help with rip fence alignment

[Sawatzky]

I am getting pretty bad burn marks as I rip, especially in oak. Could this be due to a mis-aligned rip fence? I am using a 72 tooth blade, but I don't think that is causing the burning. It has cut great in the past. If i just slow down or stop for just a minute to switch hands, I get bad burns. I tried aligning the fence, but when I lock it down it moves about 1/16 of an inch in the back as it is locking down. Is this normal? What is the best way to align the fence properly? I seem to have a lot of trouble keeping the wood fully against the fence. It seems to drift away as I rip, especially on long boards. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[gimpy]

Sawatzky, there was a post here last week or the week before where someone (sorry, can't remember who) found a way to keep that from happening. I am talking about the fence allignment. I think what he did was to kind of pull on the front of the lock down mechanism, which straightens it out some and then lock it down. I'm going from memory, so not real sure. I just pull on the fence lock down slightly while I am alligning it and there is no movement when I then lock it down. (I'm sure someone will correct me if I have told you wrong).

Sorry, can't help you about the burning or drifting problem.

Frank

[lcm1947]

Here's how I do it.

Hi Sawatzky. I personally found out just a week ago or 2 that you need to pull back on the handle when sliding the fence over to the project. I have had my saw since 10/04 and have always had a problem with it similiar to what you are having until I just happened to discover this trick. Since then I have been told that "yes" that is the way to do it. If you do this then the rip fence should clamp down without the rear of the fence moving one way or the other. So simple but unknown. Try it out and see. Hope this works for you or it's something else and you'll have to ask again for help.

[Hey Blue]

Hi guys. I'm no expert, only using my BT-3000 for about a year. When I got my saw, I had a similar problem. I got burn marks and noticed the rear of the fence move when locking. On mine, the fence ALWAYS moves toward the blade if I slid the fence toward the blade before locking, and away from the blade if I have slid the fence away from the blade before locking. After investigation, I determined that this slight movement when locking is just the slight amount of play being taken up that allows you to slide the fence when unlocked. If you think about what I said about the direction the rear of the fence moves, this makes perfect sense. My solution was to make sure my fence was aligned with the blade WHEN LOCKED. This takes the small movement out of the equation. Hope this works for you.