Posts: 93
Threads: 0
Joined: Sep 2003
01-30-2017, 09:01 PM
(This post was last modified: 01-30-2017, 09:03 PM by s9plus20.)
I got a new Powermatic tenoning jig. The guide bar has two adjustment screws to get rid of the side to side play. Its a typical bar that has a split and the screw jams down and spreads the split. Well..... these screws are almost impossible to tighten enough. I am afraid the hex head will strip out if I put any more pressure on them. If I loosen them, I can see the split gap close completely. I just cannot get them to open up enough. My saws have a standard size slot. (SawStop PCS and a Unisaw). The side to side slop with the screw backed out is .015, the side to side slop with the screw tightened up as far as I can go is .008 and I had to use the long end of the allen wrench for leverage to get this close.
I just got the jig today and have not called Powermatic, nor have I tried to modify it on my on.
Has anyone else seen this issue?
What was the resolution?
There are 10 kinds of people in the world, those who know binary and those who do not.
Posts: 9,459
Threads: 0
Joined: Dec 2004
Try some aluminum tape.
Glad its my shop I am responsible for - I only have to make me happy.
Posts: 29,152
Threads: 1
Joined: Aug 2002
How wide is the expansion slot?
If you can get a small wedge shape into the slot and drive it in to spread it a bit more. Then you can drive the screw further in to hold the position
Joe
Let us not seek the Republican Answer , or the Democratic answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future John F. Kennedy
Posts: 9,459
Threads: 0
Joined: Dec 2004
A $300 tenoning jig might be worth an incra bar if pm cant figure it out.
Glad its my shop I am responsible for - I only have to make me happy.
Posts: 93
Threads: 0
Joined: Sep 2003
Joe nailed it.
Problem resolved. I removed the screw and lubed with heavy graphite grease. This made it possible to turn the screw enough to get the bar spread farther apart than before. I then put a 1/4 inch chisel in the crack and gave it a good swift hit with my 2 pound hammer. This bent the bar outward enough that the screw was able to do the adjustment ok.
As shipped there was no space in the crack. You could not see daylight, only a line. The screw barely could make a crack, not really enough to put a wedge in. The grease allowed the screw to move it apart enough to get the point of a cold chisel started.
As a side note: With no lube the screw would turn up to a point and them pretty much stop. I lubed with oil (Kroil) and the screw would turn easier in the process then it would "Jump" while turning. In other words it would turn a bit then stop, with addition pressure it would turn somewhat easy then stop. Much more pressure and it would turn somewhat easy then stop. Until it would go no further. This turning was what I would call "jumpy". With heavy graphite grease, it was linear in its turning, no jumping. It would turn smoothly according to the amount of pressure applied to it, until it would turn no more. Overall the grease improved things a lot, just not enough to solve the initial problem.
There are 10 kinds of people in the world, those who know binary and those who do not.
Posts: 93
Threads: 0
Joined: Sep 2003
(02-05-2017, 02:29 AM)BloomingtonMike Wrote: Try some aluminum tape.
Thanks for the tip. I have a short craftsman miter guage (its undersized) that I will use this trick on. It has a short bar and no Tee washer, making it handy for some times as you can just sit it down in the slot.
Frankie
There are 10 kinds of people in the world, those who know binary and those who do not.
