that fence alignment thang

[Dwight]

Evening folks,

At the risk of incurring the wrath of those who've dealt with this inumerable times before, I'm having problems with my rip fence when I lock it down. To whit: it shifts in an unbecoming twisty fashion that drives the out-feed side closer to the blade than the in-feed side. Somewhere I'd read a very nice article on tweaking the shims on the clamp-end of the fence to fix this problem. Not having the presence of mind to bookmark the enlightening article, I'd appreciate it if someone would take pity on the internet-challenged and point me in the direction of said piece.

Many thanks,

Dwight

[leehljp]

The answer below addresses the shifting of the fence but not the twisting:

The fence squares and locks in two steps. Usually it locks when moving towards the blade about 1/32 inch.

The point behind this is that the fence locks down and squares up in two stages, so don't think that movement during the locking process in itself is a problem.

What you need to do now is make adjustments so that it is aligned after the rear of the fence is locked down.

Loosen the two top screws on the fence near the handle end. Place a square with the big (long) part against the blade. At the rear, place a piece of writing paper (or a dollar bill) between the square and the fence. Push the fence snug against the square; push the locking handle down all the way and tighten the two screws.

When you lift the handle, the fence will probably swing a way from the blade by about 1/32 to 1/64 inch.

In case you do not know, the purpose of the dollar bill is to keep the fence from pinching the wood on the outfeed side, which causes kickback.