CMS fence problem. Can't remove the hold down attachment

[Jaybolishes]

I don't know what's going on and I feel silly asking.  But I don't recall ever having an issue with removing the hold down attachment. From what I remember, all you needed to do was loosen the handle and it would slide out, but it's stuck in there.  I tried loosening the silver tube and that didn't work. Do I need to loosen the lock nut? Never touched it before though. It did seem to slide in with some effort. I'm stumped.

 

[peter halle]

Jay,  I admit that my CMS is 20 miles away right now but I have just watched videos.

My suggestion is to loosen the knob and then tap the knob back towards the fence.  Hopefully that will reduce the wedging compression at the other end.

Peter

 

[Jaybolishes]

Thanks peter. That friction finned block that holds it in position is just really snug. I had to take everything apart and remove the rod and push it out with a ton of force. It's clean as a whistle in there. I guess I need to sand the friction block down a bit. It's so tight.

 

[Gregor]

The way the friction block works (at least on my CMS-OF) is that it's pushing itself apart when the rod is tightened.

Possibly, instead of sanding it down: give it a healthy stay in the warm sun (real or artificial, some 50°C) to soften it up and relax it, then squeeze it slightly (1mm or so) using two shims and a good parallel clamp and let it cool down - it'll hopefully like that position a bit better than the current expanded one. Should make it a bit less wide while not under pressure from the rod, thus easy to slip in and out, also it should stay that way when you leave it without pressure while not in use (and not overtighten the rod knob).

That's at least what I would do if mine would have that problem - and only resort to sanding in case this fails.

 

[Jaybolishes]

Great idea Gregor. I hated the idea of sanding ir. Maybe I'll warm it up with a heat gun as there's no sunshine today.

 

[Gregor]

Great idea Gregor. I hated the idea of sanding ir. Maybe I'll warm it up with a heat gun as there's no sunshine today.

You could let it sit a good while in hot (not boiling or massively steaming) water.

I would prefer that to a heat gun which could melt the surface while not warming the core at all - and the idea is to make it flexible so it won't break when slightly deforming it.