# Ridgid R4512 Fence Alignment



## splinterking (Oct 27, 2012)

Hi, I've looked pretty throughly online for answer to this and could use some help. I'll preface this with I know this is the absolute entry level saw and maybe I'm expecting to much. Also I'm just a beginning woodworker so i could just be screwing up.

Anyway here's the problem I've aligned the fence on this saw about 5 times now using an A-Line-It dial indicator. I get it nice and aligned checking it repeatedly as I tighten the bolts. I check after I tighten everything down securely and it's fine. Then after a move it up and down the rails a few times and check it, it's off by anywhere between .015-.05. Which seems like a pretty big swing on a dial indicator to me. Just to make it interesting it's dead on every once in a while.

So I guess my question/thinking is am doing something wrong or missing something or should i just really be looking at a fence upgrade? Then of course if I'm upgrading the fence for $160-$350 then should I just return the R4512 and buy Grizzly or Steel City (which from what I understand would be the next level up)? Everything else on this saw is pretty good, blade alignment, arbor runout etc.

Anyway any help, opinions etc. would be great.


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## nwbusa (Feb 21, 2012)

Welcome to LJs, splinterking. I own this saw and also dealt with fence alignment issues, so maybe I can help. First, a few questions. Where are you measuring the error? Fence to miter slot, front or back, both. ...? Which bolts are you tightening, the four at the front of the fence? These details might help us narrow down the problem.

It took me a little work but I got my fence dialed in and it is repeatably accurate. The R4512 is a good saw for the money, and although the fence is not the best in the world it is not a bad system. Let's see if we can nail down the problem.


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## RussellAP (Feb 21, 2012)

I have a 4512 too. The fence was not set right at the factory, so I just loosened the screws by the indicator and lined it up and tightened. Easy peasy. Check progressively down the rail for alignment and make sure the rails are lined up.


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## splinterking (Oct 27, 2012)

Hey thanks for your reply nwbusa and the welcome. Since you have the 4512 and got it working it gives me some hope! I like the saw in general esp. compare to the job site saw I was using before.

I am referencing off the miter slot, the A-Line-It thing fits in the slot and then you zero it out and move it from front to back along the miter slot. I've tried it at various distances from the miter slot. The fence is moving away from the miter slot at the back.

I've been loosing and tightening the four bolts by the fence handle to make my adjustments. I've been leaving the closest bolt to me a little snug to keep it from moving to much allowing my to make a more accurate adjustment(in theory). The last time adjusted it, once I got it in place I tried using a clamp to hold everything in place.

Also I started measuring it again because I notice the wood appeared to drift away from it at the back. Although I was cutting short piece the see to come out accurately, I just thought the drift was weird so I checked it.


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## RussellAP (Feb 21, 2012)

Some people have had trouble with the blade going out of alignment as it's raised and lowered. You sure that's not what's happening? Because once you get the fence aligned with the blade, it shouldn't come out unless the rail is out of alignment, and that hardly ever happens.


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## splinterking (Oct 27, 2012)

@RussellAP~ i did check the blade alignment, I read a lot about that issue before I bought the saw and luckily I haven't notice any problems. I checked it several times just to be sure before I finished the assembly. But thanks for trying to help : )


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## splinterking (Oct 27, 2012)

UPDATE: I have gotten down to a consistant .020 by tightening the rear bolt on the fence. But here is what I noticed that made me do that, even with the front four bolts tightened down when the fence was tightened down it moved right at the far end, but stayed zeroed at the close end. So obviously it's dragging it's self right a bit(about 10-15 K). Is this indicative of anything else being out of adjustment?


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## yrob (May 26, 2008)

It sounds like your rails were not installed properly on the saw. The back rail is out of parallel with the front rail slightly so your fence binds and ends up going out of parallel as well. I may be wrong but it is worth checking. I have the previous model (3650) and once I adjusted everything right (it took me several hours the first time..) it stayed dead on and is never off.


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## splinterking (Oct 27, 2012)

That would make sense. I my just be dim, but how would I check for parallelism in between the rails? Just with a tape measure? And what would I do if they are off?


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## cutworm (Oct 2, 2010)

Are you locking the fence down before you check it? The fence should align itself as you lock it down. If not you may need to adjust the locking mechanism to make it tighter. If the rails have a lot of friction when you slide the fence tey a little WD 40.


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## splinterking (Oct 27, 2012)

It slides on the rails slide good. They seem to be parallel. To answer your question it actually goes out of alignment more when it's locked down. I've tightened the locking bolt quite a bit and have only seen minimal improvement. I will try to lock it down more and see if that helps.


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## nwbusa (Feb 21, 2012)

It sounds like you're on the right track. Definitely check the parallelism of the front and rear rails. You could shim one if needed but that will hopefully not be necessary (it wasn't for me). Also, I've read that some people prefer the rear of the fence to be "open" (heeled away from the blade) by a few thou, to make rip cuts a bit easier. There are a few components that can have an interactive effect on the fence alignment, so just keep tweaking as needed and make sure things are square etc. as you go. The saw is capable of being setup nearly perfect, and once you get everything aligned it should stay aligned.


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## splinterking (Oct 27, 2012)

@nwbusa. I have to admit a I'm a little discouraged right now, but tomorrow is a whole new day to mess with it. I'm think about taking the fence off the T base and see if does just need the face of it cleaned. It kind of acts like its seating back down in a particular spot and that's why I'm not getting anywhere. Thanks for your help.


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## cutworm (Oct 2, 2010)

Wonder if one of the nylon slides on the fence could be broken or worn?


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## splinterking (Oct 27, 2012)

Yeah I looked at the nylon slides and they seem alright from what I can tell. I just got the saw a couple weeks ago so they're still basically new. I thought at first there might be away to adjust them, but no such luck. That would make sense to why the fence wants to kick out though.


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## RussellAP (Feb 21, 2012)

If you align the fence and then close it, does it stay in alignment? Does it then stay when you open it and reclose it repeatedly?


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## cutworm (Oct 2, 2010)

I think I would return the saw and try another one. I aligned my TS3660 a couple of weeks ago and it looks to be repeatable. I have the blade and fence to <.001" referencing from the left miter slot. There is something wrong there to see that amount of shift. I wouldn't spend much more time on it. HD has good customer service.


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## knotscott (Feb 27, 2009)

Just to rule things out, have you tried the same fence measurements on both slots? How well seated is the head of the fence in the front rail?


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## Tennessee (Jul 8, 2011)

knotscott makes a good point. My 4512 fence is nicely parallel to the blade, but the left side miter slot drifts away from the blade by about .003 along it's length. Not enough to worry since I don't put anything in that slot, but still milled wrong.


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## splinterking (Oct 27, 2012)

That's a good idea knottscott. I will check everything against the left miter slot today, I had been using the right. I think I got to focused in on making it work how I was doing it.

I'm really hoping to get this figured out. I'm not looking forward to idea of taking this one back and assembling another.


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## knotscott (Feb 27, 2009)

HD might let you swap fences if that turns out to be the culprit. If the store has a display model, you might try carrying just the fence in, and setting it on their rails to see how it does. If it works fine, then it's the rails….if the deviation remains, its the fence, so you can see if they'll let you swap fences. Prolly a decent idea to call ahead so they expect you.


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## splinterking (Oct 27, 2012)

UPDATE: After spending several hours today and retuning the saw from the ground up I think I determined the fence is just defective. I realigned the blade and the rails and checked everything then I align the fence with the left miter slot and it looked good until it moved and then it was off again. I made several test cuts and they all had an extra 1/64th on the tail end, so I assume the fence is the cause of this. Thanks for everybody's help. Hopefully I can just get a new fence.


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## jaydubya (Sep 13, 2010)

Ill admit i didnt read through all the replies, but if you push the fence towards the back of the saw before locking it it should lock down in alignment. I have a craftsman 21833 and sold the fence and found a sawstop Pro T-square to put on it


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## jeffski1 (Nov 29, 2008)

i second jaydubya's post…i have the 4512 and if you don't push the front of the fence up against the front rail the rear of the fence will not be square with the blade…also i had to adjust those four allen screws that help align the fence to the blade several times to get it right,it was a little frustrating at first but now it is set and remains very accurate…good luck and let us know how it turns out.


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## splinterking (Oct 27, 2012)

I'll try the push forward trick tomorrow. Maybe that will get it working. I think I still might start looking at after market fences.


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## knotscott (Feb 27, 2009)

Be sure to get the R4512's fixed under warranty even if you do get an upgraded aftermarket fence. If it works, you can always resell it to offset the costs of the upgrade.


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## ssteadin (May 21, 2012)

The other thing to do is make sure that you push the fence forward (pushing the nylon slides against the front rail) as you lock it. This system is different than a T-square style fence and will not always self align when you lock it down.


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## splinterking (Oct 27, 2012)

UPDATE: After trying everyones good advice I final determined the fence was defect. But here's the good part, just simple email to Ridgid and new one is on it's way out. No hassle, no questions or anything of the sort, just a one sentence reply "Please allow 8-10 days for the new part to arrive". This probably won't be the last table saw I ever buy and my next one will probably be a cabinet saw, but I Ridgid has certainly earned my recommendation and business on other tools with their customer service.


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## ssteadin (May 21, 2012)

Good news. I hope that this resolves your problem. Keep us posted.


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## splinterking (Oct 27, 2012)

All right final update. New fence arrived today, which means it only took 3 days to get the new part. I give Ridgid and A++ for that kind of response. Also completely fixed the problem, I'm getting dead on rips now. The fence was pretty much calibrated out of the box, it was out .005 away from the blade, but I just left it that way. Also this unit they sent me was much more solid and the nylon runners are actually appear to be different. I tried to take pic to show this for others future reference, but the lighting is not good enough to really see. Either way it rides much firmer and locks easier. Thanks for everyones help!


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## knotscott (Feb 27, 2009)

Congrats….way to persevere!


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## toolie (Mar 16, 2011)

with all the issues surrounding the fence, you've hopefully remembered to register your saw with the LSA. forgetting could be costly.


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## noone (Mar 6, 2012)

Interesting. I have the same issue and have found I need to push the fence forward, front to back to get my fence to square up properly, and even then it's a crapshoot on how square it gets. The fact that you are saying a new fence completely fixed the issue is encouraging.


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## noone (Mar 6, 2012)

Splinterking-

Could you take a picture of the bottom of your front plate on the new fence you received so I can compare it to mine?

Unfortunately, it's looking like its going to be a little more difficult for me to receive a good fence. I'd like to have some ammunition to show Ridgid CS. .

Thanks!


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