I've just noticed a problem with my table saw (An Axminster TS-200 that's about four years old, so without the modern refinements) - it seems to have developed a bit of an alignment problem that seems to stem from some wobble in the arbor*.
I took the blade off to investigate, and found that the arbor can be moved a millimetre or two by hand - and as you can see in the quick video I took today, it puts the blade 3-4mm out from the riving knife at the top. I noticed a couple of weeks ago that the blade was no longer flush against the edge of my cross-cut sled, but that was assembled very hastily and has some slop in the runner, so I assumed at the time that it was just due to that.
Video illustrating problem:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlZ7lTQzyD4
It seems like the whole thing has slipped down to a new position that has the blade out of alignment and I think at a slight angle. When I press it up into the correct position, it feels like I'm pushing against a heavy spring which pushes it back out of alignment when I let go. Running the machine without the blade on the arbor doesn't wobble at all, and I can leave a finger against it and not feel any variation - it's pretty stable, it's just stable in the wrong position!
I've double-checked everything is tightened up properly, but since I'm in the middle of a project (which I'm going to have to use the trusty Lidl track saw for, I guess!) I'm not in a position to open the whole thing up and have a closer look yet. In fact, I'm not even sure how to proceed, since I believe the motor is attached to the top and the height wheel - which must be attached internally - sticks out the front... Does anyone have any idea what could cause this, and where I could start trying to fix it? If it were actually loose and moved while running I'd assume it was a bearing problem, but it doesn't seem how I'd expect a bearing problem to manifest?
* (Or 'arbour'? I know we spell the tree version with a 'u', but I've never seen the shaft version spelled that way and if I recall correctly the Latin root doesn't have one.)
I took the blade off to investigate, and found that the arbor can be moved a millimetre or two by hand - and as you can see in the quick video I took today, it puts the blade 3-4mm out from the riving knife at the top. I noticed a couple of weeks ago that the blade was no longer flush against the edge of my cross-cut sled, but that was assembled very hastily and has some slop in the runner, so I assumed at the time that it was just due to that.
Video illustrating problem:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlZ7lTQzyD4
It seems like the whole thing has slipped down to a new position that has the blade out of alignment and I think at a slight angle. When I press it up into the correct position, it feels like I'm pushing against a heavy spring which pushes it back out of alignment when I let go. Running the machine without the blade on the arbor doesn't wobble at all, and I can leave a finger against it and not feel any variation - it's pretty stable, it's just stable in the wrong position!
I've double-checked everything is tightened up properly, but since I'm in the middle of a project (which I'm going to have to use the trusty Lidl track saw for, I guess!) I'm not in a position to open the whole thing up and have a closer look yet. In fact, I'm not even sure how to proceed, since I believe the motor is attached to the top and the height wheel - which must be attached internally - sticks out the front... Does anyone have any idea what could cause this, and where I could start trying to fix it? If it were actually loose and moved while running I'd assume it was a bearing problem, but it doesn't seem how I'd expect a bearing problem to manifest?
* (Or 'arbour'? I know we spell the tree version with a 'u', but I've never seen the shaft version spelled that way and if I recall correctly the Latin root doesn't have one.)
