# Biesemeyer Fence Isn't Locking Tight



## bevins587 (Mar 30, 2011)

I picked up a used Craftsman table saw that had a Biesemeyer fence already on it. I noticed that the part of the fench that creates the friction from the handle was bent and I'm not sure if that is causing the problem or not. The fence will lock down but if you bump it, it will move and I would assume that this shouldn't be the case. From the picture, does anyone have any suggestions as to what is going on (I can take all the pictures you need, just let me know what you want to see)?

Also when I go to lock the fence down, should the handle go all the way pointed towards the floor or stop about 3/4?

Don't let the paint chips confuse you as to how bent the piece is, because it isn't bent as bad as the picture makes it looks, has more of a sligh curve.


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## JAAune (Jan 22, 2012)

There are two setscrews on the angle iron that slips over the fence rail. Screwing those further in will tighten the grip the fence has on the rail when locked down.


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## cabmaker (Sep 16, 2010)

Mine stops at about 3/4. You can vary that by running the fence alighnment screws a bit deeper which may be why yours is not locking tightly. Properly set up you should never have to really lean on that lever.


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## bevins587 (Mar 30, 2011)

Thanks for the quick responses, went out and adjusted them a little farther out and that fixed it right on up.


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## JAAune (Jan 22, 2012)

Just double-check the alignment of the fence with the miter slot and blade in case you haven't already done so. Those set screws are also the alignment mechanism for the fence. Tweak as needed until everything lines up nicely.


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## bevins587 (Mar 30, 2011)

Good catch other wise I would have been wondering why all my cuts were off, goes back to that saying of every action has a reaction" or something along those lines.

Thanks again.


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## JAAune (Jan 22, 2012)

You're welcome.

Enjoy the fence. Once I got a taste for a Biesemeyer at the workplace I found it hard to get used to the flimsy thing on my old Grizzly saw (eventually "had" to upgrade my saw with Biesemeyer).


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## DustyRich (Jan 20, 2012)

The saying is and my high school physics teacher would be proud " every action has an opposite and equal reaction"

Rich


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## LeeBarker (Aug 6, 2010)

Just wanted to add that this is a critical setting. If there's too much play, then you'll get what the OP asked about-inadequate locking.

But if you tighten those set screws too much (I wish mine were fine thread instead of SAE) you can actually dent the front of the rail and that's not a good thing.

As OBWan says, "We must be cautious."

Kindly,

Lee


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## JerrodMcCrary (Jan 1, 2014)

I just wanted to say thanks for the people that gave very helpful answers. I recently got a table saw and had the problem with the fence not locking. I have never had a table saw fence when the back of the fence did not actually clamp to anything so I had been using clamps for a couple of days. This totally is an easy fix but takes time to get the fence dead on accurate to get same readings on each side of blade, or it did me. About 25 minutes later sawing good straight cuts.


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## JerrodMcCrary (Jan 1, 2014)

Seems like you could drill a fine thread hole next to the factory hole or just use a bigger diameter set screw and drill out the factory hole with a fine thread bit.


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## patron (Apr 2, 2009)

in your picture
it looks like the locking pad is broken
and not realy 'bent' like it should be 
but flat 
so it takes more 'lever' to get it to the rail

here is mine
you can see how it is supposed to be
(it has a cork pad on it too
to keep it from sliding)

you might want to get a replacement


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## patron (Apr 2, 2009)

don't know your model #
but here is a link to the fences
at e-replacement parts

http://www.ereplacementparts.com/biesemeyer-fence-rail-parts-c-3275_14866_14867.html


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## ndb (Jul 5, 2015)

Couple of years too late to help you out but I ran across this post trying to figure out how to solve the same problem. While waiting to get some cork (which seems to be the issue) I wrapped a piece of duct tape around the cam which seemed to work while waiting for orig parts.


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## MrUnix (May 18, 2012)

> Couple of years too late to help you out but I ran across this post trying to figure out how to solve the same problem. While waiting to get some cork (which seems to be the issue) I wrapped a piece of duct tape around the cam which seemed to work while waiting for orig parts.


Go to your local big box borg and pick up a couple of those little laminate samples in the cabinet section, your choice of color  Cut it to size and glue it on. On the original Biesemeyer fences, that is all it was - the clamp shoe pad and glide pads were made of laminate glued to the fence (later years they went to delrin or something similar, with the little nubs that fit in drilled holes). I'm not sure what they used to glue them on (probably some type of epoxy), but they are a bugger to get off! Another alternative is to get some self-adhesive UHMW tape, (aka: Slick Tape), which lots of people use (and is easier to replace!).

Cheers,
Brad

Cheers,
Brad


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## Pete_LJ (May 11, 2016)

I just picked up a used Biesemeyer 52" fence which I am in the process of installing on my Grizzly G1022Z table saw. Fence was not locking but then I read this posting. I cut a piece of delrin 0.096" thick with my miter saw and replaced a missing glide with the delrin. It now locks beautifully.


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## Pete_LJ (May 11, 2016)

I just picked up a used Biesemeyer 52" fence which I am in the process of installing on my Grizzly G1022Z table saw. The Biesemeyer fence was not locking but then I read this posting. I cut a piece of delrin 0.096" thick with my miter saw and replaced a missing, vertical glide on the Biesemeyer fence with the delrin. It now locks beautifully.


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## BillWhite (Jul 23, 2007)

And I might add that I touch the cam face with a dab of automotive door lube every once in a while. That helps to keep the cam action smooooooth.
Bill


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## BurlyBob (Mar 13, 2012)

Pete, where did you get the delrin? I would like to get some for my fence.


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## Pete_LJ (May 11, 2016)

My Biesemeyer fence (new to me, otherwise, known as used) install ran into another hitch of sorts. In the past, I have read of horror stories where the angle iron for the Biesemeyer fence was mounted too high on the table saw. As a result, I intentionally mounted the angle iron below what is recommended with the idea being that I would shim up the square tube to the best height for my saw. Anyway, I got through mounting the square tube onto the angle iron and I found that the distance from the top of the square tube to the top of the table saw was 0.845" (and should have 13/16", 0.8125"). Because the the square tube was too low, the fence did not move smoothly (as the horizontal glides were not resting upon the square tube) and there was no gap between the fence and the saw's table top.

In order to adjust the square tube height, I changed my initial shimming plan. Instead of shimming the square tube (which has seven ("7") fasteners), I decided to instead change the thickness of the horizontal glides. So I custom cut two horizontal glides from my block of Delrin to 0.142" (about 0.046" thicker than the stock ones). I then epoxied the two custom thickness glides to the fence's T square. I now have a gap of about 0.019" between the fence and the saw's table top (gave me an opportunity to use my feeler gauges). This gap of 0.019" seems a little large but the fence slides nicely and this additional gap helps when I slide to my left sheet metal extension which is not perfectly level ( I will eventually replace this extension with a flat cast iron extension and at that time cut a new custom glide which is a little thinner).


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## MrUnix (May 18, 2012)

> In the past, I have read of horror stories where the angle iron for the Biesemeyer fence was mounted too high on the table saw.
> - Pete_LJ


I've never heard of any 'horror stories' regarding the fence height… and certainly not if the rails are installed properly according to the manual:










Glad you got it worked out, but it does seem like you made more work for yourself when you could have just properly adjusted the rail instead of deliberately setting them lower than specified.

Cheers,
Brad


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## Pete_LJ (May 11, 2016)

Brad:

In order to be more straightforward and with an eye to brevity, I failed to explain fully in my prior posting that I had found various references as to the correct distance from the top of the square tube to the top of the table saw being both 27/32" (or, 0.844") and 13/16"(or 0.8125"). In addition, my square tube was not exactly two inches ("2.0") in width. Rather the square tube was actually, 2.006". In light of the fact that it is easier to shim up than decrease the distance, I went with 27/32" standard. I ended up being one thousand of an inch off the 27/32" standard for the distance between the square tube and the table saw top (distance should have been 0.844" (AKA 27/32") rather than 0.845" which is what I actually ended up with).

Brad your diagram shows a distance of 2 27/32" (or, 2.844") between top of the angle iron and top of the table saw. If you subtract out the perfect 2.00" width of the square tube then you have a specification of 27/32" between the square tube and the table top. In other words, I hit the 27/32" specification within one thousandth of an inch ("0.001"). But, the fence still did not slide smoothly at that spec. I then tested the fence with a temporary shim of 0.032" between the square tube and angle iron and the fence slid much better. It is as this point that I decided to cut custom glides rather than shim the square tube.

A couple of possibilities come to mind as to why the different specifications exist. Including, the possibility that Biesemeyer used different square tube dimensions (we are talking differences of say 10 or 20 thousandsths) over time, different thicknesses of guides, and different specs for different generations of fence. If anyone can give a better explanation as to which spec is the "correct" one, it would be helpful to know.



> In the past, I have read of horror stories where the angle iron for the Biesemeyer fence was mounted too high on the table saw.
> - Pete_LJ
> 
> I ve never heard of any horror stories regarding the fence height… and certainly not if the rails are installed properly according to the manual:
> ...


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