Problem w/ lifting fence

[RussellG]

I bought my BT3100 about a year ago and love it. Even my Dad who has a full shop is so impressed he is looking at one as portable unit. My only complaint is that when I tighten the fence down the fence lifts up. Very annoying. I tried holding the fence down while engaging lock and that helps but there is still a noticable lift. Any help would be welcomed.
Thanks

[Black wallnut]

Welcome Russell! There are any number of things that can cause the problem you are having. Most all of which are addressed in depth in a couple of topics in "Best of Forum". I'd suggest reading those two topics and trying their suggestions first. Hope this will help you find the answer to your fences problem. Let us know.....

[Lonnie in Orlando]

The rip fence on my BT3000 rises also. I hold down the infeed side of the fence when locking, like you do. I replaced the plastic "flapper" that presses against the front rail when the handle is locked. It may have helped, but I can't guarantee it.

I'm sure that you will get good advise from other forum members. This problem has been discussed before. Might try a search on this forum. Some have suggested NOT to wax the front rail.

- Lonnie

[Ken Weaver]

Welcome aboard Russell!!! Does the fence lock down at all? If its lifting it may be because its suppposed to. The fence locks down in a 2-stage maneuver. As you start to lock the handle, the fence moves to square itself by squaring the far end of the fence. Until you get used to it its disconcerting because you think things are moving around when they really aren't. As you move the handle all the way down, it locks into position. Take a carpenter's square and check if things are all square to the blade (not the table) after you lock things down. It may be that things are really fine. If things are out square when the fence is locked down, check out the articles secion for Rod Kirby's alignment procedures. Hope this helps.

[LCHIEN]

if my memory serves me correctly those that had the rip fence lifting problem usually ended up admitting that they had waxed the front rail.
This makes the rail a little too slippery for the locking mechanism to grab onto without lifting.

The solution IIRC, was that they used some mineral spirits and cleaned the wax off the front rail and it all worked better after that.

[RussellG]

I haven't waxed the rails but they may be too slick from the factory. I read in one of the forums that lightly sanding the may help. To shed more light on what is happening, one side of the fence lifts during the final locking phase of the clamp. The fence stays square but the right side (looking from the front of the saw)twists 1/16-1/8 inch. For ripping sheet goods it hasn't been a problem, but I am going to build bedroom set and will need an extra tall fence to cut the bevel on the drawer faces. I know that the twisting will only cause headaches later. I've read the best of forums and will tear into the fence later this week.

[Lonnie in Orlando]

Russell:

Wood Mag (p 16, Winter 1999) had plans for a tall fence that can be adjusted to 90deg to the table. It had a couple of outriggers with leveling feet that extend to the other side of the rip fence. Screw the leveling feet in or out to get the fence to 90deg. it's pretty simple, but I can scan the article and send to you if you need it.

re: Cutting bevels on your drawer fronts -- You can avoid possible problems with a tall fence that is not square by building an angled sled to ride against the fence, or that attaches to the fence.
[image]http://www.bt3central.com/articles/images/paneljig.jpg[/image]
Here is the plan from the BT3 Central "Articles".
https://www.sawdustzone.org/articles...ised-panel-jig

Just to confirm, my fence does exactly as you described. Personally, I wouldn't sand the rail to roughen it, because I avoid doing fixes to my saw that can't be reversed.

And ... welcome to the forum!

- Lonnie

[Troy Webber]

I had the same problem about two years ago when i first bought my BT3100.
The fence would not lock down without popping up.I tried adjusting everything,and it still didn't help.

I finally wet sanded the parts of the rail the fence clamps against with some 600 grit wet/dry paper and Simple Green.I only made a light pass to deglaze the surface.It didn't take off any of the black coating.

I dried it off and put it back together and haven't had any more problems(knock on wood)since.

I don't want to tell you to sand on your rails,maybe you could clean the surfaces first with some degreaser to see if that helps.
If you do try the sandpaper,use a really fine grit and just lightly touch the surface.

[RussellG]

I finally got a chance to inspect my fence and I found alot of overspray on the four Aluminum pads. I took a stone and roughed up the surfaces a little and that fixed the problem. I measure the height of the outer edges of the fence to the rails and I only found about .001 lift which is much better than the 1/16 I had before. Thanks for everyone's input it was very helpful.

[Black wallnut]

I'm glad you got it fixed. Thanks for letting us know.

[Rob3100]

Another data point on the subject for those of you who run into this. My fence started lifting during locking. I assumed that it was the "waxing issue" so I scuffed, cleaned and it would still lift. I had resorted to applying downward pressue to the front of the fence while I locked it down.

Last night I had an ephipany. I removed the fence, removed the plastic "flapper" and noticed that as I suspected, the cam on the locking handle was pressing down on the reinforced area, causing the lifting. I carefully took a cigarette lighter and heated up the area around the corner (45 deg part) and formed it upwards, making the reinforced part of the flapper always be higher than the cam. Viola, it locks tight and without raising.

[hjsawdust]

RE: Lifting fence

I had the identical problem of a lifting fence - the post by by Rob3100 solved my problem totally - thanks for the post.

[Stytooner]

I don't recall anyone actually having this problem on the 3000's with the silver rails. The silver rails were anodized, I think. I think the black 3100 rails are powdercoated.
Anodizing leaves the surface microscopically rough. Powdercaoting leaves a slick plastic like surface.
This is only part of the equation though. I have both a 3100 fence that doesn't try to lift and I have a 3000 fence that does try to lift. Never really bothered trying to adjust it, but sounds like the cam trick would fix this one. Thanks for everyone's input. The BT's fence is one of the best, but it has to be working properly first.