question on table saw fence

[Chris Friesen]

I just bought a General International table saw, and it came with General's Bies clone rip fence.

The faces of the fence appear to be baltic birch, laminated with slippery stuff on the sides and with the edging protected with some kind of extruded plastic T-shaped stuff that fits into a groove in the ply.

This T-shaped edging extends down around the front/back of the faces, and it appears that the force of the inserted edging has bulged out the sides of the fence slightly at the front and back. It's maybe 22 thou or so--definately noticeable.

I was a bit concerned about this, so I went and checked a bunch of saws at the store--it seemed that pretty much all of the ones with this design of fence face (various different brands) exhibited this same problem.

Has anyone else noticed this? Is it an issue? It seems like it would cause problems if the fence isn't totally straight.

Looking for some input from more experienced people...

Chris

[Swingman]

What happens when you saw with it?

[Chris Friesen]

Heh...I'm still getting it set up. Haven't put the rails on it yet so I can't tell you how the fence works. What with my day job, stuff around the house, etc. I don't get much time in the shop.

The concrete floor is all heaved and cracked so first I'm building some risers to level the saw and bring it up to the height of the workbench.

Once that's done I'll put the rails on. I'll need to drill holes in the table to do it--why they can't match the holes on their rails and the saw is beyond me.

Chris

[Leon]

Exactly as Swingman has indicated. Rip a long and short board with the fence and see if you are pleased with the results. The results on both boards should be about equal. If you see tooth marks, insure that your fence is parallel to the blade and adjust until the marks disappear. No special tool needed, just cut and adjust until you get the smoothest cut. If good results cannot be obtained with a good blade I'd say the fence has a problem.