wobble in rip fence

[drspudbear]

I've been having some issues with my rip fence on my BT 3000 and want to prevent damaging it further.

The problem I am experiencing is that the roller holder clamper/assembly (at the back of the fence) appears to be toed out unless I clamp the fence down really hard with the locking handle. The other day, I stripped the threads on the locking handle and had to remove some threads to get it back into the assembly.

I feel like the fence should not require brute force to secure to the table -- what adjustments should I be looking to make?

The fence is also slightly out of alignment with the blade, however when I loosened the adjustment hex screws along the top of the fence, it didn't seem to loosen anything to the degree that I could make an adjustment.

[leehljp]

WELCOME DRSPUDBEAR!

The fence is also slightly out of alignment with the blade, however when I loosened the adjustment hex screws along the top of the fence, it didn't seem to loosen anything to the degree that I could make an adjustment.

I can't find it in my BT3x00 manual, but the rip fence is supposed to be about 1/2° or maybe 1° out of alignment to the right while loose and when the handle is pushed downward to lock, it pulls into alignment. The two Allen head screws on top are where the alignment of the rip fence takes place. I have forgotten the exact process and could not find it in my PDF manual.

I am sure some of the others can help with this part.

AS to the roller clamp holder, I will let the others explain this also. My only guess is that the lip clamp on the bottom is not going under the lip of the rail on the back.

[LCHIEN]

My nearly 25 years living with my BT3000 tells me that gently tight settings of all the adjustments and levers is usually the case and if I have to apply strong force usually something is wrong and I'm at risk of breaking something. The hardest I crank on anything is the miter fence when using the miter hold down clamp accessory which tends to want to pull the fence forward a bit.

You sound like you have a problem with the rip fence if you have to crank down on the black handle and are still not locking it.
Most common problems with the rip fence, especially on old BT3000s (they are all at least 20 years old now) is that the plastic roller holder at the back end of the rip fence has cracked. It is also somewhat prone to breaking and bending if it has been dropped along the way. Its sad how many rip fences and SMT tables have been dropped breaking the plastic parts or bending the metal bits.
Another thing that gets bent is the clamper from the rip fence handle being forced too tight.

Its a rather involved sequence of events that happens when you lock the rip fence handle - I thin its described in detail in my BT3-FAQ linked in the signature line of this and every post I make.

I think the first thing you need to do is careful inspection of the roller holder - they have hidden stress cracks that open up when its forced. And the clamper that grabs the rear rail gets bent and the little lip misses the part of the rear rail its supposed to grab.
If you need them roller holders appear on eBay and Amazon periodically. Some are machined metal replacements which I have used and recommend as unbreakable. let me know if you need to locate one.

[leehljp]

Thanks Loring, for jumping in. I remembered a couple of times in the past someone posted about that but couldn't find it. Thanks for what you do here.

[LCHIEN]

this thread about the rip fence clamper A and B parts might be of use. I seem to recall that too hard tightening of the rip fence lock handle can bend clamper A's tip.

https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...nce#post857313