Sawstop PCS Fence Adjustment

[JohnnyEgo]

It's cold and windy outside, and I don't really have much desire to do the tedious parts of the project I have going today, so I thought it would be a good day to tackle 'the list' of things that need adjustment. One of which is that the extension table on my Sawstop was out of alignment, and the bracket holding the power switch was loose. Fixed both of those things, and then decided it would be a good idea to check the fence. The unexpectedly good news is that it is still parallel to the miter channel to the nearest thousandth, if my dial indicator is to be believed, and the cursor is still accurate to the extent of my Harbor Freight caliber. So all good from an in-use perspective. However, when it is unlocked, the right side of the T rubs between the rail and the fence. Not a ton, but enough to annoy me over for the last year. I caliper'd the pads on each side of the T, and they are about the same distance apart uncompressed, to within a couple thousandths of an inch. I had thought the rail might be toed in a bit, but neither pad appears to change clearances all the way along the rail, so that doesn't appear to be it, either.

I suppose my options come down to bringing both sides of set screws in a bit and then bringing it back to alignment, or learning to live with it. But I am curious if anyone else either experiences this, or has another option I haven't considered. Thanks!

[Bill_de]

When the fence on my PCS is locked it is parallel to the miter slot which is parallel to the blade.

When the fence is unlocked it slides smoothly.

DONE DEAL!

If it was binding that would be a different story.

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[fredhargis]

I'm not sure I understand the problem...are you saying the fence binds slightly when it's unlocked and you slide it back and forth? Mine does that in one spot on the rail, and I tend to not worry about it. But if that's your problem I think what you want to do will solve it. But here's something you can try first: take some paste wax and rub it on the rail where the pads slide. I just did this, and the binding I had disappeared. I tried this just (now) to see if it would work. It won't be a permanent solution, but can be easily renewed if it works for you.

[JohnnyEgo]

Yep. Unlocked, one pad is rubbing against the rail, and one isn't. It kind of makes me wonder what the right amount of take-up should be; is it better to have both pads close to the rail so that there is minimal shift when I lock it down, or better to have a bit more slack so it is easy to slide? I've got my aligning tools out, so now would be the time to change it one way or the other. I am happy it's still holding square in the lock position. I've busted out the paste wax to address the top today, might as well get some down in the rail channel as well.

[fredhargis]

Well, you might be overthinking this a little...but I think you want it to slide easily, and lock firmly. If it does lock securely it probably doesn't matter how much slack there is to lock it down.

[EricU]

I had a thread about the fence on my PM 66 recently.  I ended up adjusting the set screws so there was drag unlocked.  It drove me crazy that the fence would move because of locking.  I suppose if your fence bar isn't uniform, that might be a bad idea.  But mine seems to be pretty uniform. I'm a lot happier with it now