Aligning a Vega utility 50 fence

[Alan W]

After being in the market for a few weeks for an upgrade in table saws, I found a Jet with a shop built cabinet base on wheels, a Vega Utility 50" fence, the original Jet T fence, and the finger saver accessory for $350.00 in the paper yesterday.

I've reassembled the saw (some dissasembly was required to go out a door and to fit the shortbed pickup I brought). However I'm having a bit of trouble getting the Utility 50 fence back into exactly parallel to the miter slot.

I do have the owners manual which tells me to loosen the 4 allen head bolts, align the saw pefectly on the side of one of the miter tracks, clamp down the back end of the fence and then lock the cam down.

Using this I was able to improve upon the initial bolt on, but running a finger nail down the fence to the miter slot hangs at the front and slips over at the back:

Some ascii art

= < -- fence at front of miter slot | < --- miter slot

=|

[Joe]

Call or email Vega for one. They're good people.

[Dirty Bob]

I LOVE my 50" Vega Utility fence. There is, however, a slight problem when RE-aligning the fence. The four allen head bolts which hold the fence in position are tightened down onto the fence material which is aluminum alloy of some sort. What winds up happening, is that the bolts "dig in" slightly. This develops a "memory" to that particular position. Someone here at this group posted the fix some time ago. I implemented the fix, and it worked beautifully. Simply place small steel washers under the heads of the allen bolts. This removes the possibility of any "memory" indentations in the aluminum alloy itself.

Hope this works as well for you as it did for me. I had the fence on a contractor style saw which I replaced with a Grizzly cabinet style saw. I wasn't thrilled with the ShopFox fence which came with the Grizzly saw, so installed my Vega fence. That required RE-alignment, and the ensuing alignment problem. The washers worked like magic.

[Alan W]

I left a message for their technical contact this morning. Thus far I have receeived no call back. Perhaps tomorrow.

Alan

[Alan W]

This makes perfect sense, as I expect the allen head bolts are class

8 and would very easily be capable of digging and dimpling the extruded alum fence material. I have some small washers about the house and will try this if my next attempt is not successful.

I am quite impressed with the micro adjust feature.

One other question is where is the "button" on the back of the fence supposed to ride? Along the edge of the table causing the fence to "float just above, or on the rear rail or? The diagrams show it on the table and using washers to shim, but it does not make a whole lot of sense to me as of yet.

Thanks Alan

[mrhct]

It had better be riding on the rear square rail.

Mike

[Dirty Bob]

Yes, the "button" rides on the square rail attached to the back side of the saw. A couple of other little hints/words of wisdom, Keep the rails (both front and rear) clean and waxed for optimum performance. When adjusting the fence to a new line/position, hold the locking/tee square portion against the rail and toward yourself. This is the position the fence locks into, and will eliminate any cocking of the fence as you lock it into position.