Axminster TS-200: tilt axis alignment is way out

[Iestyn]

Hi there,

I've got an Axminster TS-200 and it's been fettled like there's no tomorrow. But there's one thing that's way out and I can't resolve it.

When tilting the blade from the vertical to 45 degrees the lateral movement of the blade is huge at around 8mm; to the extent that when the blade is at 45 degrees it actually touches the table. Apart from being dangerous it also makes accurate bevel cuts a pain as you can no longer rely on the fence measurement for a tilted blade. Please see the attached photo's to see the extent of the movement.

Blade position at 45 degrees

Blade position when vertical

When the tilt axis is properly aligned with the blade and the top of the table the blade hardly moves as you tilt it. However, on my table the tilt axis is well below the table top resulting in the lateral shift in position as the balde is tilted.

Does anyone know how to fix this?

Regards,

Iestyn

 

[Rhossydd]

I think the problem lies in the way the whole blade alignment works, it's too easy in the adjustment process to work the blade to the left and foul the table on angled cuts.
You need to move the whole blade/arbor/motor cradle assembly to the right (as you look at your photos) and then adjust the blade alignment to the guide tracks again. Easy to type, but an absolute horror to do :-(

 

[Bodgers]

Have you measured the angle with a digital angle gauge?

You might find you are past 45 degrees when it touches the table, in which case if you reset the bump stop for the 45 degrees position the blade will no longer touch the table.

 

[Tugalis]

2nd what Rhoss said. You need to loosen it all off and start again with the fettling. Pain in the butt however you clearly can't use it like that, once it's done it's done though and you have a nice piece of kit :-D

 

[stuartpaul]

Talk to Axminster. In my experience they are incredibly helpful and may know about the issue.

How old is the saw? If within warranty they will probably help you sort it out for free (assuming no missuse or abuse).

 

[Iestyn]

Thank you, every one who has replied. Much appreciated.

It looks like I will have to shift the blade to the right. This will stop it touching the table, but it won't stop the blade travelling laterally as I tilt it over - which means I can't rely on my fence measurement scale for these cuts.

I have seen tables where the position of the blade (at the same level as the table top) does not wander laterally at all as it's tilted over. With these tables the tilt axis of the blade is set up so it's in the plane of the table top. It must just be the case that the TS-200 isn't designed with this level of finesse - in my case the tilt axis is below the plane of the table top hence the reason why it travels so significantly towards the left as shown in the photos.