Mitre Gauges

[martin.j.h]

Good Morning All - I have a Scheppach TS2500 table saw with a cast iron top. The saw is great but my only problem with it is the mitre gauge has a "wobble". I was thinking of buying a different aftersales mitre gauge to sort the problem out but I think the Scheppach style of slot is not what could be called a 'std 3/4" slot'. Has anybody got any advice as how I might solve this relatively simple problem.

 

[Imperial]

Got a Scheppach too and solved that by hammering a little dimple in several places along the edges of the sliding bar which makes it tight. Don't hit it too hard or you may damage it! You may find that the slot is not a size which fits after market MG's as I did, though mine is not cast iron.

 

[martin.j.h]

Yes - I did try that with a nail punch along the edges but it did not make an impression, maybe I wasn't hitting hard enough, but as you said I did not want to damage it. What did you use by the way??

 

[BigShot]

Martin.

I'd be cautiously inclined to suggest damaging it probably isn't a big concern as it's already fairly useless with the wobble. Then again, I am a bit gung-ho when it comes to "broken" things. I always reason that it's already no good so if I wreck it nothing has changed. Everything to gain, nothing to lose and all that jazz. It's served me well so far.

My mitre gauge rail does the same thing and when I get the time I'll be doing just that. I figure, if I damage it somehow I should be able to get some suitable stock material to fit, or give the measurements to a local steel worker/mil/engineer and get them to mill one to size. Shouldn't cost too much I don't think.

When it comes to hammering the rail so it gets wider, I'd have thought that going too wide would be a pain, but could be remedied with the use of a file to remove a bit of stock. Just hammer a bit, test fit, then do a bit more until it is snug.

 

[martin.j.h]

I have it! Drill a 3.5 mm hole to the side of the gauge bar, this leaves about 1mm of metal between the edge of the hole and the edge of the bar. Make an anvil by drilling a 10mm or so hole in a piece of hard wood, place the small hole in the bar over the hole in the timber and place a tapered nail punch through the hole. Hammer the nail punch into the hole. This has the effect of spreading the metal outwards beyond the straight side of the bar. Doing the same the other side I was able to increase the width locally by 1mm, just enough to take up the annoying slack. Two more holes at the other end and the same process has created a perfectly fitting mitre gauge without the risk of serious damage. Works a treat![/b]

 

[ondablade]

That's a good idea, it avoids the risk of putting a bend in the bar....

 

[Rob H]

My rojek PK315 table had too T slots in it and the miter bar was utter c**p so i took top to an engineering firm and they machined the slots in mine to 3/4 by 3/8 I now have a very nice incra Miter Gauge 2000 it cost me £60 to get the top done but they did the left and right slots and it took 2 set ups to do each slot cos the machine did not have enough travel to do the full length in one go. heres a pick of mine now

 

[BigShot]

Nice one, Martin.

I always* like what happens when you finally accept that what you have is junk already and can only either be fixed or remain junk and just go for it.
I really like the approach you took and might go for that myself rather than the hammer route.

Please do post in this thread again if after a while the new wide points start to become narrow again or confirm that it's holding up perfectly.

Glad it went well.

All the best.



* Well, sometimes it all goes horribly wrong and you DO end up with scrap and that's never as exciting as making it work.

 

[Steve (Correze)]

I have it! Drill a 3.5 mm hole to the side of the gauge bar, this leaves about 1mm of metal between the edge of the hole and the edge of the bar. Make an anvil by drilling a 10mm or so hole in a piece of hard wood, place the small hole in the bar over the hole in the timber and place a tapered nail punch through the hole. Hammer the nail punch into the hole. This has the effect of spreading the metal outwards beyond the straight side of the bar. Doing the same the other side I was able to increase the width locally by 1mm, just enough to take up the annoying slack. Two more holes at the other end and the same process has created a perfectly fitting mitre gauge without the risk of serious damage. Works a treat![/b]

A slightly more elegant solution would be to drill the holes (one each end) horizontally through the bar. Tap threads and fit some grub-screws, now you can adjust the play as required.