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Rip Fence not square

Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2016 10:10 am
by Mole
I have a Mk5 and find that when I tighten the knob of the rip fence, the far end pulls in by about 2mm so the fence is not square to the worktop/saw bench.

I have tried adjusting the set screw to no avail.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Re: Rip Fence not square

Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2016 10:22 am
by dusty
Mole wrote:I have a Mk5 and find that when I tighten the knob of the rip fence, the far end pulls in by about 2mm so the fence is not square to the worktop/saw bench.

I have tried adjusting the set screw to no avail.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.
The set screw should not be used for that purpose. For all practical purposes the set screw could be removed. Do you have a manual for the Mark 5? The fence alignment procedure is there.

If you have a 500, the alignment procedure is available on line.
Look here for what is available. http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/productmanuals.htm

If a later model, say so and I'll attempt to locate what you need.

Doug Reid has done a large number of video presentations that are available on utube. I believe this one covers the fence.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6SpZg2sU6M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UvG0JGC2sw

If not, browse the facebook listings for more. As I said, there are many - all worth viewing.

Re: Rip Fence not square

Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2016 6:04 pm
by wa2crk
HI
The reason for the fence moving is that the knob on the fence actually pulls the fence into square. If you try to use the fence set screw to align it you may damage the rails on the front of a 510 model. The set screw should be removed and then align the fence to the miter gauge slot. My fence does the same thing.
Bill V

Re: Rip Fence not square

Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2016 10:35 am
by dusty
wa2crk wrote:HI
The reason for the fence moving is that the knob on the fence actually pulls the fence into square. If you try to use the fence set screw to align it you may damage the rails on the front of a 510 model. The set screw should be removed and then align the fence to the miter gauge slot. My fence does the same thing.
Bill V
This is oh so true but only if the fence has been properly aligned to start with.

Re: Rip Fence not square

Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2016 12:08 pm
by everettdavis
My understanding is the set screw is to bias the rip fence from being square, opposed to squaring it.

The rip fence can be offset to sand boards to a specific width. (Source http://www.shopsmith.com/academy/discsand/)

Some may refer to that as jointing the edge with a disc sander. The point of the setscrew was to introduce a bias into the normally squared fence to allow only one contact point.

Subsequently Shopsmith introduced the Conical Sanding Disc, providing that bias in the disc, negating the need to offset the fence.

Indeed some of the smoothest sanded edges I can produce come from the Conical Sanding Disc (which is also a component in the Jointer and Planer blade sharpening kit.)

Everett

Re: Rip Fence not square

Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2016 12:25 pm
by JPG
Assuming this is a Mark 5 or a mark V-500 rip fence, the square adjustment(parallel to blade/miter gauge slot) is attained by loosening the two cap screws that secure the fence rail to the base, then retightening them.


BTW Dusty, when did Doug Reid change his name and persona? :rolleyes:

Re: Rip Fence not square

Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2016 12:33 pm
by dusty
JPG wrote:Assuming this is a Mark 5 or a mark V-500 rip fence, the square adjustment(parallel to blade/miter gauge slot) is attained by loosening the two cap screws that secure the fence rail to the base, then retightening them.


BTW Dusty, when did Doug Reid change his name and persona? :rolleyes:
I'm sorry but I do not follow you regarding Doug Reid.

Re: Rip Fence not square

Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2016 12:38 pm
by everettdavis
I think that he is referring to Doug being mentioned as the author of a YouTube video, but the link is to a person who is not Doug.

Possibly a link error in the post creation.

Everett

Re: Rip Fence not square

Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2016 12:53 pm
by JPG
everettdavis wrote:I think that he is referring to Doug being mentioned as the author of a YouTube video, but the link is to a person who is not Doug.

Possibly a link error in the post creation.

Everett
In many ways fer sure! ;)

Re: Rip Fence not square

Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2016 12:57 pm
by dusty
everettdavis wrote:I think that he is referring to Doug being mentioned as the author of a YouTube video, but the link is to a person who is not Doug.

Possibly a link error in the post creation.

Everett
Yup, an error in posting. I somehow cut and pasted the wrong link. However, even the one I intended to post (which has been added to my original post) does not get into fence alignment. I screwed up all the way around on this one.

I don 't give up easily though. Here, I'll take another shot at being of some assistance. One or the other of these manuals is likely to have answers to your question.

http://www.shopsmith.com/getting_starte ... Manual.pdf
re: page 19

http://www.shopsmith.com/getting_starte ... Manual.pdf
re: page SM18