Why is there a gap between my fence and stock past the blade?

[Greg Woloshyn]

I have a Delta contractor saw with the stock T-square fence which seems pretty good. It's well tuned and within .005 parallel to the miter slots. My blade is also parallel to the miter slots. Could there be any other reason why when I make a cut there is a 0-1/8" gap between my stock and fence at the far end?

[Wade Lippman]

If I get sloppy in feeding the stock there might be a 1/32" gap; but it would be difficult to force a 1/8" gap.
I think you are mistaken about everything being parallel.

[Greg Woloshyn]

I'm sure the fence is, I checked it with an indicator that slides in the miter slot.

There is only so much room to check parallel on the blade but I'll double check that it is dead on.

[Matt Day]

Is your fence itself flat? And you're saying that when you're feeding stock, it starts against the fence then somehow is 1/8" away from the fence at the end? Something is clearly wrong.

Are you applying pressure toward the fence as you push the stock through?

[glenn bradley]

What are you cutting? Solid woods can stress-release when cut often pulling to close the gap which would pull the right hand part of the material away from the fence. This is why we have splitters and riving knives. That not being the case, I too would question alignment.

[Greg Woloshyn]

As far as I know the fence is straight and I'm beginning cuts with the stock flat against the fence and applying pressure towards the fence as I feed. This has been happening with the plywood I've been cutting. The edge against the fence is straight as well.

[glenn bradley]

This has been happening with the plywood I've been cutting. The edge against the fence is straight as well.

Well, there goes the stress-release theory. A tablesaw's job is to cut straight. When aligned, it really is tough to get it to do anything else. If you have a 90* corner at the sides against the fence and toward the operator position, is the corner of the just-cut side and the side toward the operator now 90*? In other words are the side parallel and perpendicular? Probably not but, where is the deviation?

[Matt Day]

Hmmm. Ok, so if the blade is below the saw top and you push the stock against the fence there's no issue right?

So you're saying that the stock gets pulled away from the fence by the blade while cutting? That tells me the blade is not parallel with the fence/miter slot. What method did you use to align everything? Maybe forget about the calipers for now and KISS? Maybe just use a simple square to get it close?

[Jeff Duncan]

I'm sure the fence is, I checked it with an indicator that slides in the miter slot.

There is only so much room to check parallel on the blade but I'll double check that it is dead on.

Fence should be dead on to the blade, miter slot if you use it, otherwise that measurement is less or even non-relavant. You don't need any precision tools either. Take a short narrow block of wood and use it to check the spacing between the fence and blade…..with the fence locked down. You can also mark a tooth and spin the blade to check at different positions. Some guys will go a step further and use a brass screw in the end of the wood block to really dial it in. Either way make sure your fence is dead on to you blade and you should be OK.

good luck,
JeffD

[Joe Kieve]

Are you using a guard with a splitter on it, maybe the one that came with the saw? Check to see if it's in alignment with the blade. That would definitely pull stock away from the fence if it's not.

[Adam Wilson]

If I properly understand your question. I think all table saws have this as a built in feature. Once the wood is cut at the leading edge there is no reason for the far end side of the blade to be in contact with the wood. It only creates wood twisting and binding opportunities.

I have a Delta contractor saw with the stock T-square fence which seems pretty good. It's well tuned and within .005 parallel to the miter slots. My blade is also parallel to the miter slots. Could there be any other reason why when I make a cut there is a 0-1/8" gap between my stock and fence at the far end?

[Andrew Fleck]

Are you sure your lumber is straight in the first place? If it has a bow, what you describe can happen.

[Jak Kelly]

Maybe you need a feather board??????

[Myk Rian]

I have a Delta contractor saw with the stock T-square fence which seems pretty good. It's well tuned and within .005 parallel to the miter slots. My blade is also parallel to the miter slots

Make the miter slots parallel to the blade. Then, make the fence parallel to the blade.

[johnny means]

If I properly understand your question. I think all table saws have this as a built in feature. Once the wood is cut at the leading edge there is no reason for the far end side of the blade to be in contact with the wood. It only creates wood twisting and binding opportunities.

How would one build this feature in?

OP, is your fence face flat? This is probably the first thing you should check.