craftsman align a rip

[matt]

I bought a craftsman 10 inch ts about a year and a half ago, and have been battling the align a rip fence from the get go. I am constantly having to measure both the front and rear of the fence before i make a cut, and it is very time consuming. Does anyone have a solution?
bierhound7@aol.com

[Paul]

At the risk of stating the obvious, a new fence would be the answer. There are several after market brands to choose from, depending on the level of acuaracy and repeatability you want.

[MadMark]

I had that same fence. Made setups essentially impossible. Wouldn't stay aligned, Forever having to bang on end to try and get both front and back to read same distance from miter slot, etc.

That is now in *TRASH*. I replaced it with an Incra TS-III and the difference is amazing. My Craftsman TS now cuts like a precision instrument. I can set an exact 1/32" and it'll *cut* exactly that +-.002"! I can return to a previous setting with no measurable error. No more saw burn because the fence is pinching the stock. Reduced risk of kickback for same reason.

Incra cost damn near as much as saw did originally, but well worth it if you're going to do *any* serious work.

Paid $350 + tax at local WoodCraft store. Worth every penny. Have router installed in wing of TS so both tools can benefit from Incra. Installation was simple, one man job. Wrote web page on it: http://www.netexperts.cc/~lambertm/Wood/incra.html

If you're serious about woodwork, invest in a new fence. Otherwise, junk it.

M

[Jeff]

I have a craftsman contractor ten inch belt drive table saw that my dad bought in between 1969 and 1971 and a year and a half go he gave it to me . i fixed it up pretty good in my opinion i did a little dusting and cleaning , re alingned the blade tilt stop and i put on a freud combination blade, and i bought a align-a-rip fence for it, at first i wasnt satisfied cuz when i tightened it it would still move but then i bought a extention wing tightend my bolts better and lined it up a gain and now it works fantastic , it is the best table saw ever and before i had been given this saw i was saving to buy the powermatic cabinet saw and after i got that stuff straitened out i decided i'd rather keep my craftsman!....so instead i bought a delta 12 1/2 " planer and a jet jointer , so the point of my story is i have had very much success in precision cuts and all that since i got the extention wing

...........................e-mail me with n e comments.
jeff

[Jeffrey Block]

I have a brand new craftsman table saw with the align the rip fence. When I first put together the saw I kinda expected the fence to have some play in it on the front and and back part. It was to my amazement that I acuatlly didn't have the fence clicked down all the way on the rails. Once I did this it lines up so tight now that I can stand in the front side of the saw and slide the fence left and right with now play in it now and it is as accurate as I have setup it up to the blade. I love it.

My suggestion would be to make sure that it is clicked down all the way in the rail tracks. On the under side of the front part of the fence the fence slides on some black plastic pieces. Make sure those are acutally sliding on the rails... I hope this helps.

[MadMark]

There is a tensioning nut at the back end of the fence. You have it nice and tight now, but in a little bit the metal will relax a bit and you'll have to give that 9/16" nut a tweak.

The problem isn't that they don't hold tight. They problem is that they don't stay PARALLEL to the blade!

Just for grins and giggles spot check it weekly. Measure from the edge of the miter slot to the fence at both the front and back with the fence fully clamped down. Most of the folx I've talked to with the Align-A-Rip are unhappy to discover that the back is typically 1/16" to 1/8" off of what the front says. Give it time to drift out (it will).

M