The importance of lubrication (rip fence)

[jbalders]

I was at Sears about two weeks ago, and I saw the 21829 saw (the latest Craftsman labelled BT3x00). I started playing with it, and when I got to the rip fence, I was absolutely stunned with how smoothly the locking mechanism worked. Ever since I've owned mine, the fence has technically worked fine, but it's been hard to lock it down, and it's always felt and sounded like metal grating on metal. You had to use your whole hand, and push HARD. Since I never had anything to compare it to, I thought that's how it was supposed to operate.

Sometimes, this kind of thing is just the boot to the head you need to knock some sense into you.

When I got home, I started looking at my fence to see why it operated so much rougher than the Craftsman. After a few minutes inspection, I lubricated the eccentric where it meets the clamper (Page 5, part 9 and 26 here) with some teflon lube, and now my fence operates as smoothly as the Craftsman. You can almost lock it with one finger now. You obviously want to be careful you don't get it on any of the parts that contact the rails, otherwise you'll wind up with other problems.

I just thought I'd share my "Duh!" moment with everyone.

Jeff

[leehljp]

Thanks for this note. All kinds of things surface for contentious working parts on all saws. Telling your experience is greatly appreciated.

[BobSch]

Make that two "duhs." Although my fence locks pretty easily (so far), your idea is a good reminder.

[Bruce Cohen]

Nope, make that three

Bruce

Thanks for making me feel stupid

[rickd]

hi, add a 'duh' for me too. my fence is pretty stiff and i have been wondering how to fix it. never thought to look though('nuther duh!!!).

thanks for the tip.

[Lee280zx]

I read somewhere in these forums that you are not supposed to apply great pressure to the lock handle on the rip fence. As I recall, the advice was something to the effect of only applying as much pressure as necessary to lock the fence in place, and NOT to push it down all the way.

Was that bad advice? Are you supposed to push it down absolutely all the way when locking it?

(I'm sure you are right in that it is good to keep it lubricated, regardless. I'm just hoping for some clarification.)

[LCHIEN]

I read somewhere in these forums that you are not supposed to apply great pressure to the lock handle on the rip fence. As I recall, the advice was something to the effect of only applying as much pressure as necessary to lock the fence in place, and NOT to push it down all the way.

Was that bad advice? Are you supposed to push it down absolutely all the way when locking it?

(I'm sure you are right in that it is good to keep it lubricated, regardless. I'm just hoping for some clarification.)

Like most things on this saw, gentle is the way to go. Use just enough force to lock everything and don't put a "death grip" on anything. Its aluminum!

[gimpy]

When I lock my rip fence, the handle is pointing straight out from the table saw (like parallel to the floor). That seems to lock it in pretty good. Is that about where/how people are locking theirs? The handle can still go down another 30-45 degrees, but I'm thinking that is too much? Is my thinking correct in this?

thx, Frank

[beetee3]

Yep, handle parallel to the floor should be all that is required to lock the fence in position.

[lcm1947]

Test

Now you tell me not to push it all the way down.

[maxparot]

After lubricating with so teflon dry spray if isn't necessary to apply a lot of pressure to lock the fence. The lock is a cam and if lubricated it will go all the way down without any damage. More important would be to not leave the fence locked on the saw when not needed.

[Cody Carse]

Really I think of alll the levers on the BT3s the rip fence lever SHOULD be locked all the way down. Until you lock it all the way down the fence is only secured at the front rail. Not until you lock it all the way back will the back of the fence lock to the back rail.

[cwsmith]

I purchased my BT3100-1 just before Christmas. Noticing the discussion here about the Rip Fence, I double-checked mine and find that it isn't at all necessary to push the handle any further than "horizontal to the floor". It locks down solidly, both front and back.

Maybe I'm just lucky, but out of the box, everything was properly aligned, tables flat, SMT and rip fence both square with the blade, etc. The only thing noted was that the SMT has just the slightest side play... probably no more than a 32nd of an inch. I don't see that would reflect anything more than a fraction of a degree on cutting square (would it?).

CWS