I purchased a used table saw back in Jan, and had not used it until recently.
It seemed to be working fine, but now after further use I’m having some problems with it.
It’s a Vega Fence, and has 2 cams. One on the rear, and one on the front (blade side) with a screw for fine adjustments in the middle.
It seems like the front cam was working well for a while, then it became very easy to clamp. As I push, it will become slightly tight, then will loosen more (as the cam gets past it’s largest point) When the cam is at it’s widest point, it still doesn’t hold the fence firmly enough to cut with it.
The end cam seems to hold alright…sometimes.
The basement I’m in doens’t have a flat floor. concrete has been cracked, and coming apart in some places. So I’m sure that has something to do with it, but I’m sure not everything. I’ve tried to get it level.
I’ve looked around for a VEGA manual, and can’t find anything.
Another issue, is that the fence seems to be warn at the bottom where stuff has been pushed along it. (normal use) AND the fence has touched the blade at least once. (prior owner)
Is it time for a new fence? I really hope not since we’ve spent 4times what we wanted to spend for our shop =).
thanks for the help.
Replies
Don't know about the Vega fence-though pictures of it look like its a good one. You sound like you might simply have an adjustment problem or maybe a sliding plastic pad is missing from the side of the clamp opposite the cam. (You can make a replacement from a chaep $5 white plastic cutting board. Stuff cuts like butter on your tablesaw)
Rockler has a page on adjusting the Vega ( http://www.rockler.com/articles/display_article.cfm?&cookietest=1&&story_id=56 ) but it might be a newer model.
Find the best photos of the fence and see if there's anything missing from your fence. A digital camera with images of yours and a visit to a store that sells them might help you figure out what's missing.
For the floor, what I did with my General--it sits outside in my backyard shop (Southern California-but I do have to steel wool the rust bloom off the top every six months or so) I hammer drilled four 3/8" threaded bolts (no hex head just the threaded shaft) into the concrete, than I put on four nuts, lock washers and regular washers.
Next I carefully set the legs of the saw onto the bolts--I removed the threaded feet and maybe had to drill the holds larger-and then added washers, lock washers and nuts on the top-leaving them loose.
Next, I leveled out the saw top using the lower nuts to adjust up or down. Finally I tightened the top nuts and gave the lower ones a quarter turn crank. It's been fine for almost five years now.
You probably could make it simpler, use only two bolts. Lay out the rectangle where you want to place the saw, find the high and low corners. Screw in the threaded foot all the way up to the foot of the sawbase at the high corner, drill only two holes for two diagonal legs-do the nuts and washers as I described above, these are all you need to keep your saw from moving around or twisting-and then on the fourth leg use the adjusting foot.
Vega Enterprises Inc.
9585 Bruce Road ~ Decatur, Illinois 62526
217.963.2232 ~ 800.222.VEGA(8342) ~ FAX 217.963.2246
You can probably get a manual and advice directly from Vega.
Awesome.. thanks AlanSHopefully they won't charge.. much. =)Bryan
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled