510 Fence - ways to make it slide easier

bobgroh · Post by **bobgroh** » Tue Dec 20, 2011 2:16 pm

Boy, you can tell when I am working on projects - I keep finding things that need fixing or that bug me. In this case, I am getting ready to use the table saw on my 510 and, while positioning the fence, I noticed that it doesn't slide easily. I doubt that it ever has but I played around with it a bit and have a general question for the group - has anyone ever played around with ways to make the fence slide easier?

My playing around with mine indicates that the problem seems to be mainly in the ribs of the casting on the operator's end 'catching' on the front 'pipe' (don't know the exact name but you know what I mean). My 'pipe' is a bit rough and I smoothed it a bit with fine sandpaper and then waxed the bejabbers out of it and that seemed to help a bit. I 'broke' the sharp edges of the 4 ribs with a file but didn't see any difference there.

So basically I wonder if anyone has done any playing around in this area and has any thoughts to pass along.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Tue Dec 20, 2011 3:36 pm

I do not fully understand why you think filing the edges off the 4 (6 on my fences) ribs would help sliding. Do you have the older rail(with mounting screw holes on the face) that is cad plated(or whatever), or a newer chrome plated one. Does the back 'foot' set properly on the back rail? Are the rear clamp and the front clamp releasing? Is the bottom of the fence dragging on the table?

Granted I have not used the 510 much(yet), but do realize the additional weight of the 510 fence does cause it to be less responsive to light pushing.

I have the habit of always pushing the front of the fence towards the table to prevent it from skewing as it is moved. Carry over from the M5(==MV500) used for almost 50 yrs.

It is not going to respond well to pushing at an arbitrary point along the fence. That usually causes it to skew.

Do realize those ribs were precision machined to serve as the angle reference for the clamping to the table. The clamp merely pulls them up against the front of the rail.

robinson46176 · Post by **robinson46176** » Tue Dec 20, 2011 6:00 pm

Try waxing just those parts with some spray Lemon Pledge. Just be careful that you don't bump it and fling it through a window or something. Also be very careful about letting it get on the floor or you can slip and fall on it. Truly dangerous stuff on a vinyl floor.

.

bobgroh · Post by **bobgroh** » Tue Dec 20, 2011 6:45 pm

An answer to my own question and a couple of comments. First of all, thanks for everyone's comments.

I think the answer to my problem is definitely that my front tube (again I apologize if that is the wrong term for it) is, on one end, a bit chewed up. I was using the fence at the other end (i.e. on the left side of the blade slot) and it slides with no difficulty. So it is the tube that is the problem. I will switch the front and back tubes when I get a chance and that should fix the problem.

On the question of the ribs - yes, you are right there are 6 of them. My bad.

Precision machined or not, it seems to me that the fit of the fence is actually determined by only 3 points (or should be) - one on the other end of the fence and two points on the front - one of which is the adjustment screw on the right hand side. It is the old 3-legged stool axiom - no matter how many legs a stool has, only 3 of them are truly on the same level.

But I'm not going to do anything about it - although I am tempted. I would love to play with a 3-point system and one where the adjustment screw doesn't rotate (the rotation skews the fence sideways in addition to moving that side back and forth).

Thank you both for your thoughts. I'm heading back to the garage to work on some more Christmas projects.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Tue Dec 20, 2011 9:43 pm

bobgroh wrote:
. . .

Precision machined or not, it seems to me that the fit of the fence is actually determined by only 3 points (or should be) - one on the other end of the fence and two points on the front - one of which is the adjustment screw on the right hand side. It is the old 3-legged stool axiom - no matter how many legs a stool has, only 3 of them are truly on the same level.

But I'm not going to do anything about it - although I am tempted. I would love to play with a 3-point system and one where the adjustment screw doesn't rotate (the rotation skews the fence sideways in addition to moving that side back and forth).

Thank you both for your thoughts. I'm heading back to the garage to work on some more Christmas projects.

Oh Boy! Here we go again!

Those screws on the front of the fence are NOT there to adjust the fence parallel to the blade etc.

They are there to allow temporary misalignment by adjusting the screw in to the rail and causing the rear to move to the right. This is required when using the disc sander to 'thickness' sand.

The screws should be backed far away from the rail(tube) at all other times. Complete removal is recommended.

The alignment is ALL in the front! The rear only locks it down. The back does nothing for alignment.

Sorry to be so loud, but this keeps coming up!

The fence adjustment is from the underside and moves the fence extrusion relative to the front thingie with ribs.

reible · Post by **reible** » Tue Dec 20, 2011 10:07 pm

All of the new people here read what was said about the adjustment of the fence. The off set screws are as was stated are not for alignment. I have seen this happen more then a few times so it bears repeating. It is a common mistake for those without proper training on a shopsmith.

One thing about the 520 fence you can't get it wrong, the screws are not there anymore.

Ed

bobgroh · Post by **bobgroh** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 12:15 am

OK, I guess I was just told! Ouch.

To repeat - the screw on the front part of the fence is there only for skewing the fence for special purposes such as using the disk sander on special tasks.

The fence should be aligned using the screws that tie the extrusion to front part.

I think I knew that at one time but that fact done left my brain since the last time I fiddled with this stuff a couple of years ago. I probably will remove that screw in the front and add it to my spare parts drawer (I'm always losing them when they drop out of the saw arbor).

Thank you, gentleman (and you also, JPG). Have a nice holiday all.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 12:57 am

bobgroh wrote:OK, I guess I was just told! Ouch.

To repeat - the screw on the front part of the fence is there only for skewing the fence for special purposes such as using the disk sander on special tasks.

The fence should be aligned using the screws that tie the extrusion to front part.

I think I knew that at one time but that fact done left my brain since the last time I fiddled with this stuff a couple of years ago. I probably will remove that screw in the front and add it to my spare parts drawer (I'm always losing them when they drop out of the saw arbor).

Thank you, gentleman (and you also, JPG). Have a nice holiday all.

I deserved that!;) However I doubt you will forget it again!:)

Actually it was not just your attention that I wanted to get. It was also all those 'new people' that Ed referred to that I wanted to 'shock' into realizing why they were there.

It is all to common a mis-conception that those are 'the' alignment screws.

Now anyone know why they put two (one on each side)on the 500 fence and the newer band saw fence?

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 4:57 am

OKAY

I won't do it again!

But will you please explain what harm or damage is done if I tweak that screw and it makes the fence parallel to the blade? Why can I not leave it there? I mean, after all, it does relocate the fence.

jimthej · Post by **jimthej** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 10:25 am

dusty wrote:OKAY

I won't do it again!

But will you please explain what harm or damage is done if I tweak that screw and it makes the fence parallel to the blade? Why can I not leave it there? I mean, after all, it does relocate the fence.

If I recall correctly, the screw is nylon or something similar. It will wear and you will be frequently tweaking it. A somewhat less than ideal situation.

I also remember the 510 fence to be similar to the upgrade 500 fence. When I was using that, I found that I stripped out the 4 screws that hold the fence extrusion to the base(the part you use to adjust). Ended up using Heli-coils on all 4. That extrusion is fairly thin, be careful. I wasn't using anything but the t-handled 5/32 allen wrench.