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Fence Adjustment
Michael Dresdner, Rob Johnstone & Ellis Walentine
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Q. I have a General contractor's saw, and at our last woodworkers show, I was told to allow .003" to .010" more gap between the blade and the fence at the out-feed from the blade than at the infeed (so that the wood would not bind and/or kick back). Do I re-set my blade every time I move the fence to the other side of the table? Is there a better way of setting up?
A. Michael Dresdner: "I agree -- I see that as a problem too. My saw is set up with zero clearance (no gap at all). That way I get clean cuts with the fence on either side of the blade."
A. Rob Johnstone: "Ian Kirby in the June Woodworker's Journal (Table Saw Basics) described how to properly align a table saw fence. The key point was that it needed to be exactly parallel to the fence: no runout whatsoever. The most important thing you can do to prevent kickback is to use a splitter."
A. Ellis Walentine: "I agree with Rob and Ian. Nothing is to be gained by skewing your fence. All that does is to allow a finite amount of clearance for reactive wood, which, according to Murphy's Law, always defies prediction. Use a splitter to guard against kickback when ripping."
This article originally appeared in the Woodworker's Journal eZine.
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Copyright; 2010 Woodworker's Journal
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