Kapex fence alignment

[Birdhunter]

I have a SawStop Industrial model and check blade and fence alignment with a dial gauge accurate to 1/1000 inch. The blade checks out true to a couple of thousandths. The plastic on the fence is somewhat wavy but overall is square to a few thousandths.

I never expected the Kapex to be anywhere that accurate. It is not a massive cast iron beast like the SawStop. But, used correctly, it produces  excellent 90 degree and 45 degree cuts.

 

[WillowRanchWoodworks]

I have a SawStop Industrial model and check blade and fence alignment with a dial gauge accurate to 1/1000 inch. The blade checks out true to a couple of thousandths. The plastic on the fence is somewhat wavy but overall is square to a few thousandths.

I never expected the Kapex to be anywhere that accurate. It is not a massive cast iron beast like the SawStop. But, used correctly, it produces  excellent 90 degree and 45 degree cuts.

If my Kapex was anywhere near being accurate in the "thousands" range I'd be content.  Using the fence on the left side of the blade is dead on every cut.    Using the fence on the right side of the blade it is out 1/32 every single time a 10" cut is made.  1/32 of an inch is .0313.  I don't need my cuts to be absolutely perfect but that amount shouldn't be acceptable for any woodworker or quality trim carpenter.  Again...this is the same on all three saws we just tested.  Fences across are flat.  It just doesn't add up...
 

 

[WillowRanchWoodworks]

My older Kapex is dead on 90 degrees using the left fence, but a hair off using the right fence. A Starrett 24” straight edge across both fences looked good. However, when I ran the straight edge across the left fence toward the right fence, there was a slight bump as the straightedge encountered the right fence. I believe the two fences are not perfectly co-planer. My solution was to add sacrificial fences and shim them into being perfectly co-planer.

Thanks for this.  I found it interesting that even though the straightedge showed the fences flat that you still caught a bump moving across.  I was hopeful I would find the same thing so I could fix it the way you did.  No luck though.  My fence is perfectly flat and didn't feel any bump moving the straight edge across either direction. 

 

[Birdhunter]

The sacrificial fences should allow you to shim the two sides into perfect 90 degree angle cuts. Also, I get far fewer “fliers” using the sacrificial fences.

 

[jmatz]

Same here. Left and right halves of fixed (screwed in to base) fence are not coplanar and never have been since I got the saw new 10 yrs ago. Didn’t matter until now, but now I am needing more precise cuts rather than construction-level precision.

As I slide an accurate straight edge from bottom to top, across the full width of both halves of the fixed fence, they go from 1/32” out of coplanarity(?) to just about perfect at 1” above the base. So they are out of whack on all three axis.

It seems like the best solution for me will be to glue down a couple pieces of metal-smoothing sandpaper on my table saw, make a grid of markings with a sharpie on the faces, and slide the faces of the fence across the sandpaper until all marks disappear. The faces should be coplanar then. I hope.

 

[smorgasbord]

I know on my Bosch kuckle slider that there's enough play that cuts I make when I'm thinking about it are more accurate than when I'm just chopping away.

If you use the zero-clearance insert on the bottom, then you'll know your saw has play if you have to replace that ZCI every now and then. I have a ZCI insert on my tablesaw, and it stays put like forever because the blade doesn't wobble left or right. On the miter saw, however, I'm replacing that insert every month or so - and I'm just a DIYer. Hopefully the Kapexes are better, but I still suspect there some play, especially at full extension.