TS fence mod help

matt fonner

Member
Messages
24
Location
Cols, OH
I'm putting the finishing touches on the used TS I bought. It's an old Craftsman 113 series that I think was an early 70's model, :dunno:
Anyway, while checking the fence, I found a bulge in the last 8" that was causing some binding :bang:

I have attached a peice of maple to my fence, and it has turned out pretty good.

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The advise I'm looking for is what should I do to help this thing resist the normal atmosphere changes ? :lurk:
 
Hi Matt :wave:

Is the wood just unfinished now?

I'd think that unless you live in an area that can have huge temp and humidity swings in a short time, it should not be much of a problem, but to be safe, I'd finish all six sides of the wood with some good penetrating finish, something like waterlox, and then on the side that is nearest the blade, I'd sand it really smooth and use paste wax.

Good luck! :thumb:
 
+1 for MDF treated with BLO or sealed with shellac and wax the face and bottom. Back when I had a contractor's saw I made a fence extension to add some control on large panels. I included t-slots for feather boards and such. This one was simply shellaced and is still in use 3-4 years later by the person that now has that saw. Sorry for the poor pics but I had to scrounge them off an old forum with the way-back-search-machine.
 

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With used equipment you never know what might have happened through its life. I have used the following processes on lighter fences such as yours.

After first making sure the fence head lock is clean and consistently functional I would next work on the rail and fence.

1 - Take a good straightedge and check the rail the fence rides and locks on. If the rail isn't straight your fence isn't going to be straight. If it isn't straight you may be able to straighten it out by muscling it out on your bench vice. Or place blocks at the ends and with a beefy board and a clamp in the middle squeeze it in to bow it back straight. Or place it on your bench top and again with the blocks supporting the ends and a clamp in the middle try to get the bow out. When you mount it back on your table saw

2 - Make sure the fence is straight using the straightedge. If there is a bow in it use the same method as for the rail to straighten it out.

3 - Check to make sure the fence face is perpendicular to the tablesaw top and isn't twisted. Lock the fence on your tablesaw. Take your square and check the fence face against the tablesaw top front, middle and back. If they are all consistently out of alignment adjust the fence as your fence allows, you may have to use shims at the bolt holes. I like to use an aluminum pop or beer can because you can easily cut shims out with scissors and a circle punch. If there is a twist in the fence hold one end in a vise and use a clamp at the free end to tweak the twist out, then check for straightness again.

4 - Now you can adjust your fence's parallelism to the blade.

Like some of the others have replied I prefer MDF sealed with shellac.

Cheers,
 
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