Thread: Ongoing workcenter fence problem?

Hello .
I posted a while ago about the problem with my workcenter fence being out of square vertically. I've been trying to find a way around it for most of the summer but with one thing and another I never found a solution and it's all packed away now for the winter. After a posting on here listing the new Triton distributers in the uk I thought i'd contact the one who seems to be the main triton dealer and see what he had to say.
I basically said that my fence was not square and it was a major problem in setting the whole thing up and impossible to work on as anything that was tall/thin would need to run against the fence to achieve square and it would never give a correct cut as it was. I floated the idea of a possible replacement fence as you guys have always said how amenable the company was and it still has one and a half years to run on the original guarantee ( worth a shot I thought)
Anyway, see what you make of the response.

This is a common query because in the instructions it says "check blade squareness to fence" which i have told aussies about on many occasions. It is proper practice with any table saw to square the blade to the table. The fence is used to align the blade horizontally not vertically.

The main fence is deliberately not square. It is about 1mm from bottom to top. The reason is to help maintain accuracy on measurement. The wood basically touches the bottom of the fence. This also helps if the wood being cut is slightly out of square the wrong way which would double any error. Also when cutting thinner pieces of wood or pieces thicker than the fence or doing double cuts on even thicker bits it guarentees accuracy. You are always working from the same datum point on the fence. When you square up the saw blade it should always be set square to the table not to the fence. Put the square ruler to the table and the square head to the blade. Beware that many squares you can buy today are not very square. I use a proper hardened steel square which is spot on. If you have the Triton saw in your workcentre it is very easy to get it pefect by using the fine angle trimmer. When squaring any wood on any saw you have to have at least one reasonable edge to start with and this good face must always go table down to start with and use downward pressure on the wood to make sure it stays flat to the table. The fingers on the guard help with this. To test your square for accuracy scribe a full length line with a stanley knife on a decent piece of wood/melamine then turn the square opposite way round and see how it lines up. Once the saw blade is square to the table, set the fence on zero and ease the saw in till the blade very lightly touches the bottom of the fence. I put a piece of paper against the fence and when it touches that i know i am spot on.

Once you are happy with that set the fence to a size say 100mm and do a test cut if its ok do a final tighten up. Then to test for square, cut a piece of wood good side table down, downward pressure, feed through. Put square on original bottom face and to new cut face to test. Try square both ways to check for variance in square.

Most people are happy with their saw accuracy however they set it up, but I am a precision engineer by trade used to working to very fine tolerances and like you like mine spot on. There is not a replacement fence, this is a myth, they are all exactly the same and as yet I have never replaced one for this reason. Once you get to grips with what I have explained above you will get to understand the benefits of this and think yes its a good idea. It is just another piece of very fine tuning from George Lewin the inventor. I actually discussed this with him many years ago. He is an absolute perfectionist about everything.