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The one-piece fence on my Harbor Freight 12" SCMS has always been a little off. The left and right sides were not coplanar horizontally or vertically. Could it be because the fence is one-piece, or because it is a $100 HF saw???
Here is my fix to get it straight and square to the table. Could work on any saw with a one piece fence.
> I cut a plywood face that runs the full width of the fence, with no cut-out for the blade. I used the fence as a template.
> I covered the fence with masking tape to allow the fix to be reversible.
> I hot glued the face to the fence. The hot glue filled the gaps between the straight & true plywood face and the crooked fence. I used the fence from my router table to hold the face perfectly vertical while the glue cured. Any square jointed piece will work to hold the face vertical.
> While I was at it, I replaced the plastic throat plate with a piece of 1/2" (.412") plywood. No planing needed, it was the correct thickness.
(Ouch! I just noticed that the blade guard didn't return when this pic was taken.)
I squared the fence to the blade and made some test cuts. It is spot-on, both vertically and horizontally! Even with the face in place, I still have over 11" cutting capacity.
Future bevil and miter cuts will chop out sections of the fence and throat plate.
Notes:
1) I tried covering the aluminum fence with clear packing tape, but the hot glue didn't stick to it. So I went to masking tape for the second attempt.
2) I used some funky Sears "Formula 200 - Filling" hot glue instead of regular hot glue for the second attempt. So far, it's adhering ok.
- Lonnie
Here is my fix to get it straight and square to the table. Could work on any saw with a one piece fence.
> I cut a plywood face that runs the full width of the fence, with no cut-out for the blade. I used the fence as a template.
> I covered the fence with masking tape to allow the fix to be reversible.
> I hot glued the face to the fence. The hot glue filled the gaps between the straight & true plywood face and the crooked fence. I used the fence from my router table to hold the face perfectly vertical while the glue cured. Any square jointed piece will work to hold the face vertical.
> While I was at it, I replaced the plastic throat plate with a piece of 1/2" (.412") plywood. No planing needed, it was the correct thickness.
(Ouch! I just noticed that the blade guard didn't return when this pic was taken.)
I squared the fence to the blade and made some test cuts. It is spot-on, both vertically and horizontally! Even with the face in place, I still have over 11" cutting capacity.
Future bevil and miter cuts will chop out sections of the fence and throat plate.
Notes:
1) I tried covering the aluminum fence with clear packing tape, but the hot glue didn't stick to it. So I went to masking tape for the second attempt.
2) I used some funky Sears "Formula 200 - Filling" hot glue instead of regular hot glue for the second attempt. So far, it's adhering ok.
- Lonnie