Kapex 120 REB fence slightly out

[makpacman]

Two weeks ago I noticed my 2 year old Kapex had a bit of a concave in the fence. My straight edges showed almost 1mm of gap but I figured it'd need warranty work so I just worked around it with shims behind an aux fence until I felt I'd have time to look into it properly and deal with customer service to get it fixed.

One reason I hesitated as long as I did is because the movable fences need an allen key to remove. Once those were off, and I loosened the allens attaching the fence, the main fence basically sprang straight by itself. I still needed to use a square to align it to my blade and then leverage out the center ever so slightly(~ .2mm) with a scap of oak while retightening the two central bolts, but the fence is dead flat now.

Obviously, I'm not thrilled this can happen, but at least I know what to look for and how to fix it if needed.

Has anyone else had this occur? If so, does the fence stay flat once it's tightened down(I'd also also be interested to know if there is a torque spec for the fence bolts), or should I be trying to get a new fence asap?

 

[peter halle]

Your situation is not unheard of here but I read about it more when the saws first came out and it was usually noticed soon after the saws were received.  The remedy was what you experienced.

Peter

 

[kevinculle]

I bought my Kapex used, and it dates to 2009.  I noticed in trying to align it that I could get one side great but then the other was slightly out of alignment.  I found that the center fence casting had a slight bow in it making the two straight sections at an angle slightly under 180 degrees.  I used a long strip of sandpaper on my table saw top surface to lap it into a flat 180-degree angle.  It can now be aligned on both sides of the blade, and it seems to be stable a few years later.

 

[makpacman]

Thank you Peter and Kevin. I rechecked my 2022-09 saw and it does have a slightly concave fence.

This can be remedied but I wonder if the order in which the 4 bolts are tightened can either fix or cause the problem. It does move slightly when torqueing the bolts if it's not being held firmly.

In any case, it's cutting perfect in every measurable way now, which is good enough for me. I'll keep an eye on it for the next few weeks. I quite like the idea of using the tablewsaw top as a reference if I ever do feel the need to resurface. Good one!