Microadjuster at Sears, $30

[JimD]

I really like mine, it is the Sears model even though my saw if not from Sears. I modified it a little by glueing on a rare earth magnet (epoxy) and steel washers on the rip fence (both sides) so I attach with the magnet rather than the clip. That lets me attach the micropositioner without lifting the fence. That is handy if I decide I need it after getting the fence pretty close to the final position.

Jim

[BasementDweller]

Image?

Could someone post a quick pic of one of these installed? I'm having a bit of a hard time understanding where this goes and what it does.


- BD

[LCHIEN]

Could someone post a quick pic of one of these installed? I'm having a bit of a hard time understanding where this goes and what it does.


- BD

I don't have a pic handy but its a simple idea.
There's a "foot" that slides into the front rail top T-slot.
A hook that connects to the right side of the rip fence T-block
A thumbscrew in the front that locks the unit to the rail or not.
A Knob on the right hand side that connects to a threaded rod that is threaded into the body and ends in the hook.

So you unlock it from the rail and hook it to the Rip fence, you can coarsely position the rip fence anywhere.
Make a cut.
Lock the unit to the rail.
Loosen the rip fence lock. By turning the big knob, you can push the hook and the rip fence right or left. The knob is marked in 1/4th turns, and the threaded rod is 16 threads per inch so each mark of the knob is 1/64th, I find you can turn a fraction of a mark so the resolution is unlimited.

[dkhoward]

I ordered on of these and it arrived promptly, sans the locking screw. After some thought, I opted to not send it back. I made a trip with it to the borg, found a nice 1.5" 6x32 brass screw which fit nicely. I epoxied a knurled knob onto the screw head and viola.. . it works great!

[LCHIEN]

I will offer this advice for those who get a microadjuster.
The locking thmbscrew is pointed and pretty sharp.
If you screw it hard into your rail you will leave some unsightly deep dents in the rail.

In my experience, it takes very little effort move the unlocked rip fence.
Just tightening the thumbscrew ever so slightly will protect your rail and work just fine.

Also there's a little backlash (thread slop) in the positioning thread, if you are doing critical work it is best to approach the desired position from the same direction. If you go past it, back up a turn or to past it and approach from the same direction again.

[JimD]

Loring is right - I forgot about the "slop". Some is the threads of the positioner but some is the hook connection to the rip fence. That is another advantage of my magnet connection I came up with - no slop in the hook. I never put the little plastic pieces on the hook that they sent with the positioner - they would probably help.

Still best to keep it moving one direction. It surprised me that you could consistently move less than a 64th and nibble up on the final dimension you want.

Jim

[LCHIEN]

On mine the hook is a snug fit - no slop.

[crokett]

thanks for the link Loring - my wife was just asking me what I wanted for Christmas.

[BerniePA]

Can you buy it in store? After the drill press misadventure I'm not using sears.com again.

What sort of mis adventure with a drill press? I ordered this item before I saw your post and almost 24 hours later have not gotten an email from Sears confirming the sale. Your post has me concerned.

[JR]

What sort of mis adventure with a drill press? I.

A VERY long story, which can be found here:
http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=33519

[eezlock]

Sears micro adjuster

I had one of those a while back on my saw...it did a good job for what it is designed to do, but found that after a while I didn't need it as much as I first thought that I might...so, I sold it. Had to get it from online sales, it was never in the store according to what sears told me. eezlock

[lum]

Not in stores ... that's what a couple of Sears stores told me. However, the local mini-Sears folks ordered one with the hopes it would be delivered to the store. I learned later it would not be. So, I paid shipping, it seems.

I'm picking up the 21829 to which the micro-adjuster will be fitted tomorrow.

Now, what to do with that $88 Delta that's about a year old. Could use the stand for the drill press. How about remounting the motor to make a drum sander? Any other ideas.

[Uncle Cracker]

Now, what to do with that $88 Delta that's about a year old. Could use the stand for the drill press. How about remounting the motor to make a drum sander? Any other ideas.

Could turn it into a dedicated dado machine...

[LCHIEN]

...
Now, what to do with that $88 Delta that's about a year old. Could use the stand for the drill press. How about remounting the motor to make a drum sander? Any other ideas.

get one of those 10" sanding discs that mounts to the saw arbor.
Then you can put 10" sanding self-adhesive disks on it and have a 10" disk sander. With tilting arbor capability.