Rip Fence alignment question

[knobcreekman]

hello everyone... long time peruser first time poster here. i recently acquired a barely used BT3100 from cl. I am having trouble getting the rip fence aligned correctly. everything else has been working great. i can align the fence square but when i lock the handle down the rear end of the fence always pulls in towards the blade about 1/16". also there's some horizontal play in the fence when I move it. For instance if I start to move the handle side that side moves faster than the other end of the fence which causes it not to lock down square. same thing happens if I start to move the other end first. I can adjust the screw in the opposite end of the fence which keeps it parallel but then it's too tight and i can't slide the fence at all. I appreciate any help you all can give and thanks a lot for this forum... though this is my first post i've read tons of posts and you all seem real helpful and friendly and your advice thus far helped me build my first table saw project ever... a simple box! woo-hoo! but i gotta start somewhere i guess


Thanks

[dbhost]

Search for, and send a PM to user LCHIEN with your email address, asking him for his BT3K FAQ sheet. I am pretty sure this issue is covered in that...

I know it is covered in the manual, I just don't recall off hand what the fix was... It's a simple adjustment as I recall though...

[Black wallnut]

The adjustment screw at the back of the fence only effects the timing and pressure of the rear clamper. Too tight or too loose and you will have problems. The design of the rip fence is a self squaring design. When you are lowering the handle the front should lock first and then the back locks. Both should happen close to the handle being parallel to the floor. There is some adjustability in the front block although normally they are not needed. The correct proceedure for adjusting can be found in the manual for the saw. You can find that through the link to the old articles posted as an announcement in this forum.

[pelligrini]

I think there's a couple threads on this fairly recently too (within the last 3 months).

http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=47099

[knobcreekman]

thank you all for your replys... i have spent the last two days following the instructions in the manual of "loosen screws and adjust"... apparently i'm not savvy enough to get what I need to out of those instructions. I loosen the screws and adjust but when I retighten the screws and recheck the fence i have the same issue. Am I supposed to loosen the screws and force the fence square, lock it down and THEN retighten the screws? I will pm LCHIEN for the FAQ.. thanks again for all your replies. it has just been frustrating b/c every other part of the setup has gone so smoothly. Also, when moving the fence should it remain parallel to the blade throughout the entire movement or only after being locked down?

Thanks

[Black wallnut]

Once adjusted it shall be parallel only when locked down. With the BT3100 some have mentioned a few problems that required extra effort to align the rip fence. To adjust:

1. lower the locking handle until the fence is only locked at the front
2. loosen the top two screws just slightly
3. swing the fence to parallel
4. retighten the screws
5. lower the handle slightly farther until the rear clamper locks
6. Adjust rear clamper adjustment screw as needed.

The fence front should lock about parallel to the floor with the handle and the rear should lock 15 -20° past that.

[Bill in Buena Park]

...when moving the fence should it remain parallel to the blade throughout the entire movement or only after being locked down?

After lockdown. I believe there is enough play in the fence head mechanism that it can lead or follow the rear end slight during movement. You can probably get the fence to move closer to parallel throughout by moving the fence from the center.

During lockdown, any play will be taken out as the head cams up on the front rail, the rear end aligns to the head, and the rear clamp grabs.

[RayintheUK]

Good advice given already, but are you sure that the rear clamper is correctly set in the rear rail? Look at these side elevations, where the gray is the rear rail, the clamper is shown in black:



Diagram "A" shows the correct method of fitting the fence to the rear rail, and the "angle of attack" means that the clamper usually needs its adjusting screw to be slacked right off first.

Hold the fence at an angle of around 35 - 40 degrees to the table (operating handle uppermost) and make sure that the clamper slides in and under the inner lip of the rear rail, then lower the front of the fence down onto the front rail, making sure that the clamper remains as at "A." When the clamper works correctly, it operates as in diagram "B."

The symptoms you describe can be caused by an incorrectly fitting clamper, operating as in "C." HTH

Ray

[knobcreekman]

Thank you all for your replies and knowledge. I had a combination of not doing the alignment process properly and the rear clamping issue mentioned by Ray so I was pretty much doomed to misalignment. Tonight though I was able to get it setup properly armed with your helpful instrucions, some patience and a few beers. Thanks again and I look forward to being a part of this community

[dbhost]

I can't believe I forgot about the rear clamp! Sorry...

[JR]

I can't believe I forgot about the rear clamp! Sorry...

Luckily the beer instruction was intuitively obvious!

JR

[knobcreekman]

Luckily the beer instruction was intuitively obvious!

JR

Indeed... perhaps I should have focused more on the manual and less on the beers the first time around

[eccentrictinkerer]

I believe there's one more element that hasn't been mentioned in this discussion. It took a while for the 'little gray cells' to come to life.

When I got my 22811 clone 1 1/2 years ago I had the same problems with my fence. I researched the site and found a drawing and explanation that helped me fix the problem. (It may have been in Loring's FAQ.)

Today I checked the four BT3000 rip fences on the shelf (don't ask) and found they all had the same problem. The first photo shows the lever that is pushed by the eccentric. It shows the top end bent a few degrees.



The top end should be straight as shown below.



I straightened the tip out and it worked perfectly (with tweak on the screw at the end of the fence). BTW, if the end is bent, the adjustment screw can never correct the problem.

It's important to remember never to force the rip fence handle down too far. The handle on my saw never goes below horizontal.


Good luck!

J.D.

[eccentrictinkerer]

I just picked up another saw for parts today and the rip fence was damaged (can't grip rear rail) exactly as shown above.

I wonder if the majority of saws out there are suffering from the same malady?