I've had this saw since the fall of 2006. And in general I love it. BUT, I have always had a problem aligning the Rip Fence and getting good clean rips. I always assumed that I was at fault. Some how I was doing a bad job of alignment and the dirty rip cuts were bad technique. Now all of that is true:gar-La; , but the problems are made worse by real defects in the fence itself.
I found that the face of the fence is wavy:swoon:. The heads of the bolts that slip into the slots that hold the plastic face to the steel are thicker than the slot and thus distorts the face. The holes that the bolts slip through have raised edges that also help to distort the plastic face.
As of this last Friday, I just assumed the fence was defective. But wasn't sure PM would replace it since it has been 4½ years since I first got the saw. I know, I am questioning whether or not I should even be allowed to use the saw if it has taken me this long to figure out a part was defective from the beginning:slap::dontknow:
So yesterday, I did a searches and found out that a lot of people found the same things I did. They were able to get fence to work better by doing some combination of shims, using different attachment bolts, grinding down edges of the holes and replacing the fence with phenolic coated BB.
Tomorrow, I will call PM and see if I can get a replacement that will not require me to do all that work. But in case, I would like to find a third party replacement. And if so, I sure would like a fence that doesn't have to be removed to adjust for square but still will be auto-squaring when locked down at the front.
I know that I don't want the Incra or Jointech type. So I have heard things about the Vega Pro, the Mule Cab Accusquare, and of course and a Biesemeyer.
Your thoughts, advice, suggestions and insights, Please
I found that the face of the fence is wavy:swoon:. The heads of the bolts that slip into the slots that hold the plastic face to the steel are thicker than the slot and thus distorts the face. The holes that the bolts slip through have raised edges that also help to distort the plastic face.
As of this last Friday, I just assumed the fence was defective. But wasn't sure PM would replace it since it has been 4½ years since I first got the saw. I know, I am questioning whether or not I should even be allowed to use the saw if it has taken me this long to figure out a part was defective from the beginning:slap::dontknow:
So yesterday, I did a searches and found out that a lot of people found the same things I did. They were able to get fence to work better by doing some combination of shims, using different attachment bolts, grinding down edges of the holes and replacing the fence with phenolic coated BB.
Tomorrow, I will call PM and see if I can get a replacement that will not require me to do all that work. But in case, I would like to find a third party replacement. And if so, I sure would like a fence that doesn't have to be removed to adjust for square but still will be auto-squaring when locked down at the front.
I know that I don't want the Incra or Jointech type. So I have heard things about the Vega Pro, the Mule Cab Accusquare, and of course and a Biesemeyer.
Your thoughts, advice, suggestions and insights, Please