Rigid Miter Saw Fence not straight

[G. Ross]

Imagine a very shallow "V". I noticed while cutting some 2 x 2's. Put a straight edge on it and the inner portion of both sides is about 1/8 inch back from the straight edge. So far I haven't found the manual, but the whole fence is one piece of cast aluminum and I can't imagine straightening it. Any ideas? I tried wedging the center portion forward but it lives up to it's name. It is extremely ridgid. GW Ross For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism.

[Swingman]

On 8/5/2014 5:03 PM, G. Ross wrote:
> Imagine a very shallow "V". I noticed while cutting some 2 x 2's. Put a
> straight edge on it and the inner portion of both sides is about 1/8
> inch back from the straight edge. So far I haven't found the manual,
> but the whole fence is one piece of cast aluminum and I can't imagine
> straightening it. Any ideas? I tried wedging the center portion
> forward but it lives up to it's name. It is extremely ridgid.

Is it effecting your cut accuracy?

If you can't address the bow in the fence by milling, you might try
shimming the valleys with polypropylene shims; or mount an auxiliary
wooden fence for those critical cuts, similar to when you use a miter
saw for cutting crown molding:

https://picasaweb.google.com/111355467778981859077/EWoodShopJigsFixturesMethods?noredirect=1#5762901962496036914

What you lose in cutting depth and width, you may gain in accuracy.

--
eWoodShop: www.eWoodShop.com
Wood Shop: www.e-WoodShop.net
https://www.google.com/+eWoodShop
https://plus.google.com/+KarlCaillouet/posts
http://www.custommade.com/by/ewoodshop/
KarlCaillouet@ (the obvious)

[k...@attt.bizz]

On Tue, 05 Aug 2014 18:03:48 -0400, "G. Ross" <gw...@comwest.net>
wrote:

>Imagine a very shallow "V". I noticed while cutting some 2 x 2's.
>Put a straight edge on it and the inner portion of both sides is about
>1/8 inch back from the straight edge. So far I haven't found the
>manual, but the whole fence is one piece of cast aluminum and I can't
>imagine straightening it. Any ideas? I tried wedging the center
>portion forward but it lives up to it's name. It is extremely ridgid.

Sub-fence? It'll cost some cut length but it's better than diagonal
cuts.

[Larry Blanchard]

On Tue, 05 Aug 2014 18:03:48 -0400, G. Ross wrote:

> Imagine a very shallow "V". I noticed while cutting some 2 x 2's. Put a
> straight edge on it and the inner portion of both sides is about 1/8
> inch back from the straight edge. So far I haven't found the manual,
> but the whole fence is one piece of cast aluminum and I can't imagine
> straightening it. Any ideas? I tried wedging the center portion
> forward but it lives up to it's name. It is extremely ridgid.

I once had a cast iron jointer fence with a similar problem. The maker
(Jet) said take it off, put it on a concrete floor/sidewalk, and stand on
the hump. It wouldn't move at first, but the I'd feel it relax. I tried
it and it worked.

I have no idea if it would work for an aluminum fence.

[k...@attt.bizz]

I think the risk is making it worse than it already is. A concave
fence is better than convex.

[Puckdropper at dot]

"G. Ross" <gw...@comwest.net> wrote in news:I-
WdnTKvQuomyXzOn...@giganews.com:

> Imagine a very shallow "V". I noticed while cutting some 2 x 2's.
> Put a straight edge on it and the inner portion of both sides is about
> 1/8 inch back from the straight edge. So far I haven't found the
> manual, but the whole fence is one piece of cast aluminum and I can't
> imagine straightening it. Any ideas? I tried wedging the center
> portion forward but it lives up to it's name. It is extremely ridgid.

My Kobalt SCMS fence has done the same thing. It's maybe not as extreme,
but still quite noticeable. At one time, I had replaced the fence with
wood, but since the fence was held together with only a 3/4x3/4 piece of
material it was just a matter of time before things shifted.

I've heard of angle aluminum or steel being used as a fence, but on my
saw at least the original fence was held in place by only 3 bolts.
Trying to mount a metal fence would mean drilling and tapping a new
mounting hole or two in just the right spot to not impede the movement of
the saw.

Puckdropper
--
Make it to fit, don't make it fit.

[G. Ross]

Puckdropper wrote: > "G. Ross"<gw...@comwest.net> wrote in news:I- > WdnTKvQuomyXzOn...@giganews.com: >> Imagine a very shallow "V". I noticed while cutting some 2 x 2's. >> Put a straight edge on it and the inner portion of both sides is about >> 1/8 inch back from the straight edge. So far I haven't found the >> manual, but the whole fence is one piece of cast aluminum and I can't >> imagine straightening it. Any ideas? I tried wedging the center >> portion forward but it lives up to it's name. It is extremely ridgid. > My Kobalt SCMS fence has done the same thing. It's maybe not as extreme, > but still quite noticeable. At one time, I had replaced the fence with > wood, but since the fence was held together with only a 3/4x3/4 piece of > material it was just a matter of time before things shifted. > I've heard of angle aluminum or steel being used as a fence, but on my > saw at least the original fence was held in place by only 3 bolts. > Trying to mount a metal fence would mean drilling and tapping a new > mounting hole or two in just the right spot to not impede the movement of > the saw. > Puckdropper I'm mulling over a two-part strip of wood which is thicker at the center and glued over the old fence. I think I can do this with my planer. The original fence is hollow and two thin for milling. I found the paperwork and found that this was a reconditioned saw and is no longer in warranty, so it is up to me to fix it or take a chance on a new one. GW Ross For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism.

[Morgans]

"G. Ross" <gw...@comwest.net> wrote

> I'm mulling over a two-part strip of wood which is thicker at the center
> and glued over the old fence. I think I can do this with my planer. The
> original fence is hollow and two thin for milling. I found the paperwork
> and found that this was a reconditioned saw and is no longer in warranty,
> so it is up to me to fix it or take a chance on a new one.

Is the fence aluminum? If it is, this sounds like a perfect job for a
jointer, set for a very light cut. I would cut from the middle outwards,
from both ends, until it does not remove anything, then perhaps one complete
pass set for very light removal.
--
Jim in NC


---
This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active.
http://www.avast.com

[G. Ross]

Morgans wrote: > "G. Ross"<gw...@comwest.net> wrote >> I'm mulling over a two-part strip of wood which is thicker at the center >> and glued over the old fence. I think I can do this with my planer. The >> original fence is hollow and two thin for milling. I found the paperwork >> and found that this was a reconditioned saw and is no longer in warranty, >> so it is up to me to fix it or take a chance on a new one. > Is the fence aluminum? If it is, this sounds like a perfect job for a > jointer, set for a very light cut. I would cut from the middle outwards, > from both ends, until it does not remove anything, then perhaps one complete > pass set for very light removal. It IS aluminum, but the fence is off by a hair over 1/8 inch in the center and the facing on the fence is a hair UNDER 1/8" thick. But I can glue 1/4 inch wood on it and joint that til it is flat. Thanks for the suggestion. GW Ross For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism.

[Len]

On Tuesday, August 5, 2014 5:03:48 PM UTC-5, G. Ross wrote:
> Imagine a very shallow "V". I noticed while cutting some 2 x 2's.
>
> Put a straight edge on it and the inner portion of both sides is about
>
> 1/8 inch back from the straight edge. So far I haven't found the
>
> manual, but the whole fence is one piece of cast aluminum and I can't
>
> imagine straightening it. Any ideas? I tried wedging the center
>
> portion forward but it lives up to it's name. It is extremely ridgid.
>

> --

>
> GW Ross
>
>
>
> For every action there is an equal
>
> and opposite criticism.

I had the problem with my Bosch saw. They replaced the fence with no questions asked. I just recycled the old one.

Len

[nailsh...@aol.com]

If you can live with it, I would take Karl's solution. I say live with it as you will need to square up the fence every session that you use it. Maybe not a big deal. Back in the bad old days, my first "powered" miter box had a cast iron fence with milled face. When it worked itself out of square, I took the fence off and filed out the inside of the mounting hole (with a rat tail file) on the fence enough to bring the fence back into square.

If I recall, the machine bolt holding the fence in place about 1/4". I drilled out the holes to a larger size and put large washers with split lock washers on both sides and tightened it up. It worked well.

Now, I would probably go online and look for a fence.

In no way, ever, would cut down a piece of METAL on my jointer. You can cut aluminum on your miter saw as you have a large fence and a relatively small cut surface that is mechanically pushed against a backstop. Hand holding a piece of metal by hand, making a 4" wide cut on a metal of >>unknown hardness<< is just nuts. Or worse. Extra sharp blades could easily grab the metal ruin the fence or rip it out of your hands. Duller blades could probably cause enough chatter to ruin the face of the fence.

A 4" wide grab from a sharp bladed fast moving machinery sure sounds exciting to me. There is no way you can "carefully" cut metal using "small cuts" and all that other business. Dangerous isn't mitigated very much by spending more time doing a dumb thing more slowly.

Anyone actually try cutting the aluminum fence this on their own jointer?

Love to see a pic...

Robert

[Mike Marlow]

It wouldn't cost that much to just take it to a machine shop and have them
heliarc the low spots and mill the entire surface dead flat. It won't move
with the seasons, and it's good to go.

--

-Mike-
mmarlo...@windstream.net

[nailsh...@aol.com]

On Wednesday, August 6, 2014 9:03:47 PM UTC-5, Mike Marlow wrote:

> It wouldn't cost that much to just take it to a machine shop and have them
>
> heliarc the low spots and mill the entire surface dead flat. It won't move
>
> with the seasons, and it's good to go.

I can't imagine it being cheaper to have a machine shop involved rather than to just buy it outright, have it shipped to your house, and bolt the new one on. I found several sources online that will sell a new fence assembly for many different Ridgid 10" models for $50-$55 (like ereplacementparts.com), some charge shipping some are free.

On one ebay from a tool supply store, they were $55 for the fence with free shipping.

If I was building decks with the saw, I would get it close with some kind of home built jury rig and let it go. If I was using it for trim work, I would want it to be as perfect as possible. Think just how badly your corners would look even if the saw was off 1/32" after cobbling together a repair. Match up a small molding corners and you could easily have 1/16" open (about the width of pencil line) and worse as the molding gets wider.

Robert

[G. Ross]

nailsh...@aol.com wrote: > On Wednesday, August 6, 2014 9:03:47 PM UTC-5, Mike Marlow wrote: >> It wouldn't cost that much to just take it to a machine shop and have them >> heliarc the low spots and mill the entire surface dead flat. It won't move >> with the seasons, and it's good to go. > I can't imagine it being cheaper to have a machine shop involved rather than to just buy it outright, have it shipped to your house, and bolt the new one on. I found several sources online that will sell a new fence assembly for many different Ridgid 10" models for $50-$55 (like ereplacementparts.com), some charge shipping some are free. > On one ebay from a tool supply store, they were $55 for the fence with free shipping. > If I was building decks with the saw, I would get it close with some kind of home built jury rig and let it go. If I was using it for trim work, I would want it to be as perfect as possible. Think just how badly your corners would look even if the saw was off 1/32" after cobbling together a repair. Match up a small molding corners and you could easily have 1/16" open (about the width of pencil line) and worse as the molding gets wider. > Robert No molding or fancy use for me. Can't remember when I ever took it off 90 deg. Mainly a cut-off saw. What made me suspicious was that recently cutting short pieces of 2 x 2 (about 4 inches long) the cutoff would go "bang". That led to finding the reason. GW Ross A scheme is not a vision - Leonard Cohen

[Mike Marlow]

nailsh...@aol.com wrote:

>
> I can't imagine it being cheaper to have a machine shop involved
> rather than to just buy it outright, have it shipped to your house,
> and bolt the new one on. I found several sources online that will
> sell a new fence assembly for many different Ridgid 10" models for
> $50-$55 (like ereplacementparts.com), some charge shipping some are
> free.

I haven't priced it at a local shop but based on other work I've had done,
I'd be surprised if it was more than the $50-ish bucks you found on the net.

>
> On one ebay from a tool supply store, they were $55 for the fence
> with free shipping.

I didn't pay attention to the model number of the saw in earlier threads but
most of the fences for Ridgid saws that I found in a very quick google
search seemed to be more in the $150 range - could have been the wrong fence
though.



--

-Mike-
mmarlo...@windstream.net

[G. Ross]

G. Ross wrote: > Imagine a very shallow "V". I noticed while cutting some 2 x 2's. > Put a straight edge on it and the inner portion of both sides is about > 1/8 inch back from the straight edge. So far I haven't found the > manual, but the whole fence is one piece of cast aluminum and I can't > imagine straightening it. Any ideas? I tried wedging the center > portion forward but it lives up to it's name. It is extremely ridgid. I found an old drawer side in my junk box, ripped and cut it and glued two pieces on the face of the fence with epoxy. Clamped overnight. This morning I ran it over the jointer taking small cuts until it was flat. After putting the fence back on the saw I checked that it was square with the blade. Also had to adjust the verticality of the blade. Re cut a bit off the blocks I had previously made and checked with a machinist's square. Both ways they were as square as a South Georgia farm boy. Thanks for all the suggestions, and especially to Jim in NC for reminding me what a jointer is for. GW Ross A scheme is not a vision - Leonard Cohen

[Puckdropper at dot]

"G. Ross" <gw...@comwest.net> wrote in

news:DMCdnQxnK4yuHH7O...@giganews.com:

>
> I found an old drawer side in my junk box, ripped and cut it and glued
> two pieces on the face of the fence with epoxy. Clamped overnight.
> This morning I ran it over the jointer taking small cuts until it was
> flat.
> After putting the fence back on the saw I checked that it was square
> with the blade. Also had to adjust the verticality of the blade.
> Re cut a bit off the blocks I had previously made and checked with a
> machinist's square. Both ways they were as square as a South Georgia
> farm boy.
>
> Thanks for all the suggestions, and especially to Jim in NC for
> reminding me what a jointer is for.

Good to hear, but now I've got to try it. You wouldn't happen to have
the other drawer side, would you? *g* (There should be a usable piece of
lumber around here somewhere... ;-))

[Leon]

I am thinking better yet remove the factory fence and install your own
wood fence. should be an easy task for a wood worker and some straight
stock.

[Tinkerer]

replying to G. Ross, Tinkerer wrote:
Old old post. But it came up on my initial search for this issue. The fix is
to take off the fence, make a "bridge" using 2 blocks on the ends of the fence
and judiciously nail the hump part with a 3 lb sledge. Trial and error. But
it will bring the edges back into alignment almost perfectly when you check
with a straightedge after each blow. I over bent it, but reversed the fence,
clamped it, hit it on the far end and got it back to spec.

--
for full context, visit https://www.homeownershub.com/woodworking/rigid-miter-saw-fence-not-straight-777326-.htm

[Leon]

On 9/4/2018 6:14 PM, Tinkerer wrote:
> replying to G. Ross, Tinkerer  wrote:
> Old old post. But it came up on my initial search for this issue. The
> fix is
> to take off the fence, make a "bridge" using 2 blocks on the ends of the
> fence
> and judiciously nail the hump part with a 3 lb  sledge. Trial and error.
> But
> it will bring the edges back into alignment almost perfectly when you check
> with a straightedge after each blow. I over bent it, but reversed the
> fence,
> clamped it, hit it on the far end and got it back to spec.
>

If you are going to answer an old post, consider also posting what you
are answering. Right now we only see something that makes you appear to
be talking to yourself. ;~)

[DerbyDad03]

On Tuesday, September 4, 2018 at 7:14:05 PM UTC-4, Tinkerer wrote:
> replying to G. Ross, Tinkerer wrote:
> Old old post. But it came up on my initial search for this issue. The fix is
> to take off the fence, make a "bridge" using 2 blocks on the ends of the fence
> and judiciously nail the hump part with a 3 lb sledge. Trial and error. But
> it will bring the edges back into alignment almost perfectly when you check
> with a straightedge after each blow. I over bent it, but reversed the fence,
> clamped it, hit it on the far end and got it back to spec.
>

Or do it the right way. Have it milled flat.

For not much more than the cost of a couple of cups of coffee for the
supervisor and the machinist that did the work, I got the fence for my
Delta miter saw milled perfectly flat at a local machine shop.