.


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## gabriellus (Aug 18, 2014)

I thought I'd repost with an update. Just performed the Rail Lock Adjustment (page 7 Fig 17 in the DWE7491RS manual). In order to loosen the jam nut (JJ) I needed locking pliers and a great deal of force. Once loosened, I adjusted the hex rod (KK) to the loosest it would go and still lock the fence snugly, which in my case seems a great deal indeed. After that it has been a dream, no binding in any way whatsover.


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## htl (Mar 24, 2015)

*Old post* but thought I'd add that if you turn it upside down once in a while and blow it all out then brush any gummed up teeth and while your at it give the rest of the saw a look over and scrape all the packed up wood between the gears, you'll have a new saw.
Don't wait till it starts giving you trouble.


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## Carlyfaye (Aug 31, 2017)

I am having the same problem with my DeWalt table saw. It worked like butter when I got it a couple of years ago and gradually got tighter and tighter, and now is totally frozen. I am going to try to break it down and clean it up. I just wish I could find a video that shows exactly how to do it. This post has been very helpful. Thank you.


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## htl (Mar 24, 2015)

Carlyfaye* You don't need to break it down to clean up the gummed up teeth on the fence*, just lower the blade and lay it upside down flat on a table and once you start looking around you'll see the wood packed up on the teeth of the fence and around the gears as you try to raise and lower the blade.
It goes with out saying UNPLUG the saw.
I used a stiff brush and a screw driver to clean the gummed up teeth, once cleaned up get some paste wax and rub every thing to keep thing running smooth.
There really aren't that many parts to this saw and they're all out in the open once flipped upside down.

Do a search on google for reviews of this saw to get an idea of what the under neath looks like.


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## Carlyfaye (Aug 31, 2017)

Update on my fence problem. I checked it out and it was clean as a whistle asI use the air compressor to blow sawdust off, but I did notice my knob was busted (probably from trying so hard to turn to adjust fence). I ordered a new knob and installed with no improvement. Next I noticed there was a skid mark ffrom the lock position rod. I loosened that up and problem solved. Not sure how it got in that position in the first place, but we are back in business. Thanks for all the help.


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## htl (Mar 24, 2015)

Thanks for the come back, it's always interesting to find out what the problem really was and the fix.


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## scrubs (Sep 8, 2017)

> Update on my fence problem. I checked it out and it was clean as a whistle asI use the air compressor to blow sawdust off, but I did notice my knob was busted (probably from trying so hard to turn to adjust fence). I ordered a new knob and installed with no improvement. Next I noticed there was a skid mark ffrom the lock position rod. I loosened that up and problem solved. Not sure how it got in that position in the first place, but we are back in business. Thanks for all the help.
> 
> - Carlyfaye


Same thing happened to me. There's some hardware that holds that lock assembly in place. I actually lost a bolt in mine and my brake would never fully disengage. Once I figured that out (after quite a bit of frustration!) it was fine. 

Great little saw, I should have kept it.


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## htl (Mar 24, 2015)

I wish I could find a died Dewalt saw would love to put that fence on a Shop Smith, maybe one will come along.
Hint Hint any one got a dead one near Alabama. LOL


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## Carlyfaye (Aug 31, 2017)

I sure wish I had taken the time to figure out the problem a lot sooner. I know what you mean about frustration. I'm also afraid it sustained some damage as it rolls along just fine then it hits a little rough spot. It's barely noticeable, but hurts my heart just the same.


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## BRAVOGOLFTANGO (Nov 30, 2012)

This was a very helpful post, I'm glad I didn't need to tear down the rack & pinion system to clean it, it was simply gummed gears and primarily the minor lock-pressure adjustment, works like new again.


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## runswithscissors (Nov 8, 2012)

HTI (or is that HTL?) As soon as Dewalt came out with the rack & pinion fence, I knew I wanted that kind of fence on a real TS. When I finally found my 90s era Unisaw, I was actually relieved that it's fence was discombobulated, as I was determined to try to fabricate such a fence (and I had always hated the round pipe rails and the fence that supposedly "locks" to the back rail, having lived with that arrangement on my original Rockwell contractor's saw.)

This involved telescoping steel square tubing, and gear racks and pinion or spur gears for both front and rear of the saw. The hardest part was finding tubing of the right wall thickness to slide easily but without binding. And I only succeeded in that quest at 50%. The gear rack and pinion were easily found through Applied Industrial Technologies (they have a website). Also, needed to connect front to rear pinions with steel rod, but that was of course easy. Oh, also had to improvise means of locking the fence to the rails while also being able to remove it quickly and easily when necessary. Draw latches worked okay for this, but it is not a thing of beauty.

This all worked out quite well, and I like the system a lot. One advantage of the telescoping rails is that I can get a lot of room to the right of the blade without having unduly long rails; additionally, I get quite a lot of room to the left of the blade (beyond the table edge), which can come in handy, especially with a right-tilt saw.

The whole thing is very stable, and goes for a long time (2 or 3 years) before needing tune up. I'm actually at that point now. A real advantage is that I only need to measure from one tooth when ripping.

This whole setup is kind of ugly, but functionally superior. But would I do it again? Maybe not, but I'm not sorry for having done it in the first place. I suspect it will make the saw hard to sell when the time comes; but somebody may see it as just the thing they were looking for.


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## htl (Mar 24, 2015)

runswithscissors Sounds like one cool project.
Would sure like a looky at you creation.


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## runswithscissors (Nov 8, 2012)

I've never taken photos of it. I'll try to do that in a few days.


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## Pecosgirl (Jan 16, 2018)

I had the same problem, the fence knob became harder and harder to turn and would frequently jump a tooth which then messed up the fence alignment. I thought that the rails were dirty and removed the rail on the knob side of the table but it was pretty clean. However, when I tried to put the rail back on, the fence locking rod was preventing the rail from sliding on properly and I noticed skid marks on the inside of the rail. Like others have said and thank you for saying, adjusting the fence locking rod via the turn buckle seems to have solved it. (Don't forget to realign your fence). FYI I emailed and called DeWalt for advice on this and got zero helpful information. I also asked them how I should treat the table top as the coating on the aluminum is worn and the top is grabby. They did give me an answer - wipe with mineral spirits and then wax. I asked them why they don't post this on their FAQs as many people are likely encountering this problem but they said they don't think it is a problem. Come on DeWalt, time to up your customer service game.


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## Mahku (Mar 29, 2018)

Hello to all, and thanks for your helpful information. I have a DeWalt DWE74911 bought in 2014 and was having the same tightness problems with the Rack and Pinion assemblies. Turning the saw upside down onto a table and cleaning everything involving the jammed areas really did the trick. I used air blowers, a hand detailing brush with nylon bristles to loosen caked on dust, and a shop vac to remove what I got loose. I also used silicon spray sparingly on the areas. I cranked the assembly back and forth to its 2 extreme positions and cleaned each time. Eventually the assembly moved pretty much like new. I like the idea of the teflon product mentioned earlier and will pick some up.

This problem clearly worsens over time and I now see that cleaning the saw every few uses would be a very good idea. I blow the saw off after using it but I now know that that can blow some dust into the areas we've been discussing, so there is no substitute for what I just did. The dust I removed from the saw was pretty well stuck in there and it took a lot of work to get most of it out. So nice to NOT have to take the thing apart, as I think it would have caused more troubles to realign afterward.


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## Mahku (Mar 29, 2018)

Responding to Pecosgirl's post, YES, I also did contact DeWalt about the rack and pinion problem and got very little help, except to suggest going on YouTube (where there were very little video solutions). Lumberjocks was the only place I found which had the answer.

I am also having the problem of the grey coating being scratched off over time, and I spoke directly to a DeWalt REP at a Trade Show, and he could not offer any solution. I did learn later to Paste Wax the top. That's fine. I wonder why DeWalt just doesn't give a straight answer. There products seem pretty great to me in general, so let's get some better customer service.


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## bdogChicago (Aug 11, 2020)

Reigniting this thread but for the opposite issue, my fence is moving during cuts. I purchased the saw used, disassembled, cleaned, lubricated, waxed everything and reassembled. all is working well except that the fence moves occasionally during cuts. The knob is tight as are the rails. Not sure what else to check. Thoughts?


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## Briman (Jan 21, 2021)

I have the 7480 with the same style of rack and pinion. I have noticed it bog down something and I take a compressor and blow out the rails and that really helps


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## Dwayne Ford (3 mo ago)

gabriellus said:


> I have the DWE7491RS with the similar rack and pinion fence. I recently had to entirely disassemble the fence and rail system as the rail was just crazily bogged down, the handle was just impossible to twist. After taking it apart, it was clear it was the rails themselves taking in chips and dust and getting gummed up. I've cut mostly pine, you see. Next time I'll add some teflon spray that I bought since I reassembled, I bet that will help. The rack and pinion part was fine, but you WILL need to realign/adjust the fence when you get it all back together.


How do you disassemble the rack and pinion assembly? My saw is doing the same thing. Fence slides smoothly for about 6 inches then binds up.


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## avongugg (9 d ago)

My Rail lock adjustment won't lock, I use a bungie cord to hold it in place, does anyone know how I can make it lock like it used to? I see the adjustment nuts underneath it and tried without success, there is nothing missing under there and the handle is not damaged... any help will be helpful!


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