The front rail on my tablesaw got bent in a move. It's the part that the
fence moves on and clamps down on to, with the ruler on it that shows you
how far from the blade the fence is. The last 3 inches on the left got bent
slightly inward and I need to straighten it out, as I can no longer move the
rip fence all the way to the left now. I'm afraid to go whacking on it with
a hammer or mallet, since it appears to be aluminum and would probably
break. I was thinking of heating it with a torch and CAREFULLY bending it
back into position with a vice grips. Do you think that a propane torch,
like the ones they sell everywhere for $20-30 would be suffucient for the
job? If anyone can think of a better way, I'd appreciate hearing it. It's an
old Craftsman saw from the 60's when they still made real tools, and that
rail is no longer available.
Thanks
Tony
I wouldn't heat it, especially aluminum.
If you don't know how to do it with a press and blocks, see if you can find
a small machine shop.
I expect it could be replaced with a few bucks worth of new stock.
Have you talked to the people at Sears parts? They are pretty good...may be
able to find it on another model.
Wilson
"T" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:itjLb.103463$pY.87016@fed1read04...
> The front rail on my tablesaw got bent in a move. It's the part that the
> fence moves on and clamps down on to, with the ruler on it that shows you
> how far from the blade the fence is. The last 3 inches on the left got
bent
> slightly inward and I need to straighten it out, as I can no longer move
the
> rip fence all the way to the left now. I'm afraid to go whacking on it
with
> a hammer or mallet, since it appears to be aluminum and would probably
> break. I was thinking of heating it with a torch and CAREFULLY bending it
> back into position with a vice grips. Do you think that a propane torch,
> like the ones they sell everywhere for $20-30 would be suffucient for the
> job? If anyone can think of a better way, I'd appreciate hearing it. It's
an
> old Craftsman saw from the 60's when they still made real tools, and that
> rail is no longer available.
>
> Thanks
> Tony
>
>
In article <itjLb.103463$pY.87016@fed1read04>, T <[email protected]> wrote:
>The front rail on my tablesaw got bent in a move. It's the part that the
>fence moves on and clamps down on to, with the ruler on it that shows you
>how far from the blade the fence is. The last 3 inches on the left got bent
>slightly inward and I need to straighten it out, as I can no longer move the
>rip fence all the way to the left now. I'm afraid to go whacking on it with
>a hammer or mallet, since it appears to be aluminum and would probably
>break. I was thinking of heating it with a torch and CAREFULLY bending it
>back into position with a vice grips. Do you think that a propane torch,
>like the ones they sell everywhere for $20-30 would be suffucient for the
>job? If anyone can think of a better way, I'd appreciate hearing it. It's an
>old Craftsman saw from the 60's when they still made real tools, and that
>rail is no longer available.
Are you sure it's aluminum? My Craftsman table saw from the late 70's had
steel rails. Try a magnet on it to make sure it's not steel.
--
Mike Iglesias Email: [email protected]
University of California, Irvine phone: 949-824-6926
Network & Academic Computing Services FAX: 949-824-2069
"T" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:itjLb.103463$pY.87016@fed1read04...
> The front rail on my tablesaw got bent in a move. It's the part that the
> fence moves on and clamps down on to, with the ruler on it that shows you
> how far from the blade the fence is. The last 3 inches on the left got
bent
> slightly inward and I need to straighten it out, as I can no longer move
the
> rip fence all the way to the left now. I'm afraid to go whacking on it
with
> a hammer or mallet, since it appears to be aluminum and would probably
> break. I was thinking of heating it with a torch and CAREFULLY bending it
> back into position with a vice grips. Do you think that a propane torch,
> like the ones they sell everywhere for $20-30 would be suffucient for the
> job? If anyone can think of a better way, I'd appreciate hearing it. It's
an
> old Craftsman saw from the 60's when they still made real tools, and that
> rail is no longer available.
>
> Thanks
> Tony
>
>
As others have mentioned, try the Sears Parts and Service. I recently got
replacement parts for my Craftsman 1950's vintage RAS shipped from stock.
Amazing! I wasn't so lucky on the Craftsman "100" drill press. That repair
sent me to the machine shop. Hopefully you'll be lucky.
Here's the link where you can enter the old part number. It will cross
reference to any new numbers for the same part.
http://www3.sears.com/
Good luck,
Tom
On Thu, 8 Jan 2004 13:55:31 -0700, "T" <[email protected]> wrote:
>The last 3 inches on the left got bent
>slightly inward and I need to straighten it out,
Could you saw it off and move the rail sideways by 3" ?
--
Smert' spamionam
Best answer would be to check with Sears and see if you can just
replace it
John
On Thu, 8 Jan 2004 13:55:31 -0700, "T" <[email protected]> wrote:
>The front rail on my tablesaw got bent in a move. It's the part that the
>fence moves on and clamps down on to, with the ruler on it that shows you
>how far from the blade the fence is. The last 3 inches on the left got bent
>slightly inward and I need to straighten it out, as I can no longer move the
>rip fence all the way to the left now. I'm afraid to go whacking on it with
>a hammer or mallet, since it appears to be aluminum and would probably
>break. I was thinking of heating it with a torch and CAREFULLY bending it
>back into position with a vice grips. Do you think that a propane torch,
>like the ones they sell everywhere for $20-30 would be suffucient for the
>job? If anyone can think of a better way, I'd appreciate hearing it. It's an
>old Craftsman saw from the 60's when they still made real tools, and that
>rail is no longer available.
>
>Thanks
>Tony
>
There are machine shops in larger areas who speciaize in straightening
stuff. Check your Yellow Pages. Depending on the specific configuration of
the piece it could be carefully straightened on an "H" frame press. You
press a little and check with a dial indicator and then press a little more
with the piece between two supports. the trick is to press enough without
distorting the piece in the opposite direction. The springback of the metal
makes it a little bit of an art,
Charles
"Wilson Lamb" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I wouldn't heat it, especially aluminum.
> If you don't know how to do it with a press and blocks, see if you can
find
> a small machine shop.
>
> I expect it could be replaced with a few bucks worth of new stock.
>
> Have you talked to the people at Sears parts? They are pretty good...may
be
> able to find it on another model.
>
> Wilson
> "T" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:itjLb.103463$pY.87016@fed1read04...
> > The front rail on my tablesaw got bent in a move. It's the part that
the
> > fence moves on and clamps down on to, with the ruler on it that shows
you
> > how far from the blade the fence is. The last 3 inches on the left got
> bent
> > slightly inward and I need to straighten it out, as I can no longer move
> the
> > rip fence all the way to the left now. I'm afraid to go whacking on it
> with
> > a hammer or mallet, since it appears to be aluminum and would probably
> > break. I was thinking of heating it with a torch and CAREFULLY bending
it
> > back into position with a vice grips. Do you think that a propane torch,
> > like the ones they sell everywhere for $20-30 would be suffucient for
the
> > job? If anyone can think of a better way, I'd appreciate hearing it.
It's
> an
> > old Craftsman saw from the 60's when they still made real tools, and
that
> > rail is no longer available.
> >
> > Thanks
> > Tony
> >
> >
>
>