beismeyer fence is not flat? saw marks as I am ripping?

[cody michael]

I have a new to me delta unisaw, came with a bies fence, yesterday I was using it for the first time and noticed the fence has a wave to it, I held a straight edge to it and it looks like 1/16 or so dip in the one spot. how can I fix this??

2015-02-26 17.43.07.jpg

also I bought a new Oshlun SBW-100024 10-Inch 24 Tooth ATB Ripping Saw Blade. and when ripping walnut I get saw marks (not horrible but you can see them), I have not had a rip blade before always used a combination, is this just the blade or is it a saw issue?
I check the blade run out and whether everything is parrallel. it all seemed ok. could probably used tuned up at some point, I did adjust the fence to be parallel to miter slot as well as I could.

[Tom Walz]

Check side clearance variance. Do all the teeth stick out the same amount from the saw plate (body). Teeth that stick out too far leave marks. 0.0005" is currently good. Up to 0.003" is probably o.k.

[cody michael]

Check side clearance variance. Do all the teeth stick out the same amount from the saw plate (body). Teeth that stick out too far leave marks. 0.0005" is currently good. Up to 0.003" is probably o.k.

just use dial indicator and hit each tooth to see if they are the same?

[Larry Edgerton]

That dip in the fence is probably not the problem with the cut. It would only be a problem when the wood is not bridging the dip in the fence, beginning and end of the board. It will most likely not be an issue except on small pieces if it is close to the blade.

The problem is most likely you fence and blade not in parallel. I see the saw is used, so after moving it most likely needs a light tune. Use the search function and you will find enough information on how to tune your saw that you will be totally confused. So I won't even get into that......

Nice saw, congratulations, Larry

[glenn bradley]

For a different opinion, I think that deviation in the fence is unacceptable. A tablesaw is designed to cut straight. the performance drops in proportion to the deviation from straight.

Unfortunately (and I loved my Beis fence) these fences do not offer an elegant way to remove or shim the fence faces. Many of the "better than Beis" clones off access slots from the bottom of the fence tube for shimming or changing out these faces.

The original faces are screwed to the tube and then laminated unless this has changed recently. Most posts I have seen about this have people just ripping the orginals off, drilling and tapping holes and replacing the faces with new material in such a way as to allow the faces to be shimmed.

Your deviation is larger than any I have seen to date. Does the fence happen to bulge out on the opposite side? this is just a curiosity question as to whether the fence tube is bent or it is just a bad face. Either way, replacing the faces is not a big job and one done, offers versatility in the future.

Here's some 8/4 beech right off the saw with a 30T Carbide Processors glue-line-rip:

beech (3).jpg . beech (7).jpg

[scott spencer]

That deviation in the fence isn't good. The fence faces can be shimmed or replaced. It's also not unusual for there to be more saw marks from a 24T rip blade than a 40T or 50T blade. If you want a smoother cut, use a similar quality blade with more teeth.

[Jim Finn]

I use my table saw for ripping a lot and use a Diablo ripping blade and get zero saw marks. As good a cut as a jointer. I suspect you have a blade problem.

[cody michael]

What is the best option for material to replace the fence with, price is a concern... i did see on amazon you can get sheets of plastic, would something like that work? Or maybe a thin aluminum extrusion?

[ken masoumi]

I have heard some owners stick a strip of UHMW Polyethylene ,that would be the first thing I look at:

UHMW Polyethylene

[Dick Brown]

I have used laminate over plywood, solid wood, plain ply, Corian, melamine, UHMW, maybe others that I don't remember for fence faces. All work if done with care, even on a slightly bent tube with a bit of shimming. Ends up, personal preference. My preference if I can get the right colors, is Corian. Color or pattern won't make it cut any better but we all like a pretty table saw, don't we??? If I ever think the blade is even close to touching my fence, I will clamp on a sacrificial face.

[Larry Edgerton]

Glenn, I was not really implying that the fence should not be fixed although it did kind of come out that way, just that the teeth dragging on the whole length of the cut is not the fault of the dip in the fence. The fence should be fixed and the tablesaw aligned and blade checked, two separate issues to my way of thinking.

[Keith Weber]

That fence is unacceptable. I can't believe that some people are saying that a 1/16" dip is not a problem. The worse case would be if the hollow in the fence is at the front of your blade. Your wood will follow the fence into the hollow, and then as it starts to curve back in towards the blade, it will move the whole board towards the blade. Then, the rising teeth will contact the board, causing saw marks and increasing the potential for a kickback. Also, with a longer board, it will create a gap between the board and the fence at the front of the saw blade as it straddles the hollow in the fence. This will cause the width of your ripped board to be narrower by 1/16" at that point than it was at the start of the cut.

You really need to address it. I don't have a Biesemeyer, but I assume that you can easily remove the face. I'd do that, and check the underlying metal for flatness as well. If it's flat, I'd probably buy or make a new face. You could also see if it is swappable with the opposite face if you don't need to rip on the right of the fence. If the metal has a dip as well, you'll have to shim the face.

[cody michael]

Ok thanks I'm going to research what material I can find for decent price. Thanks

[cody michael]

I found a cabinet shop that will sell me a piece of corian for 10$ I am going to pick it up today.

[cody michael]

I picked up a piece of corian and I will be rebuilding the fence, any recommendations on what screws to use? also how many? 4 or 5?