Biesemeyer Fence won't lock securely

[Dewayne Reding]

First of all it's nice to see a few names I recognize on the forum. I haven't been very active in the hobby for years but I am excited to get the woodshop opened up this week. I am doing some tool maintenance and have a few problems to address. Here is the first....

I have a Biesemeyer fence on my Craftsman Hybrid saw. About a ten year old model. It has always worked well and never abused. I noticed it stopped locking last time I used it. The hardware seems intact but it doesn't lock at all. Slip a wood shim about .010 behind it and it locks securely. My only thought is perhaps a nylon shim fell out? The problem came about suddenly and I don't see anything obviously wrong with the cam lock assembly.

[glenn bradley]

The tension is adjustable via the same threaded grubs that handle alignment. If they run out of threads before things get tight, check the pressure plate that the cam causes to engage. Maybe the nylon foot is gone?

Fence Adjustment.JPG

[Dewayne Reding]

The tension is adjustable via the same threaded grubs that handle alignment. If they run out of threads before things get tight, check the pressure plate that the cam causes to engage. Maybe the nylon foot is gone?

Fence Adjustment.JPG

Thank you so much Glenn. That was embarrassingly easy to fix. Had to make a significant adjustment but it works perfect again. I've checked the fence for parallel to blade and it was always fine even with a shim on the cam. It's obviously been a long time since the fence has been upside down or I wouldn't have had to ask.

[glenn bradley]

Glad to help.

[Lee Schierer]

Since your failure to lock occurred all at once, I suspect your fence is built the same as mine. On my Beismeyer there is a small rectangle of Formica (white rectangle in the photo) that acts as a pad for locking the flip lever against the front tube. The pad is supposed to keep the metal lever from marring the face of the steel tube. Mine fell out a few years ago and fortunately I found it on the floor and was able to put it back in place with some high bond double sided tape.
IMG_0403.jpg

[Dewayne Reding]

Since your failure to lock occurred all at once, I suspect your fence is built the same as mine. On my Beismeyer there is a small rectangle of Formica (white rectangle in the photo) that acts as a pad for locking the flip lever against the front tube. The pad is supposed to keep the metal lever from marring the face of the steel tube. Mine fell out a few years ago and fortunately I found it on the floor and was able to put it back in place with some high bond double sided tape.
IMG_0403.jpg

That must be exactly what happened. There is nothing like that on my cam lock assy. Looks easy to fab a replacement.

[Joe Jensen]

This happened to me many years ago. I was able to find mine and glue it back on with contact cement.