Mark V with updated rip fence: alignment?

[sawdust2710]

Due to changes in interests and time, I haven't really done much with my Mark V in the way of ripping lumber for many years. I built a nice sliding table for crosscuts, which I use frequently for small repair jobs and such.

But long ago I stopped trying to rip accurately with the upgraded fence, as no matter what I did, I could not get it to lock consistently parallel to the miter slots or blade. I have a piece of (perfectly square) lumber bolted to the fence so that I could mount a pair of Leichtung wheeled hold-downs to the fence for safety.

But no matter what I do with the different bolts and such on the fence, when I try to lock it down, it moves slightly at one end.

There seems to be a lot of rip fence alignment discussion hereabouts, but mostly focusing on the 510 and later Shopsmith machines. If you had to start from scratch, how would you go about aligning the updated 500 fence? I just finished refurbishing my DC3300 dust collector, and I'm getting the itch to maybe start building some stuff soon. TIA for your suggestions!

[JPG]

1) Make sure all set screws on the front casting are fully retracted(or removed).

2) When clamping, press the fence casting firmly against the rail. This should align the fence to the table/slot.

3) Rotate the 'knob' until the rear clamp 'clamps'. Upgraded fence, press clamping lever. ???? Need to research that thingie! Knob front, lever rear?

The fence should not move when clamping.

Now all this assumes the rip fence is adjusted to the casting correctly(that be a step in the rip fence alignment adjustment). That adjustment is to make the fence when properly clamped to be parallel to the slot. A step I think thee are missing.

[GetterDone]

Sounds like you are on the right Track. (No pun intended)

I am thinking about an Infeed table and an Outfeed table.

This will take care of the support.

Then the issue with the main table?

Once a Person squares the table ?
Would you Scribe a mark for referance?

[edflorence]

As JPG sez, make sure you have aligned the fence with the four adjusting screws before mounting to the table. Then follow the rest of the suggested steps. Even so, you may notice the back of the fence move a little when you clamp down the lever. In my experience, the movement is slight and can be resisted with one hand while the other cinches down the lever. You may also want to adjust the nut at the tail end of the fence...the one that determines how hard it is to lock the lever down. There is a "sweet spot" between too tight and too loose that takes a bit of adjusting to find. That can make a difference, though.