Axminster TS-250 Table Saw Blade twist(yaw) on rise/fall

[RoryD]

Hi,

This my first post on here after quite a bit of reading over the years.

I settled for a TS-250 a few weeks ago and thought I was aware of the fettling that needed doing; however, I came across an issue which I’ve not come across on forums yet.

Essentially, I aligned the blade thoroughly using digital calipers, at full height the first time around, and had it within 0.1mm, However, between a height of 75mm and 50mm, the blade moved over to the left (when lowering) by 1mm at the front, and 1.5mm at the back – it twists. Between 0-50mm it’s basically OK. A quick way to check is to place two blocks of wood up against either side of the blade and watch as you raise/lower.

Has anyone else experienced and/or corrected this?

I queried it with Axminster, who said this was a fault and offered to refund/replace/repair. I chose repair, as I felt at the time is was possible others may suffer the same issue and that Axminster were going to have a proper go at it. However, after a couple of days they said it wasn’t repairable and that all the machines the guy had tried showed the same behaviour, so I accepted it in return.

I reckoned at the time I could correct this by grinding the side of the motor mount plate (Item 10 in manual) where it draws (and rubs) into the saw base (Item 48) as the mount plate didn’t look perfectly square to begin with. But having removed the motor to examine the unit, the weight of the motor is considerable and I suspect the mount plate maybe just isn’t rigid enough around the pivot pin, so it flexes down on the left when it isn’t supported by the saw base by being inside it.

For various reasons, I’m going to attempt to straight swap the unit anyway as well… it came back to me with fewer handles and more crossed threads than what it went there with, and I’ve since discovered the lower dust guard was fitted too tightly to move in the first place, so the stud which keeps it parallel has sheared off. Nevertheless, I’m not particularly unhappy with Axminster’s customer service.

Would be interested to know if this was a bad (few) unit(s) as, even for this price, it seems a bit bad.

 

[Eric The Viking]

[edited to correct inaccuracies]

It does sound like a bad unit, but: I've owned both the Kity 419 and the earlier version of the TS 200, which is very much based on the Kity (not the other way round) as far as I could tell. I have stripped down both models completely.

Note that in both cases I'm talking about older models: I suspect the modern Kity (now Sheppach) is a redesign, but I've never seen one in the flesh. I think also that the original Kity was made in France, not China.

Two facts: The motor plate of the Kity, from memory, was thick steel - I think around 4mm thick and very rigid indeed, and noticeably thicker than the TS200's one. The Kity's tilt-pivot mountings are also about 25-30mm closer together (measured end-to-end on the saw's table), meaning the overall mounting system is a bit shorter. The tilt pivots are also significantly thicker on the Kity - made of 8mm bar I think. [edited] I've just measured the TS200's ones they are 7.5mm thick [/].

Guesses: I think, but don't know for certain, that the extra length on the TS200 is so that you can have a separate handwheel at the side for tilt. There isn't room for that leadscrew and its moving carriage on the Kity. As a drawback, that extra length might allow for more twist in the box section part of the carriage, and/or the motor plate, if that has to be longer too.

You might be able to modify and improve the rigidity dramatically if you are good with a welder - adding a flange to the motor plate ought to help. My TS200 is still in bits - I need to look at that before reassembly! Some carefully applied 3/4" square tubing might do it. The trouble is that both machines' mountings are torsion boxes with one side open (the one facing downwards in use). This means they can twist when they shouldn't irrespective of whether the motor plate bends at certain angles, too.

[edit] Just looked at that, too: there is a really chunky flange to mine and the whole thing (L-shaped) is solidly welded to the U-shape of the rise+fall pivot assembly. I think there are some pics I took of the Kity equivalent in an old thread (possibly hosted on Flickr), but I think it didn't have any flange at all (as I remember it) - just much thicker plate. I'll see if I can find the images[/].

The other thing is that, with Andy T's help in the winter, I improved the rise/fall pivot significantly by reaming the holes out to take 1/4" silver steel bar, instead of the 5.5mm roll pin* originally used as the hinge. The roll pin was much harder steel than the plates, and slowly cutting itself a bigger hole. Our fix took out a lot of slop, but my machine is secondhand and quite worn, so I doubt new ones could be that bad!

I can't easily measure any sag on mine as it's still disassembled, but if I can see a sensible way to make it more rigid I'll report back.

E.

*(I think it was 5.5mm - fairly certain I threw it away. 1/4" was what we had to hand at the time no significance in the actual dimension apart from Andy having a reamer of that size!).

 

[RoryD]

Thank you for such your comprehensive reply, particularly the measurements. Some of those thicknesses and diameters seem larger than what I recall from memory, but I will check back later with what I find.

I know there is a flange on the saw base, and there is a section of bar within rise/fall pivot U-section, but it's maybe 7mm square, and it seems within it, rather than on the top as per the drawings.

Personally I've never welded before, but I know a few who can and I'd like the excuse. Also, thanks for mentioning flickr, I can use that to link photos!

Many thanks, Rory