Saw Wars

I *hope* this is the end of the saga with my table saw. You may remember a while back, that mid project I got upset with it and whined aloud that it wasn't holding its depth settings when cutting dadoes. I cried. I stomped. I emailed my woodworking mentor Duane ( Check out his facebook page) and like Obi-wan he gave some great advice...

"Shit, be smarter than the saw. It went together didn't it? Where there is a will, there is a way. I've fixed a million things that said " no user serviceable parts inside", just get into it and do it...ok, back to my sanding."

Shortly after this, Busy Bee called. The parts I was waiting for are no longer produced. You can't get them.

But its only a metal tube with a slit in it. I thought I would go to a metal shop and get a piece of metal and drill it out to the right diameter. Then I went online and started shopping for saws. I pout like that.

Looking back at my old posts, I came across this pic:

I went out in the garage and looked more closely at the saw. You see the space between the roll pin and the slitted tube in there? well that is how much slop there is in the saw adjustment. When you raise the blade, the bar slides back by that much, and when you lower it, the bar comes to the front of the saw.

When I bought the saw, there was a washer on that bar between the threads and the roll pin. So I took everything apart again, and tried moving the washer back between the slitted tube and the circlips (barely visible in front the of the tube). The washer now rests against the angle pointer thinggy and holds back the slitted bar.

The saw seems to be holding its depth setting again. For now. I still have to get it assembled the rest of the way - I am having trouble realigning the fence, but I think I have it figure out. This means I can get my month-old, one day project back under way!