TS TOP

[hdmundt]

I have a five-year-old DELTA Benchtop Saw. I'm in no position to spend $$$ on an upgrade, so......

The top contains nary an ounce of iron (no magnet alive will stick to it). It seems to be made of aluminum and some sort of hard plastic (phenolic?). The slots would be T-shaped if it weren't for the fact that all the corners are rounded -- no two to the same radius. The mitre gauge rocks left-to-right in a fun little dance that mocks the very thought of getting an accurate cut. Add to this the fact that the slots vary in width from front to back as well as from slot to slot.

I'm thinking of gluing 60-grit sandpaper to opposing sides of hardwood sticks and working them front-to-back in the slots, using ever-wider sticks until the sides of the slots can be made uniform. At this point I would forget the "T" and simply use hardwood sticks as runners (for jigs) to be used in the slots.

Has anyone out there had a similar experience? Is this worth the effort?

All suggestions 'twill be much-appreciated. (Nix the "get out of woodworking" suggestion. What little I can do, I enjoy too much.....)

BTW: I've been lurking here for about a year. My thanks to the powers-that-be on this particular wreck. It has been very informative.

[bridger]

it might work. at least you know you won't be hurting the resale value...

kiss your miter gage goodbye.... and with good riddance. with a good sled you'll get much better crosscuts.

[B a r r y]

Have you tried using a shallower miter bar? How about planing the bottom edges of a full depth miter bar so that the lower corners don't touch?

Barry

[Hylourgos]

Do you have a router? Aluminum is easily machined with a carbide bit.

Just a thought, H.

[Richard Cline]

I have made accurate channels using exactly the same method you outline. It takes a little time but it does work. You will probably find that knocking off a few high spots will go a long way to solving the basic problem. Since you can use a long runner in your slot it will average out many of the small irregularities.

Dick