Official Luthiers Forum!

Hesh my fence is like that too. I don't think it can be changed as I didn't notice any adjustment. I always measure the distance from the front of the blade to the fence and the back of the blade to the fence if it's a important cut and adjust the fence if need be. I'd get a nice fence if I felt I really needed it. But I'm always pulling my fence on and off. If I don't need it on the saw it's off and I use the saw for a bench sometimes. You could put a piece of malamine on the fence face to correct the back being a little high if it bothers you but I find I'm usually cutting something higher then the gap is. But for the price you can't complain. You can always build onto it but you would be better off to just buy a grizzly cabinet saw with all the bells and whistles if you decide you want a really nice TS in the future.

Hesh, my friend, do you purposely throw those big, fat, juicy straight lines out there to all the comedians of the world, or what!

I'll bet you can buy some hose adapters and rig-up a through-the-wall vacuum connector.

As Chris mentioned, you may want to screw a scrap of melamine or plywood to the face of the fence, recessing the screw heads. This board may become "sacrificial" at some point, (like when you're setting up for some narrow cuts, or when using the table saw to create a rabbet) but at least the flying carbide never hits the metal fence.

I'm not sure what you mean when you say, "The fence on the saw ... does not want to sit at the same height in the back as it does in the front..." If you really mean the height, then that makes no difference. A board screwed to the face of a fence may work better for some tiny or thin parts being sawn, as it makes it more difficult for the wood to sneak under the fence.

Dennis

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Dennis Leahy
Duluth, MN, USA
7th Sense Multimedia

Hesh,

Any chance there's a latch for the far end of the fence that's tucked under the fence, so that end of the fence is sitting on top of it?

Pat

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formerly known around here as burbank
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

Waddy thanks for the links - some of this stuff looks like a possibility.

Chris thanks for the info and I agree that even though it is a lousy fence it is probably good enough for me to do what every it is that I will do with this thing.

Pat I took the end of the fence apart looking for an adjustment and like Chris I don't see anything. The rear rail was slightly higher than it's lowest position so I was able to lower that and this closed the gap a tad but I am still seeing about 1/8" at the very rear of the fence.

Dennis bro...... when I was a kid Don Rickles was my favorite and BTW he was just interviewed on Terry Gross the other day and he is still going strong.

What I mean by the fence does not sit at the same height at the back is that under the fence the distance to the table in the front of the saw is about 1/16" and in the back it is about 1/8". I doubt that I will ever cut anything less than 1/8" on this saw anyway so no biggie.

I am going to wait until my table saw book arrives and/or one of my OLF pals comes over to use the saw so I can be a bit more informed and safe when using it. But it is all set-up as well as I can adjust it and seems to run and cut very well. It's pretty quiet too which I did not expect.

Thanks everyone!!!

When I was building this outfeed table/box I thought about how the motor would be affected by the dust. I looked at the motor and found that it is a sealed motor so no dust can get in it. When the air is drawn past the motor it also helps to cool it. If you don't have the air drawn from under the motor you are probably going to have one of two problems, the first would be that the motor will get buried in sawdust and over heat or catch it on fire or the second would be that you leave the bottom open and let the sawdust drop out the bottom which kind of defeats the purpose of the entire setup. With this kind of setup I don't have to worry about tilting the blade, it tilts as far as the saw was designed without removing any guards. I really don't notice any reason to block off all of the gaps in the table saw as this just lets the air flow through and draw the dust out.
I see there is a lot of discussion about using the guards or not and the fact that you can't see the blade with the guard on. I always use the guard unless it won't work like when you are doing a dado cut. I'll usually set the fence or whatever I am using to guide the work and then do the cut. You really don't want to adust something while you are cutting on the table saw anyway so if you set it up it will cut where you want it to.
Hesh, my saw is actually the same as yours just a little older. I put that same fence on mine about ten years ago and found it to be a very serviceable unit. If you set it up correctly and check it now and then I think you will be very happy with it. Having said that I have never used a really top of the line fence but I have built a lot of furniture with it.
Mike

Dennis,I`ve made all my bindings with a 10" marathon and it works great.But just to show that I`m an old dog willing to learn new tricks,I was in Lowe`s today but couldn`t find a diablo.So next trip to Homely Depot I`m gonna pick one up,and give it a try.And Hesh ,Cedar seems to dull saw blades pretty rapidly when I`ve had a lot that needed ripping up.
James

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James W Bolan
Nashville Tennessee

UPDATE:

Thanks again folks for all of your help!

I received a package from Lee Valley yesterday with some goodies for my table saw.

Rather than make a zero-clearance insert I just went ahead and purchased one from Lee Valley. This thing was not very expensive, $25, and seems to be very well made. It nearly fit like a glove..... but needed one ear on the underside routed a bit to make it fit.

Once installed and leveled the instructions told me to clamp a board over the entire insert so in the words of Mick Jagger - so I did..... Then with goggles on and elevated blood pressure I stood off to the side and began raising the blade slowly. Since this is a 7 1/4" blade it took a while for the blade to reach the bottom of the insert and you guys would have laughed at the look on my face - sheer terror...... I made sure that I had an unimpeded path of retreat too....

But it all went very well and once the blade was at full height I shut off the saw, unplugged it, decided to breath...., and removed the sacrifice board and clamps. I also lowered the blade all the way just like my pal JJ advised to do when the saw is not in use. Thanks JJ!

Here is how it looks now with the newly cut gash for zero clearance and what the original insert looks like for comparison.



The insert seems very well made to me and has some heft to it and is very rigid. The adjustment screws work substantially as described (language that I used to use for software contracts.....) and the integral rear tab that sits under the table and the front screw that snugs it up worked fine too.

I also purchased this splitter but have not read the installation instructions yet. Even though this is the thin kerf version I am wondering if my saw blade is too thin for even this splitter. Any thoughts please?



And lastly, for now..., while I was at it I also picked up a ready-made push stick which will give some of you DYI enthusiasts a shake of the head. But I want to be safe and freely admit that I am a table saw idiot but working on changing that. My table saw book is out of stock and the vendor took a week to tell me this..... So I need to order another one from some place else.

Hesh, you will have to start watching "The New Yankee Work Shop" You can pick up alot of tips on the table saw by watching Norm make furniture with the TS.

Thanks Todd - this is exactly what I was looking for and I do have some dull 1/16th" bits that would be great for this. I'll use a sharp one though to drill the hole. The kerf that you see was cut with the blade at max height. How far back from the kerf should the drill bit go - 3/4"?

Chris yeah I need to start watching Norm.