Biesemeyer Side to Side play ok? Adjustable?

[Patrick Irish]

I'm trying to get my 36-944 Unisaw up and running after buying it used and adding a new guide tube.

The Biesemeyer fence locks up great and using a tape measure, it's dialed in to the miter slot. I'll use a square and dial indicator soon.

I have noticed after I slide the fence a direction and go to lock it down, the rear of the fence moves about 1/4" toward the blade. It locks square but wondering if that movement is ok? Also, should the t-square portion sit fairly tight on the rail and not move in and out? I have some play in the t-square part and was thinking about cranking the allen screws to snug the fence up then back them off 1/4 turn and then check for parallelism.

When I say there is play left and right I mean the t-square portion site flat but moves in and away from the cast iron top.

[Jerry Miner]

If I'm understanding you, that side-play is normal. When the fence is "unlocked" there is free play at the tube, which allows the fence to "wiggle" side-to-side.

When the fence is locked down, that play is removed and the fence tube gets pulled into its proper position.

The allen screws should be adjusted so that the fence slides easily when unlocked and snugs up tight when locked (and so that the fence is aligned).

[Cary Falk]

It is normal but if it bothers you, you can do something like this.

[John Blazy]

Adjusting your fence parallel to the miter gauge slot should be fine in a perfect world, but what if the miter guage slot (and whole cast iron table) is not parallel to the plane of the blade? I always adjust my Beisemeyer to the blade by raising the blade and getting the front tooth and back tooth to touch at the same time.

When I bought my Unisaw, the miter gauge slot was not parallel to the blade, and had to adjust the whole cast iron table to align it with the blade plane.

As far as the play you talk about, Im not sure I understand. When locking the handle, you can expect some movement from point of contact to until locked. just as long as when locked, its parallel to blade plane.

[Don Jarvie]

As long as it locks down and rips the board to the correct size I don't think it makes a difference. It will have some play because of the gap between the the table and bar it rides along.

[Dick Mahany]

I believe that is perfectly normal because the fence only clamps itself to the tube when the cam handle is fully in the engaged down position. As others have mentioned, the saw has to be set up correctly from the start.

I used a dial gauge that rode in the miter strip to verify parallelism to the blade first. I did have to tweak the cast iron top a tad to achieve true parallelism (no big deal and worth doing if needed). Then I used the same dial gauge to establish the Bies fence parallel to the miter slot. Worked great and from then on I only used the rule strip on the tube for measuring position and didn't worry about any slop when moving it. Locking the fence in place always squared it perfectly after that.

[Patrick Irish]

Thanks guys for the info. I took a dial indicator, fixed to the top, and checked my arbor for runout and it was maybe .001, acceptable for me.

I think I may have to loosen the top and adjust it that way as I get more runout when I fix the dial indicator to the mitre gauged and go along the fence OR when I check the front and back teeth on the blade.

The fence locks square and parallel every time. Think I'm just paranoid and jacked up being my first real saw. I'm moving up from a Bosch jobsite.

[Bob Michaels]

I have the same issue on both a PM 66 and 5 hp Sawstop. The aggravating part about it is all of the bumping you have to do to get the desired dimension setting. I over come this by pulling the fence back to the rail lightly while setting the dimension. After a few times its just habit and solves the issue. Both sides of the fence "T" at the rail need to be touching the rail to eliminate the fence from jumping. Hope this works for you, too.

[Rick Potter]

Like Bob says, if it locks up square to the blade, just pull it toward you before pushing the handle down. That's what I do. On my other saw with the Unifence I push it away then lock.

[Steve Schoene]

Having the blade and the miter slot parallel isn't . for a "perfect world", it is part of normal alignment to table saws. It's particularly easy for cabinet saws such as the Unisaw since the adjustment is done by loosening four bolts to shift the top. Contractor saws is a bit more complex, especially to be sure alignment is maintained when the blade is tilted.

[Dan Hahr]

That's way too much plY for me. I adjusted mine to snug it up and it slides almost effortlessly and stays almost perfectly perpendicular. It might move a 1/16 th when I lock it down. Dan