The Best Way to Adjust a Ridgid Table Saw Fence
This is a short guide to adjusting your table saw fence. This process may apply to more than just Ridgid brand saws and it may not apply to all Rigid saws. Here is the contractor saw I have.
Ridgid table saw model R4512. Discontinued, but the fence was used on this and other models for quite a few years.
With age, it goes out of alignment, causing a dangerous situation. In my case, the back of the fence began to migrate toward the blade, causing the fence to push the workpiece into the back of the blade which is an extreme risk for kickback. Luckily the riving knife kept boards back from catching on the back of the blade.
So it’s time to fix it.
But before you jump in, clean the tracks in the front and back of your fence rails to ensure there are no wood chips or sawdust throwing the fence off.
Step One: Get Your Tools
You will need a few simple tools for this task:
A straight edge (I use a level)
Allen keys
2 clamps
Once you have your tools, raise your sawblade all the way up. You are going to use the blade as reference, maximum exposure will make it easier for you to align your fence. Now that your blade is raised, place your straight edge next to it, pulling the straight edge against the blade. You do this to extend the blade and give yourself a reference to see how your fence is misaligned.
After that is set, bring your fence close to, but not touching the straight edge. Being close together you’ll highlight any issues and make it easier to adjust and realign later.
See how off my fence is. It’s nearly touching near the top of the picture (outfeed side) and 1/4 gap in the front, bottom of the picture.
Step Two: Loosen the Fence
Location of the four fence screws
This fence system has four bolts on the front of the fence which holds the fence to the locking mechanism. Beneath the bolts is a plate which rides in the channel. The lever pushes pulls on the back of the fence, sitting in it’s own channel, and clamps the entire fence so it sits solid.
Unlock the fence if it isn’t already and loosen, but do not remove, the four front bolts you detach the fence from the front locking plate. Once done, the two can move independently. Test this by wiggling the bottom plate. If it moves you are good. If it doesn’t, give each bolt another quart or half turn to ensure they are free.
Step Three: Clamp the Front Plate
This is my innovative part of this process. Take two clamps, I prefer quick grip clamps for this for one handed ease of use. Now hook one side under the front rail and the other goes to the back of the front plate. Tighten the clamps down, essentially locking the fence into position as if you just locked it down using the lever.
Clamps should sit on the bottom plate only. These DeWalt track saw clamps work great because they are thin on the top side making them easy to slide in to the small space on the inside of the rail.
Step Four: Align and Tighten
Now that you have the front plate clamped in place you can align the fence. Grasp the fence and pull back, engaging the locking block in the back of the fence. Now ensure the fence runs parallel to the straight edge. This next part is important, so pay attention to this picture to save yourself some frustration. You have to hold the fence very securely so it does not move as you tighten the screws. If you do not, it will shift as you tighten, throwing the fence out of alignment.
The second trick when tightening is to lightly tighten the screws, just like you would with a tire. Do all four screws lightly, then come back and snug them down, gently, to keep the fence in place. Once all four screws are tight you can release the fence, remove the clamps, and lock the fence down.
At this point if the fence locks and stays parallel to the straight edge you are likely done. But test it first. Move the fence to the right, lock it down, then move it back near the straight edge and lock it down again. If it’s still parallel you are ready to clean up. If it shifted, likely your screws were a little loose and the locking action shifted your fence out of square. If this is the case, repeat this process and make sure to tighten the screws down a little more.
If your fence continues to move and shift it could be the plastic bumpers on the lower plate of the fence are worn out. Ridgid sells replacement bumpers which you can order from their parts website.