Kreg Bandsaw fence woes

[Johnbro]

I have a Kreg bandsaw fence on my Griz 17" saw. It's a good fence, and I have a number of Kreg tools (which I like a lot) so this isn't Kreg bashing. But I have a problem.

When I slide the fence up to where I want to cut, then tighten it down (with the locking knob), the fence extrusion rotates inward (clockwise) toward the blade, maybe 1/4 inch. So of course I can't use any deterministic way to set the fence, like I can on my TS. I have to tighten it, see how far off it is, loosen it and move it away from the blade, tighten it again, and try to see if it's in the correct place now. 

Anybody else have this problem? What I expect is I can set the fence cursor at the width of cut I want, lock it, and it will cut at that width. This is not an issue with adjsuting the cursor; it's an issue with the fence extrusion moving when I tighten it.

[Jason28]

Mine does the same thing. I move it close, then tighten the locking knob and the end of the fence moves toward the blade a bit. If that's your issue, I get around it by getting the fence close, then tightening the locking knob until the fence is snug, but can still be moved, and then nudge it until it's where I want it, then finish tightening the locking knob. It's easier to understand when you try it out. It took me a few times playing around to get the feel for it, but now the fence locks right where I want it to. DO note that I added the micro-adjuster to my fence, which makes my method much easier.

If someone has a solution to the moving fence, I'd love to hear it.

[Phil Thien]

Can't you lock the fence then measure then set the cursor? Or does the fence move a different amount each time you lock it down?

[jteneyck]

I don't know anything about the Kreg fence, but on my Grizzly there are set screws in the fence head that allow you to adjust the fence parallel with the miter slot and also parallel with the blade.  If those set screws aren't set correctly, the fence will skew as you lock the handle on the rail.  Maybe that's the issue with your Kreg fence?

John

[AHill]

Page 7 in your manual shows how to adjust the parallelism of your fence.  You adjust the set screws.

https://www.kregtool.com/webres/Files/Kr...Manual.pdf

[Cecil]

I use the micro-adjuster. 
* Set the fence. 
* Lock it and watch it move. 
* Lock the micro-adjuster in place and unlock the fence. 
* Turn the micro-adjuster knob the appropriate amount
* re-tighten the fence.

[Johnbro]

Mine does the same thing. I move it close, then tighten the locking knob and the end of the fence moves toward the blade a bit. If that's your issue, I get around it by getting the fence close, then tightening the locking knob until the fence is snug, but can still be moved, and then nudge it until it's where I want it, then finish tightening the locking knob. It's easier to understand when you try it out. It took me a few times playing around to get the feel for it, but now the fence locks right where I want it to. DO note that I added the micro-adjuster to my fence, which makes my method much easier.

If someone has a solution to the moving fence, I'd love to hear it.

Thanks, yes, this is the problem, not setting drift or parallelism like some people interpreted it. I've emailed Kreg customer service, they claim they've never heard of it--I found several Amazon reviews that specifically called this out. One reviewer drilled the front of the black cross piece and tapped it for nylon screws--that might be the answer. I'll post here if I get anywhere with Kreg.

[Jason28]

I'm not at all surprised Kreg says they've never heard of it. Do let us know if you get anywhere.

[EricU]

I have a very similar problem with the fence on my PM66.  I can deal with it, but it is annoying. Move the fence, tighten it down, loosen it, watch to see where it moved, move it again to compensate, tighten it down again, recheck, etc.  Not sure if I can tighten up the gap when it's not clamped down, seems like it's indicative that something isn't quite right.

[Johnbro]

Big shout out to Kreg. Their CS person basically said, well we'll send you another for you to try. This the kind of CS that I wish more companies would aspire to. I wasn't expecting that or even thinking of it.

I'll let you folks know if this makes a difference.