Question on rip scale

[kiredude]

Hey everyone. I just got the Craftsman 21829 and just finished setting it up. Everything went very smooth and was pretty easy. Only thing I cannot figure out is the rip scale. It seems that the scale ruler is glued on completely wrong. It is all the way to the left of the front fence, and it seems like it should be over about 10 inches. I set up the fences according to the directions, so I dont think that is the problem. I tried to slide/move the scale but had no luck.

Am I being an idiot? or is there a way to move this over to where it should be? Thanks!

[crokett]

The scale on my BT3000 starts about 6" from the end of the rail. seems yours should too. I never use mine though. I always just measure. It is easier than resetting the rails all the time.

[LCHIEN]

If you go to the image in this sears web page and hit Zoom a couple of times you can see the rail has a scal that runs alost all the way across. There is a red triangle marking the suggested zero point with the rip fence cursor near the middle at the blade. The scale runs all the way to the left and right sides so that you can rip on either side of the blade if you wish - (altho I have never ripped with the fence on the left side)
You also, I think have the option of moving the cursor from one side or the other of the rip fence handle block to adjust position slightly.
does that answer your question?



http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...cemldffidflk.0

[kiredude]

The scale on my BT3000 starts about 6" from the end of the rail. seems yours should too. I never use mine though. I always just measure. It is easier than resetting the rails all the time.

Mine starts right at the end of the rail. If it were 6 inches it would be workable with the adjusting of the plastic on the fence, but it just seems to me like its in the wrong place. I don't mind measuring, but I don't plan on moving my rails once they are set, so I would like the ability to use the fence for measurements if possible.

[kiredude]

Mine is definately a different scale than the one in the picture. That one the scale seems to be the entire length of the fence. Mine ends about 8-10 inches before the end of the right side of the front rail.

Has anyone tried to take off their scale and put it back on?

If you go to the image in this sears web page and hit Zoom a couple of times you can see the rail has a scal that runs alost all the way across. There is a red triangle marking the suggested zero point with the rip fence cursor near the middle at the blade. The scale runs all the way to the left and right sides so that you can rip on either side of the blade if you wish - (altho I have never ripped with the fence on the left side)
You also, I think have the option of moving the cursor from one side or the other of the rip fence handle block to adjust position slightly.
does that answer your question?



http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...cemldffidflk.0

[LarryG]

Mine ends about 8-10 inches before the end of the right side of the front rail.

Eh, something sounds haywire there. On the BT3x00, the scale decal extends all the way to the end of the rail, although the markings themselves stop about 1.5" short since that's as close as the fence pointer could possibly be without the fence falling off the end of the rail:

I have peeled the scale decal off a set of extension rails. Once off, there's no putting it back on, I don't think ...

[kiredude]

Eh, something sounds haywire there. On the BT3x00, the scale decal extends all the way to the end of the rail, although the markings themselves stop about 1.5" short since that's as close as the fence pointer could possibly be without the fence falling off the end of the rail:
[ATTACH]3202[/ATTACH]
I have peeled the scale decal off a set of extension rails. Once off, there's no putting it back on, I don't think ...

That is definately not how my scale looks. I wonder if I can buy a new one somehwere. I don't mind peeling it off if I could get a new one. Anyone have any ideas?

[prlundberg]

It is all the way to the left of the front fence, and it seems like it should be over about 10 inches.

I set my rails to line up with the blade at the 10 inch mark because it seemed like a nice number to work with. This gives me adequate space left and right of the blade and still alows me to fold it up without the rails hitting the ground.

It's an annoyance to add 10" to my measurements but I've gotten used to it.

The only reason I can think of why Sears would do this is to encourage keeping the rails as far away from the ground as possible while wheeling it around. But that also increases the tripping hazzard from the base when in use. Doesn't make much sense to me.

[onedash]

There isn't a screw or something underneath to hold the ruler in place?
on my Router Table you loosen a screw and you can zero out the ruler on both sides.

[vaking]

I have BT3100 with wide table kit. I use the scale a lot - when building the mobile base I took time to calibrate that scale and I can rely on that scale to a high degree of accuracy. I never move the rails. Even when I need to flip the saw over for maintenance - my mobile base is designed that I can flip the entire top surface with extended rails attached as one piece. When I installed a wide table kit I bought a stick-on steel scale tape from Lee Valley and extended the scale onto the second set of rails. Below is a link at Lee Valley:
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...=1,43513,43517

[kiredude]

I set my rails to line up with the blade at the 10 inch mark because it seemed like a nice number to work with. This gives me adequate space left and right of the blade and still alows me to fold it up without the rails hitting the ground.

It's an annoyance to add 10" to my measurements but I've gotten used to it.

The only reason I can think of why Sears would do this is to encourage keeping the rails as far away from the ground as possible while wheeling it around. But that also increases the tripping hazzard from the base when in use. Doesn't make much sense to me.

Nota bad idea, I guess I can do that. I just entered the part number for the scale on sears parts and they had one for a few dollars. I ordered one and I am going to see if I can take the existing one off and replace it. I personally like an accurate fence for measurements.

[cwsmith]

I purchased my BT3100 earlier in the year, and finally got around to setting it up a week ago. New shop isn't nearly ready, but I need to use this saw.

I've read several posting regarding whether or not to use the scale on the front rail and often have seen comments that it's too much of a pain to "zero" or calibrate the scale with the blade. While I am used to always taking the measurement with my RAS, I found an easy solution to setting up the scale on the BT. I simply use a piece of wood that is exactly 3.5 inches in width. I simply sandwich it between the right side of the blade and the fence (lightly so); then, slide the front rail so that the 3-1/2 inch mark aligns with the fence window. Once done (less than a minute), I lock the front rail in place. I then move the accessory table to the extreme right where the front fence stop it, lock the accessory table in place and then slide the rear fence to the left until the accessory table stops it.

Done! Total time: Approx. 2 minutes at best.

The width of the "wood guide" doesn't much matter, but I keep my 3.5-inch piece as sort of a "story board". Makes returning the scale to "zero" a simple task.

[Bruce Cohen]

Lee Valley sells self stick measuring tapes (made by Starrett), in both right to left and left to right configurations. I believe they sell for under $10.00 each.

Bruce

[prlundberg]

I purchased my BT3100 earlier in the year, and finally got around to setting it up a week ago. New shop isn't nearly ready, but I need to use this saw.

I've read several posting regarding whether or not to use the scale on the front rail and often have seen comments that it's too much of a pain to "zero" or calibrate the scale with the blade. While I am used to always taking the measurement with my RAS, I found an easy solution to setting up the scale on the BT. I simply use a piece of wood that is exactly 3.5 inches in width. I simply sandwich it between the right side of the blade and the fence (lightly so); then, slide the front rail so that the 3-1/2 inch mark aligns with the fence window. Once done (less than a minute), I lock the front rail in place. I then move the accessory table to the extreme right where the front fence stop it, lock the accessory table in place and then slide the rear fence to the left until the accessory table stops it.

Done! Total time: Approx. 2 minutes at best.

The width of the "wood guide" doesn't much matter, but I keep my 3.5-inch piece as sort of a "story board". Makes returning the scale to "zero" a simple task.

Thats a good tip, but after reading through these posts again, I have realized that the problem hasn't been made clear.

On the Craftsman 21829, when you set the rails to the 0 mark, the rails are so far to the right that you don't have hardly any space left to move the SMT around on the left. I think most people would want to set the rails around where the 10 inch mark is on the standard scale for the most flexibility.

Maybe a BT3100 scale would work, but you would need to verify that when set to the 0 mark the rails won't hit the ground when you fold up the saw. Putting a new Craftsman scale on in a different location will limit your scale when/if you use the fence left of the blade. For most that probably isn't an issue.

[kiredude]

Thats a good tip, but after reading through these posts again, I have realized that the problem hasn't been made clear.

On the Craftsman 21829, when you set the rails to the 0 mark, the rails are so far to the right that you don't have hardly any space left to move the SMT around on the left. I think most people would want to set the rails around where the 10 inch mark is on the standard scale for the most flexibility.

Maybe a BT3100 scale would work, but you would need to verify that when set to the 0 mark the rails won't hit the ground when you fold up the saw. Putting a new Craftsman scale on in a different location will limit your scale when/if you use the fence left of the blade. For most that probably isn't an issue.

Yup, this is exactly it, sorry if I was not clear with my post. I guess this is a craftsman 21829 issue in general and not just an issue with mine. I stopped by the sears by me yesterday and it was exactly like mine. I really dont know what they were thinking when they put the scale where they did, its completely useless there.