fence micro-adjuster

greitz · Post by **greitz** » Sun Feb 22, 2009 7:11 pm

Reading Chapter 2 in PTWFE, where it says to use the quill feed to make fine adjustments to get the desired rip width, reminded me of the previous fence micro-adjuster threads. Many of us already have a microadjustment tool for table height, the adjustable stop collar (part number 555937). So we could just attach it to the back of the fence somehow, and push against a block of wood clamped to the table.

I turned a 1.25-inch diameter tenon on a chunk of poplar, attached the poplar to a T-track light support bracket (part number 521787), and fitted the adjustable stop collar over the tenon. Then the bracket was attached to the T-track on the rear of the 520 fence. I'm sure the engineers on this forum can come up with a much more elegant way to attach the adjustable stop collar to the fence, but this was quick and easy. See the attached pictures.

Sorry if this idea has already been mentioned, I only found one previous thread on the subject and I'm pretty sure there were more than that.

Gary

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Sun Feb 22, 2009 7:21 pm

In today's venacular - That's WAY COOL! Gary.

Useing what's available!!

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Sun Feb 22, 2009 8:13 pm

Cool is, in my humble opinion, a gross understatement. That is absolutely ingenious. I never even thought about using the adjustable stop collar. Good show.

a1gutterman · Post by **a1gutterman** » Sun Feb 22, 2009 8:54 pm

That is a wonderful solution!

reible · Post by **reible** » Sun Feb 22, 2009 9:01 pm

These are the sorts of posts I love to see here! It is so nice to see how creative and interesting people can be, thanks ever so much for the post!

Ed

edflorence · Post by **edflorence** » Sun Feb 22, 2009 11:14 pm

greitz wrote: I turned a 1.25-inch diameter tenon on a chunk of poplar, attached the poplar to a T-track light support bracket (part number 521787), and fitted the adjustable stop collar over the tenon. Gary

Wow! Kudos for coming up with another really fine use of the stop collar!

rdewinter · Post by **rdewinter** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 1:26 am

Very creative thinking. Just wondering if once you micro adjust your fence and lock both fence locks, does the locking process move the position of the fence. Sometimes when I press the bottom fence lock my fence will square up to the table, in other words, move slightly.

Bob
San Diego

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 5:42 am

That movement is suppose to happen but it should be part of the process of measurement.

Think of the fence as a draftsman's t-square. The cross bar must be tight up against the table's vertical edge for the other bar to be horizontal.

The cross bar of the rip fence must be tight against the front rail for the fence to be parallel to the miter slot.

I exert pressure against the rip fence, pushing it up against the front rail while I am positioning the fence. Once positioned where I want it, I maintain that pressure while I lock it. I maintain that pressure until both levers are secured.

This is necessary only for precision settings. The fence will do this squaring maneuver without all that pressure point application if you can tolerate "close enough for government work" type settings.

To convince yourself, first check out that fence. That puppy is built like a tank. Then set it on the fence rail and just play with it. Push it out of alignment and then tighten the lower lever and watch the fence. Measure it - it won't be perfect but it will be close. Now tighten the top lever while watching the lock bar as it contacts the rear rail. If the outfeed end of the fence moves at all, you will see why when that lock bar settles in place. It is squaring itself up against the rear rail.

This fence performs as much like a Beisemeyer as any fence will on a segmented table top. It think it is great. I have come to believe this because I react to nearly ever post on this forum that has to do with Shopsmith alignment. If setup correctly, the Shopsmith is as accurate as any of us needs it to be and then some. Watching Rick Davis at the TAs also convinced me. He was meticulous. He was actually anal about proper setup.