Altendorf

[cadas]

I'm having a problem with my altendorf.

I noticed it a couple of weeks ago but thought it was just me being daft on feeding wood.

When I'm ripping planks, I put the plank on the slide table and run it through. Then to rip a piece say 100mm wide, I run the ripped edge against the rip fence. But now all of the long rips are curved. On a 2m length it is convex on the rip fence side by about 2-3mm.

So it is either the slide table not running parallel to the blade or the fence is not square to the blade....but there is no obvious adjsutment for either.

When I rip a piece, I push it up against the slide table fence and the rip fence then push. Very quickly a gap appears between the wood and the rip fence and if I try and close the gap I get a curved cut, but if I leave it I get a tapered cut.

Any ideas

[9fingers]

Hi Cadas,
I'm not familiar with your machine but on my table saw, the bolts holding the table are in oversize holes enabling the table slots to be set parallel to the blade. (i dont have a slide table) I would assume if the slide table itself does not have an adjustment then a similar method of moving the whole table should fix that.
As for the fence, check that there is no build up of sawdust and then shim the fence faces to be parallel to the table slots. I had to spend ages on mine getting the fence face not only parallel to the slots but also perfectly vertical with respect to the table and then getting the other side of the fence right too.

HTH

Bob

[engineerone]

our dear friend scrit is no fan of using the fence once the cut has passed the centre line of the blade, and i wonder whether in fact the hold down and pushing forward method you are using is causing this.

all machines must have some form of adjustment for wear and movement, i guess it might well be worth visiting the web site to get an instruction sheet.

the other thing to do is run the scrit square test of 5 test cuts on a 2 foot board of mdf, to ensure that the fence is square to the blade.

hth

paul

[9fingers]

Just been to the website www.altendorf.com.au/index.html
once the intro has done it bit, click on service and then tips for downloads on adjustments

RTFM

Bob

[cadas]

Thanks, good link

Definately have some work to do, many of the problems thay talk about are all too familiar.

[sainty]

Great link Bob, although the adjustments are specific to the Altendorf, the principals seem to be universal.

Cheers


Sainty

[Scrit]

Apr 19, 2008 18:42:23 GMT cadas said:

So it is either the slide table not running parallel to the blade or the fence is not square to the blade....but there is no obvious adjsutment for either.

Sounds like the fences are all to c*ck.

The rip fence is adjusted as follows:

1. Loosen the nut at the outboard end of the rip fence bar (this is under the front edge of the right hand extension table

2. Loosen and wind-in the locking nuts between the bar and the face of the extension table

3. Loosen the nuts at the ends of the other two threaded stude at the rear of the rip fence bar. These will be at the left and right sides of the cast-iron table respectively

4. Wind the locking nuts on the centre sted in or outwards to pivot the rip fence bar back or forth and lock up and test.

5. When you are happy that the rip fence is square lock it all up

To check that the rip fence alignment is correct rip a piece of MDF (NOT plywood or solid stock as they can have tensions which will bugger up this test) about 1 metre long, then make a dust rip cut on the rip fence. If the fence is correctly aligned you will be able to hear the falling teeth cutting (the saw is switched on, BTW) and as the piece reaches to rising teth you will just be able to discern a slight change in note. Once the back of the piece has passed the falling teeth you should still be able to discern a slight scratching sound where the rising teeth are contacting the workpiece (caused by wow and flutter in the blade). The resulting cut should be smooth. If a criss-cross pattern is detected then the fence is "toed-in" to the blade too much (so adjust the middle of the rip fence bar away from the cast-iron table) if the cut is smooth but you don't hear the "scratching" then the rip fence is "toed-out" too far from the blade and will nee to be adjusted. these adjustments are often a matter of 1/6 or 1/3 of a turn only

To check your sliding carraige take a piece of MDF or MFC 1m square and make a dust cut on the sliding carraige. Same thing applies as for the rip fence. You are listening for that "scratchy" sound indicating the rising teeth are just gently touching the edge of the piece. the sliding carraige rail is bolted down front and rear with a locking nut and adjuster nut and is easily adjusted.

The above process is referred to as setting the correct freeboard

Next square the fence to the carraige. take a piece of scrap MFC or MDF about 1m square and make a dust cut on the carraige. Turn anti-clockwise 90 degrees and reapeat until all four sides have been trimmed. make a final cut to produce a 3mm or so wide strip and compare the width at the front with that at the rear. If the front in thicker than the rear then the fence needs to be pivoted towards the infeed end of the machine and vice versa. The adjustment is done using two socket headed screws and a nut located in the carraige beneath the outboard end of the crosscut fence. Depending in the age of your Alt the cross cut fence may need to be removed to gain access to that. More modern Alts use a cam and slot affair to achieve the same result.

Finally remember to adjust your rules to read correctly (knurled plastic knob underside inboard end of rip fence and similar or socket screw inboard end of crosscut fence.

I've used quite a few panel saws and they all ultimately have variations of these systems in use

Scrit