Help Delta table saw and Biesemeyer fence system
I am a fairly experienced woodworker however I have a small shop and when I upgraded it for my son we went from a Delta contractor saw to a Delta 36-714 hybrid saw as we got a great deal on it. The problem we are having is when ripping stock as it passes through the blade it wants to wander away from the fence. It does not kick back, burn or mess up the stock in any way but it just seems like it should follow the fence during the full duration of the rip cut. We have checked the blade and fence for parallel with the miter gauge and they are within .003 well within tolerance for woodworking. We are running a Biesemeyer fence system, Forest Woodworker II blade (bran new) the riving knife is perfectly lined with the blade and all surfaces are waxed. We just can’t figure what is causing this even my lesser saws did not do this. Has anyone ever heard of this I know I am splitting hairs here but I have 2 teen age boys learning on this saw and do not want any chance of accidents. thanks jb
Replies
Use a Feather Board to force the stock against the fence. You can make it yourself and clamp it to the saw table. Google "Feather Board".
Did you check that the blade was parallel with the fence? That would be more important than the blade or fence being parallel to the "miter gauge slot", as I believe you meant when you said you checked that the blade was parallel to the "Miter Gauge". In fact if you you read the manual on setting up your biesmeyer fence you'll see that they actually recommend that the fence be set at a very slight cant away from the back of the blade,instead of completely parallel to the blade, to avoid burning of the wood as it leaves the back of the blade. It could be that the particular piece of wood your cutting has some tension in it that is being released as it is cut, which is causing it to warp as it leaves the blade. A feather board may also help as previously mentioned. It could be that the vibration of the saw itself is causing the wood to drift away from the fence. Hope this helps. If this isn't it then just keep working at it and you'll eventually figure it out.
Why don't you remove the
Why don't you remove the riving knife and try a few rips. If you don't have any problems staying tight to the fence, the riving knife and the fence aren't in line. The work should stay tight to the fence all the way through the cut, past the blade and on to the outfeed table.
I always set the fence to the blade(I don't think I have ever even checked to see what they are relative to the miter slots). This is how I set the fence to the blade: With the saw off(obviously), take a dollar bill and position it between the blade and the fence, move the fence to the blade. I like to set it so that, the dollar is pinched at the front of the blade, and it has a little wiggle room at the back, but is still touching both the blade and the fence. Hope this makes sense. If you continue to have problems I would suggest giving Forrest a call.
Align the fence to the miter saw slot, then looses the bolts holding the top to the frame, slide the fence up snug to the blade, insert your dollar bill or business card, clamp the blade to the fence, tighten the top to the cabinet. Use some mdf scrap pieces between the blade and fence, fence and clamp.
This should align everything.
Don
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