# Fettling an Axminster TS-200 Tablesaw



## wizer

Following on from the cross cut sled thread. I'm going to take the TS200 back to basics and (hopefully) get everything aligned and running true. Then I can build the sled knowing everything is set up right.

I thought I'd document it here for both help and to help others who may have this saw.

I'm going to spend the next few weeks getting this saw sorted. I can't afford to buy a new one and I'm not sure I could fit a bigger saw in my workshop anyway, so I'm going to do as much as I can to get this fixed up and running true. Here's a list of what I'd like to do:

Clean underside **Done
Lube
Align Blade to Slots *Done
Make some sort of cover for the lateral adjusting screw.
Fix AM Fence and align
'Invent' a way to quickly remove and replace Guard
Make a dust hopper for the underside of the saw and plug all the holes in the frame.
Bump Start Switch
ZCI
Make a rolling cabinet which incorporates a router table (Like LarryS did a couple of yrs ago)
Push Sticks
Sleds
Feather Boards

Then I'll realise I can't live with it, sell it at a great loss and buy something else (repeat ad infinitum) 

So today I cleaned up the workshop a bit and started taking bits off the saw. I took off the fence rails and the side panels. Then hoovered it out as much as could, before taking to it with the airline. It still needs cleaning, but any loose dust has been removed.

I then made a 'jig' to hold the dial guage in the mitre slot. With one tooth marked I set the plunger on it and then rotated the wheel towards the back and took a reading on the same tooth.

Front Reading = 0:






Back Reading = -75:





Now. I must admit that I'm not sure how to read the dial gauge. Is each division 0.01mm ? 25 divisions = 0.25mm Is that a lot?.

If my guesses are right, is this enough to worry about?

Should I check runout on the arbor\nut?

Cheers


----------



## Shultzy

wizer, if it's reading 75 then its 75 x 0.01 mm which is 0.75mm = 29.5 thou

I don't know if that's acceptable, but if you can adjust the blade have a go and see if you can get the reading smaller.


----------



## wizer

No the dial indicator goes backwards to 75, so it's actually moving 25 divisions


----------



## Shultzy

That's about 10 thou then, I would have thought that was acceptable. If you keep the gauge at the front of the blade and rotate the blade that should show if there is any twist in the blade.


----------



## jimi43

Hi Tom

When I did mine I marked the field of the blade (not a tooth) as a datum with a pencil marke and then I measured the distance at the front, moved the dial gauge on the sled to the back and then aligned that spot and adjusted the blade carriage to be the same at both locations.











This sets the mitre gauge parallel with the blade irrespective of any bow in the blade.

On a Scheppach TS2010 this was a difficult job...on the Axminster it can't be any more difficult!  

Cheers mate

Jim


----------



## studders

wizer":3necwy79 said:


> cross cut sled thread.



Try saying that when you've had a few. :shock: 

I think you need to repeat the process on several (three-ish) points around the blade to get a more accurate overall picture of blade/arbor run out. 
If it's all within the above tolerances I'd be quite satisfied.


----------



## Benchwayze

studders":28d711kz said:


> wizer":28d711kz said:
> 
> 
> 
> cross cut sled thread.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Try saying that when you've had a few. :shock:
> 
> I think you need to repeat the process on several (three-ish) points around the blade to get a more accurate overall picture of blade/arbor run out.
> If it's all within the above tolerances I'd be quite satisfied.
Click to expand...


Definitely... Although I just use a bit of copper earthing-wire, blu-tacked to the mitre-gauge, and a set of feelers from my car tool-kit. (I have an old car!)

As long as I can't 'eyeball' any serious discrepancies I'm happy.
John


----------



## TrimTheKing

Tom

Have you seen the Wood Whisperer thread on this subject? It's ridiculously easy to follow (pretty much what you have done) and the way I did mine.

With yours the way it is, can you not just loosen all but the back left bolt holding the table one (back left as you stand in normal cutting position), then tickle the table until the dial guage reads okay? Obviously this depends on how your table fixes to the base...

This is how I did mine and got it bang on in about 10 mins.

I am at home today so give me a bell if you want to talk it through.


----------



## jimi43

Some work that way and the course setup on mine was like that with a fine adjustment possible on the back of the whole sub-carriage assembly.

You should be able to get zero different pretty easily Tom.

Good luck mate...I bet you find you have a much nicer tool after all this effort!

Cheers mate

Jim


----------



## wizer

Hi Guys

This morning I checked the entire blade and it's all about the same. The back of the blade appears to be angled 10 thou away from the slot. I'm not yet sure if I am going to fettle it as I'm not sure exactly how to do it. On this saw it's not as easy as most, in that the motor is fixed to the underside of the table. There was a thread on here where someone explained how to do it but I'm useless with the search function and haven't been able to find it. I was out today, so tomorrow I want to get in there and work out how to do it. It will need a bit of a clean first too. I'm wondering if it might be easier to somehow get the saw upside down to make this easier?


----------



## TrimTheKing

Quit your whining man and get on with it! 

Seriously though, take us a pic of the underside where the table meets the case. If it's anything like mine then it's simply 4 bolts that you loosen the nut, tappy tappy on the table with a hammer until it lines up with the slot/blade as you want and tighten again.

Can't imagine that the motor being stuck to the table should make much difference, but I wait to be proved wrong...


----------



## wizer

It's a hard thing to photograph. 


























See? :lol: 

Of course, the manual is as pointless as Katie Price


----------



## 9fingers

Save time Tom and buy this one

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/post ... tml#451320

Invite your mates round to move it. Have fun fixing it and it will last you out!

If you still want to play with the TS200 then just slacken off the motor mounting bolts and tap with a rubber mallet to get the blade/slot alignment spot on.

Bob


----------



## studders

wizer":249cz7hc said:


> Of course, the manual is as pointless as Katie Price



That's rather unfair....





I'm sure the Manual can't be_ that_ bad.


----------



## wizer

Cheers Bob, once I've wizered the TS200, I may well be in the market for a saw like that  I'll have a play tomorrow and see how I get on with it.


----------



## TrimTheKing

Are they the fixings where the table meets case or where motor meets table?


----------



## Digit

I'm with Jim on the setting to the blade rather than the teeth Tom, but ten thou on a 10 inch blade is b****g all, to be blunt I'm not that sure that a blade is likely to be any better than that, they seem to 'dish' with usage, after all Tom, that is why the teeth are made wider than the blade in the first place! 

Roy.


----------



## jimi43

Dishing of blades is usually a fault caused by overtightening of the retaining nut. It does not have to be tightened up mega-tight as this can distort the blade field.

Jim


----------



## wizer

TrimTheKing":2fwfwygh said:


> Are they the fixings where the table meets case or where motor meets table?



I'm really not sure yet. This is all I have to go on:







To clarify, I'm not taking a reading from the brazed tooth, but just below it. This morning I took the reading from just below the kickback cutouts and the reading was roughly the same all around. I realise that 10thou is a tiny amount, but if I can get it closer and it's relatively simple to do, then I'll give it a go. The better I get each step, the better the overall result will be. I'm doing this for my own satisfaction and not because I think I _have_to.


----------



## jimi43

I would say that the bolts "77" mount the whole bed to the base and the saw assembly is mounted to the base therefore you need to slightly loosen the mounting bolts "77" and tap the correct corner until it is square...

A key would help though Tom

Jim


----------



## wizer

jimi43":1a0mi67y said:


> A key would help though Tom



key


----------



## jimi43

They even got THAT wrong Tom...it's a bolt not a screw init?

Anyway..I think that is how you do it...

The way Scheppach explain it in the NMA notes are HERE

You need the last two sections. 

The locations of the bolts etc may differ but the theory is the same.

Cheers

Jim


----------



## TrimTheKing

jimi43":t30gq9cj said:


> I would say that the bolts "77" mount the whole bed to the base and the saw assembly is mounted to the base therefore you need to slightly loosen the mounting bolts "77" and tap the correct corner until it is square...
> 
> A key would help though Tom
> 
> Jim


Yep, I would concur with that assessment. The way I did it Tom was to loosen the two bolts at the front (as you stand in normal cutting stance), and the rear one on the RHS. Then tap either left or right sides of table at front until your slot lines up.

Test again once you tighten the bolts to make sure you havent distorted it and if not then you are away.

Also, I haven;t read your whole sled post but did you check out Niki's on the jigs section? I followed that when I made my original and I still use it now. HTH


----------



## Kalimna

I shall look forward to the conclusion of this thread, as I still have my shiny new TS200 still in it's box from this date last month. And I gather that setting up a TS isnt quite a case of 'Insert bolt A into hole C'. I just havent got around to unpacking it yet 

Cheers,
Adam


----------



## MickCheese

Surely if the motor is attached to the table loosening the table to case bolts will move the table and the motor not the blade. Should you not loosen the motor to the table and bang the motor?

Or have I misunderstood?

Mick


----------



## wizer

MickCheese":3d97rdfk said:


> Surely if the motor is attached to the table loosening the table to case bolts will move the table and the motor not the blade. Should you not loosen the motor to the table and bang the motor?
> 
> Or have I misunderstood?



Yes this is how I understand it has to be done. I just need to identify which bolts to fiddle with.


----------



## jimi43

I don't think the motor/arbour assembly is mounted to the table top. I think it is mounted on the base...do you have the other exploded photo Tom...the one that shows the blade assembly mount?

Jim


----------



## wizer

No it's definitely mounted to the table Jim

I don't think the manual will be much help
http://www.axminster.co.uk/downloads//manual_600822.pdf


----------



## 9fingers

That manual is awful!!

I would guess that the blade carrier (trunnion) hangs from the two blocks numbered 72.
So loosening the un-numbered screws that secure those to the table should allow adjustment

Does that make sense?

Bob


----------



## jimi43

Not very clear is it Tom...doesn't help that the motor and mount diagram is on its side!! My neck - my neck!!

Seems to be mounted to 72 which are then mounted to the table top as you say....so that means that doing the adjustment as I previously said will have no effect whatever on the alignment. I think you need to adjust the mounts 72 then which are aligned relative to the hole in the table and thus the alignment of the blade to the slot.

These should be mounted by two bolts per plate either end of the slot.

Jim


----------



## wizer

Yes I was thinking they'd be the ones.

Thanks chaps


----------



## jimi43

AH!!!

I got it now!

I was looking at the first exploded picture in the handbook and turning it anticlockwise to righten whereas it should be CLOCKWISE...that makes the carrier 48!!

If you look at that...it has two prongs which allow the whole blade assembly to hang from blocks 72 and thus swing to give the bevel adjustment angles!

If you loosen ONE end (the end that is closest to the side of the plate hole...) and then move the assembly to zero adjustment both ends of the blade THEN tighten the two bolts this will tighten the block 72 onto that swivel at the right place...and if you then check both ends they should be symetrical!

What a HORRIBLE way of adjustment!

Now off to put a pack on my neck muscles!!

Cheers mate and good luck!

Jim


----------



## Digit

This is gonna do wonders for Tom's back!

Roy.


----------



## 9fingers

Digit":1pjn3r1u said:


> This is gonna do wonders for Tom's back!
> 
> Roy.



That's why I reckon he should go for the Wadkin down in Devon :lol: 

Bob


----------



## Digit

What have you got against him? :lol: 

Roy.


----------



## jimi43

Hey Tom...I am off work until 5th February if you want me to pop over and do the lifting bit?

Jim


----------



## wizer

That's a very kind offer Jim. Let me see what's what tomorrow and if I get in trouble then I might put a beacon out for help. As we said above. 10thou ain't much so if I can't do it, it's no real biggy.


----------



## stoatyboy

I've had to do this on my TS200

the adjustment is not the bolts that hold the table to the case but the bolts that hold the blade/motor to the table. which I think is the conclusion you've all arrived at anyway.

they go through the two aluminium block things (item 72 on the picture)and I found them a complete pig to adjust as their placement makes it almost impossible to get any finesse on the tapping required to adjust.

In the end I turned the saw upside down, completely removed the bolts and aluminium blocks, cleaned it all, removed any burrs or lumps on the blocks and table where they 'run' to ensure it wasn't catching, lubricated the running area with Vaseline and put it all back together. It adjusted better after that. 

One word of caution - once I got it straight was very pleased until I needed to cut at 45 degrees and the blade couldn't tilt that far without touching the table as the carriage was too far over to the left (as you use it). so check that before you put everything back together.

It is a naff adjustment though


----------



## woodbloke

Out of interest, if you decide to improve the extraction, all that internal guarding stuff needs to be removed, all the holes blocked up and a conical hopper built underneath, which is then hooked up to the extractor - Rob


----------



## wizer

Stoaty, thanks for those tips, I think it was your thread that I was remembering.

Rob, I had been thinking along those lines. So the blade cowl comes off? My thoughts were to use something like this:






in the bottom of the saw and extract from below. That means I can plug all the holes in the back and give me the clearance I need for a flip up outfeed table.


----------



## wizer

I managed just a couple of hours out there today, pain got the better of me. 

Not a complete success, but progress was made...

I started by turning the saw upsidedown. This was easier than it sounds as it was just a case of rolling it on it's side then again on it's back. Hardly any effort was needed.







It was still a bit messy under there, so I took some time to clean it up. I hope my daughter doesn't mind me using her tooth brush  I know it's just going to get messy again, but it makes working on it more pleasant and doesn't hurt to clean up all the moving parts. Which are noticeably smoother running now.






I then spent quite a bit of time just looking around it trying to work out how it all goes together. It's a fairly complicated affair and I decided I wasn't going to disassemble the whole thing if I didn't need to. After Robs comments above, I knew I wanted to take the dust cowl off. The dust extraction isn't great at the moment, so it's no great loss having it off. Tho, once I'd started, I wish I hadn't! It was very fiddly. Idealy the whole thing needed to be taken apart to get it off. But I wasn't going to do that. I could just about get enough access to the first nut to get it off relatively quickly. But the 2nd bolt was almost impossible to access. In the end I just managed to get a spanner round it and could turn it less than a 1/4 turn. 30mins later...






With the dust cowl off you can see the belt and pulley from the motor. I don't think this will pose any problems, but I'm open to suggestions






Now it was time to set about the blade alignment. It is about 10thou out, angled away at the back. So I decided to move the back in, rather than the front out. I loosened the two screws at the back of the blade that go through the table in to what I thought held the motor assembly to it. However, after tapping it lightly, checking and then giving it a whack and checking it, I'm not entirely sure I'm doing it right. Basically nothing much was happening. This is the block that I was tapping






My understanding is that the black rod that hooks into the alu block is the motor assembly. The screw on the top of the table goes through the alu block and into the nut you can see in the above pic. One on either side of the hook. But when loosening those bolts, the alu block is free to rattle around. So that can't be what I should be tapping? Should I tap the motor housing itself? This didn't seem to do much either. It didn't seem to matter how loose the bolts where, the reading remained about the same. I'm wondering is the motor assembly will actually move at all without removing the other parts that connect it to the frame. Such as this part at the back:






Ideas?

On a lighter note, the replacement (bandsaw) fence arrived


----------



## 9fingers

I don't think it is any good just loosening one block.

The other end has to move to allow the first one to move otherwise you are trying to bend the whole motor/blade mount assembly.

Slacken off the other one just a little and try again.

Maybe slip some small bore DC hose over that long screw to keep the dust off as much as possible?


Bob


----------



## stoatyboy

The alu block is the one to tap

agree that you need to slacken the other end a bit

mine didn't move either - hence the vaseline

I can only assume it's considerably cheaper to build them with the motor fixed to the top this way than fixed elsewhere enabling the top to be easily tapped to square. I assume the case would need to be well strong instead of pressed steel bits and pieces


----------



## woodbloke

Tom - I thought about that hood (from Ax) but it won't fit. I made my hopper from some oddsn'sods of mdf that were knocking around and just screwed it together and then bolted it to the underside of the saw 






It's also important to try and block up as much of the holes as you can. I've used some hardboard stuck in place with blobs of hot melt glue, so it's easy to remove if required - Rob


----------



## jimi43

stoatyboy":2xxqkf5h said:


> The alu block is the one to tap
> 
> agree that you need to slacken the other end a bit
> 
> mine didn't move either - hence the vaseline
> 
> I can only assume it's considerably cheaper to build them with the motor fixed to the top this way than fixed elsewhere enabling the top to be easily tapped to square. I assume the case would need to be well strong instead of pressed steel bits and pieces



Agreed. They are definitely the mounting blocks there Tom. They look like they are slotted so that they move laterally with the bolt loose.

Maybe they do need cleaning and lubricating.

I thought the Scheppach design was bad...I don't think that so much now!


Jim


----------



## woodsworth

I don't want to be a table saw snob but I can't see this table saw being worth the effort. Are you just doing this for the experience or do you like this table saw that much? It only has an 1100 watt motor and looks worse then some of the portable work site machines.

Even if you get it working perfect which i doubt will be possible how long do you expect this machine to last? At a retail price of £355 I doubt any of the parts in it are built to last much more then several years.

All that aside i think what you are doing is great experience getting to know your machine and getting the most out of it. It just seems to be wasted on a boat anchor.


----------



## wizer

Thanks Guys, I will try again tomorrow with both end loosened. 

Bob, god idea about protecting the lateral adjusting screw. I'll have to think about that.

Rob, thanks for that pic, it helps a lot. I realised earlier that the Axi extraction hood was too big, so I'll have to do as you did.

Woodsworth, I explained why I am doing this in the first post. You are right, this is a cheap machine. But there is nothing else on the market at this physical size that is any better made. I'm not spending much money in this operation, so if it ends up being a lemon, then all I've lost is my time. I bought it second hand, so I'm not out of pocket to the full price anyway. It would be nice if we had access to a good quality compact table saw in this country, but we don't.


----------



## jimi43

Even at £355 I would expect to be able to cut wood in a straight line!

Let us know how you get on Tom...I think you are nearly there!

Cheers mate

Jim


----------



## wizer

yeh me too, but as I bought it second hand I have no way of complaining to Axminster. All I can do it make the effort to fettle it to work the best it can. If there was another saw of similar dimensions that I knew was good quality, I'd spend double that. Price is not really the issue here, space is. The fence is probably serviceable and acceptable to most, I just find it irritating. So I'm going to try the Axminster upgrade bandsaw fence. It looks like it will solve the problem. Dust extraction on most machines could be better, so it's not unusual for an owner to make some upgrades in that dept.


----------



## OPJ

I'm intrigued to hear how you get on with the new fence. I'm sure someone else bought one recently for their bandsaw?

If you don't fancy Rob's suggestion of making your own hood (and, the Axminster one _is_ too small), you could fix a sheet of thin ply to the the underside of the saw first and then bolt the hood on to that. :wink:

Your idea looks good, though. I think it's the same as what Ben to his Record Power saw, in that article I told you about... :roll:


----------



## big soft moose

jimi43":3v4anypc said:


> Even at £355 I would expect to be able to cut wood in a straight line!
> 
> Let us know how you get on Tom...I think you are nearly there!
> 
> Cheers mate
> 
> Jim



ours cut straight lines out of the box - well to all practical purposes anyway - when i checked alignment after seeing this thread it looked to be about 4thou out which is nutthin in real terms.

regarding dust extraction I dont have a problem with the below table extraction as is - but the above table extraction via the crown guard is pitiful - when we move 'shops i'm going to bin it and make a suva style guard as per W.E.3 and run a decent bore of dust extraction off that


----------



## Digit

> above table extraction via the crown guard is pitiful



Same with the SIP unfortunately, but cleaning underneath is easy, you'd think that manufacturers would make easy sub table access a design feature.
The idea of turning my SIP over to clean the threads and motor doesn't bear thinking about.

Roy.


----------



## Green

I too have removed the cowl, blocked the holes, added a new fence and moved the extraction to the underneath. Couldnt be pineappled with finding out how to align the blade though so I will be following this thread with interest.

I'll be back on tomorrow to see if you have solved it


----------



## wizer

don't hold your breath 

Did you do anything like Rob to help channel the dust into the pipe? Or just connect the pipe to the bottom panel? I'm thinking that a 'hopper' below the saw is a good idea but eats a lot of space.


----------



## Green

I used a shallow plastic hopper thing that I got with the Axi 100mm extraction kit. It isn't great and could do with being steeper as there is a bit of a build up round the edges.


----------



## jimi43

wizer":3t4r9gab said:


> ...........I'm thinking that a 'hopper' below the saw is a good idea but eats a lot of space.



Now you will have to find somewhere else to keep yer pigeons Tom!

  

Jim


----------



## Mr Ed

Heres the hopper I made for my kity 419. Basically nicked Robs design, but used an Axminster plastic outlet for the bottom






Ed


----------



## wizer

Thanks Ed. That looks good. I found Bean's old thread from years ago where he had something fabricated:











https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/help ... t8520.html

I can't work out whether that's a better way to do it. I'm not sure it is.


----------



## Harlequin

watching this one with interest

BTW is there a riving knife with this one and are you going to shorten it as described in a recent thread? 
Any safety issues with doing this mod? can't see any negatives myself


----------



## newt

wizer":1z9go8rt said:


> If there was another saw of similar dimensions that I knew was good quality, I'd spend double that. .



Tom Electra Beckum pk200


----------



## wizer

Harlequin":2fvspp0h said:


> watching this one with interest
> 
> BTW is there a riving knife with this one and are you going to shorten it as described in a recent thread?
> Any safety issues with doing this mod? can't see any negatives myself



I've already trimmed the top of the riving knife when I first got the saw. The reason I did it was that the top did not lower beneath the table fully. This meant I couldn't lay a board over the top to use as another work surface. I can still fit the guard to it. But I want to find a way to make the guard quicker to remove and replace. There are no safety issues as far as I can see.


----------



## woodsworth

I was just Reading through the responses and it occured to me mikes dusty box would be a big help with dust as long as it has a door to pick out the little bits that get sucked in. As far as fetting the saw Can you put a blade stablizer on it and measure if it is the angle of the whole housing or if it is a wobble in the spindle?


----------



## wizer

Well I can check the runout of the arbour.

Do you mean integrating a 'dropout' box under the saw? That might be an interesting idea actually.

This is actually what I want to do with the saw:





(LarryS's TS Cabinet)

But the dust extraction upgrades will remove the drawers under the saw.


----------



## jlawrence

I'm in the process of redoing my table saw station. It'll be similar to the one wizer showed but the top drawer will be used to collect dust that the extractor misses.


----------



## wizer

Success!

I'd love to tell you a tale of toil and trouble (I could tell you lots about toilet trouble..), But I went into the workshop, loosened the 4 screws, gave it a moderate kapow and...











\/

I considered getting it bang on, but I thought it best to quit while I was ahead. That's a vast improvement on how it was. Seeing as the back is angled away from the back a tiny amount, I assume this will help a bit with kickback?

The rest of today's session was spent clearing up a bit and then taking lots of measurements from the saw to draw it up to scale in sketchup. (I know, I know.. I just want to ).

Next I need to look at the blade rise mechanism because it's become very stiff. It was always stiff and I'm not sure if it's worse since I've adjusted the blade\motor alignment. It might need flipping upside down again. I tried WD40, but it didn't seem to make a difference.

Then it's on to fitting the AM fence.

Thanks for all the help so far!


----------



## woodsworth

Well it won't bind on the fence any more. It might throw a little more dust above the table though. Good job. When you measured the front and back did you mark on the bland and rotate it to the back to measure that same spot or did you just measure the blade as it was? I'd also be curious if when you move the blade if there is any variation. 

I like your little measuring jig by the way. I will be making one of those this spring. That and one for measuring guitar top thickness. I wish more people would share machinery set up threads. Very interesting stuff and educational.


----------



## wizer

Yes I checked all around the blade front and back and the pics above show the worst reading. It fluctuated between 0.001 and 0.004mm. To I assume this could be unevenness in the paint, particles of dust, etc. Essentially it's much better than it was, so I'm happy.


----------



## jimi43

Nice one Tom...and as you say...the error is in the right direction...not that it is huge anyway! I think the fact that you are aware of exactly HOW to adjust it now is key. It's all very well saying that it is only 10 thou off and giving up but your tenacity has paid off and will help if it were to be a problem

One other interesting thing to come out of this is the dust extraction issue again. I have had the same nightmare as you trying to get the Scheppach dust extraction better and it is very similar to the TS200.

I like the hopper ideas...a LOT....and also have been working on the SUVA idea...I have got this far...with bits from the bootfair again...this time a DJs gooseneck and a window opener...






The plexiglass cowling will simply bolt to the bottom of the brass opener plate and it will ride up and down with the wood:

UP.......






DOWN.....






This works fine with the side extension down...but I am scratching my head on where to put it without drilling holes when the extension is up...

If I get this prototype working I will do some more WIP pictures...

Jim


----------



## wizer

yep keep us updated on that Jim. I like the goose neck idea. Ideally, I would like my guard to come down from the ceiling. The problem with using a side mounted solution is that I want to use the surface for assembly, or another dumping ground (). So anything attached to the side of the unit will be in the way. I either need to commit to a permanent place to have the unit when sawing or forget the idea and try to improve the riving knife mounted guard somehow. If I did the latter, I'd like to remake the guard itself to upgrade dust extraction efficiency, make it transparent for better visibility and make it easy to to remove when I want the saw back as a work surface.


----------



## 9fingers

wizer":8hxnxl97 said:


> Success!



Well done Tom!!



wizer":8hxnxl97 said:


> Next I need to look at the blade rise mechanism because it's become very stiff. It was always stiff and I'm not sure if it's worse since I've adjusted the blade\motor alignment. It might need flipping upside down again. I tried WD40, but it didn't seem to make a difference.



WD40 is not a lubricant. It has some lubricating properties when freshly applied but when it dries out it will cease to work. 
WD stands for Water Displacement!!

If you are going to cover the screw then use grease otherwise the dry ptfe spray is the stuff to use.

Bob


----------



## wizer

Cheers Bob, it was all I had to hand. My dodgy guts feeling is that it's not a lubrication issue. The wheel has become very difficult to move. So I'm going to flip it back over on it's back on Friday (baby sitting tomorrow ) and see what the bally hoe is going on.


----------



## stuartpaul

Mr Ed":30dumx4w said:


> Heres the hopper I made for my kity 419. Basically nicked Robs design, but used an Axminster plastic outlet for the bottom
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ed



Ed,

As a fellow 419 owner and really fed up with the almost complete lack of dust extraction I'm wondering if you took the internal blade 'shroud' off or modified it in any way?

Tom,

Interesting to follow your experience, - glad you managed to achieve a good result.


----------



## wizer

Yep, I'm sad. Tonight I are bin mostly drawing my table saw


----------



## Mr Ed

stuartpaul":3rdqgow4 said:


> Ed,
> 
> As a fellow 419 owner and really fed up with the almost complete lack of dust extraction I'm wondering if you took the internal blade 'shroud' off or modified it in any way?
> 
> Tom,
> 
> Interesting to follow your experience, - glad you managed to achieve a good result.



I did the mod a few others have done where you grind the side off the blade shroud where it is spot welded together, leaving the bit on the side where the motor and pulleys are. This allows the dust to drop into the hopper - its not perfect but a lot better than the as sold setup.

Ed


----------



## jlawrence

Wizer, I don't suppose you fancy sharing that sketchup model ?


----------



## Chems

Mr Ed":2xrigmfm said:


> stuartpaul":2xrigmfm said:
> 
> 
> 
> Ed,
> 
> As a fellow 419 owner and really fed up with the almost complete lack of dust extraction I'm wondering if you took the internal blade 'shroud' off or modified it in any way?
> 
> Tom,
> 
> Interesting to follow your experience, - glad you managed to achieve a good result.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I did the mod a few others have done where you grind the side off the blade shroud where it is spot welded together, leaving the bit on the side where the motor and pulleys are. This allows the dust to drop into the hopper - its not perfect but a lot better than the as sold setup.
> 
> Ed
Click to expand...


I've done the same to my saw. Took the below the blade guard out and used the Axminster Dust Hood on the bottom of the saw to 100mm extractor. It does ok but I find the vast majority of the waste on my saw escapes out the front!


----------



## wizer

jlawrence":3ixo3f0y said:


> Wizer, I don't suppose you fancy sharing that sketchup model ?



Certainly. I just need to finish it first. It needs the rails adding. I have drawn it for my own needs. So it's missing one of the side panels and obviously the sliding gear is missing. The measurements are pretty much spot on but I'd advise you check my working if you are building anything from it. 

Should be ready tonight


----------



## wizer

Micro Progress today. My fault, I didn't go out there with a pre-prepared plan and ended up just pottering about. I flipped the saw over again because the rise and fall had become very stiff. I've still not bought any PTFE but did find some silicone spray which seems to have done the trick. It's only stiff on the last turn which is no bother really. However, now the tilt has become stiff and the silicone didn't seem to fix that. Will try the PTFE when I get it.

When looking at Bean's old thread where he upgraded the dust extraction on his K419, I noticed he also removed the blade cowl but he used a grinder to remove the bit that goes round the blade, leaving a cover for the pulley and belt. I'm not entirely sure if this is necessary? Comments? As it stands the belt and pully are exposed for dust to freely flow over them:






Should I try to cover this? I tried using a dremel to cut through the welds of the cowl but it wasn't that simple and I'll have to take my mini grinder to it if needed.

Something else which is odd to me. When you wind the blade down the pulley is pushed against a cranked metal bar:






It might be hard to work out what I'm talking about. But basically the belt then runs on the cranked metal bar. This seems like a bad idea to me? Won't it cause the belt to wear?

Finally I noticed that with the blade tilted fully, part of the motor mounting protrudes out the side of the case.






The manufactuerers bright idea was to make a side panel so that it could swing free into this space. Maybe I'm missing something, but surely it would have cost less for them to just trim it to fit inside the case? Anyway, that's what I did:






My mini grinder is setup with the abortech at the moment, so as I had the dremel out, I thought I'd do it with that. Big mistake. I went through at least ten 'heavy duty' discs! To top it off, I didn't remove enough! There's about 1mm sticking out the side now. The reason wanted to do this was so I could fit my own flat panel on there in order to fit it in a cabinet. So I'll either setup the mini grinder or more likely, rebate a section out of the panel to it will fit flush. :roll: 

At least it's progress, of sorts. Next is to design the 'hopper'. That's another head scratcher for my pea sized brain. I think trial and error is the order of the day. As hard as I try, I just can't seem to draw it in SU.


----------



## jimi43

Good LORD Tom!!!

Good job you don't have a warranty on it!!

There look like a huge number of design faults there.......

I wonder if - after all - it might be worth putting this whole story to Axminster...I know that you didn't buy it from them but SURELY they would be interested since they still sell these!

I would be interested to know what they had to say.

Jim


----------



## wizer

I dunno, but Axminster watch these forums and are sure to notice the thread with their name in the title. As you say, there's no warranty on it. So I'm free to do whatever I like to it. Yes, hacking bits of metal off the internals is a bit scary. But I can't honestly think why they decided to fabricate a curved panel rather than trim 20mm of the corner of the motor assembly. I do understand that 99% of people who bought this saw won't really give a hoot about the side panels. It just interferes with my designs to insert it into a rolling cabinet. Of course, this machine is not made nor designed by Axminster. It's a generic clone that they have badged as their own. So I doubt they are at all interested in changing the design. To be honest I think to improve this machine from a manufacturing point of view, it needs to be redesigned from the ground up. But saying that, people who own this saw, generally appear to be happy, which is why I bought it. But I found a lot of niggles that ordinarily would have prompted me to get rid. But funds are tight and so is space. So I'm making my own frankenwizer. Hopefully it will be for the better, we'll see.


----------



## jimi43

Well I think you are doing really well considering the design constraints that you are encountering.

I was looking at the Scheppach again today and thinking further about the dust issue. I think that keeping dust away from moving parts is a major consideration...especially since they tend to be at the very limit of their designed functionality with no dust onboard!

I am wondering if sealing of these sections with perspex might be an option. Or at least deflecting the offending dust flow - like a thin rubber curtain maybe?

This makes a very interesting topic...I think on mine that the bottom hopper is probably the best solution...after all you have gravity and suction working for you and a HUGE amount of dust ends up on the floor under mine even WITH suction from the back.

More head scratching needed methinks!

I hope your taking notes so that you can tell us all how to do it at the Kent Bash!!! :wink: 

Jim


----------



## wizer

jimi43":2ifp0wwk said:


> I hope your taking notes so that you can tell us all how to do it at the Kent Bash!!! :wink:



hahah that's the funniest thing I've heard all week. You reckon I'll be finished this by March ?? :-k Very unlikely! :lol:


----------



## newt

wizer":2v1r307g said:


> Something else which is odd to me. When you wind the blade down the pulley is pushed against a cranked metal bar:
> 
> 
> SU.



Tom I really don't like the look of that belt rubbing against the metal bar, it cannot be good for the belt. However not sure how you could resolve.


----------



## 9fingers

newt":3bfv68uy said:


> wizer":3bfv68uy said:
> 
> 
> 
> Something else which is odd to me. When you wind the blade down the pulley is pushed against a cranked metal bar:
> 
> 
> SU.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Tom I really don't like the look of that belt rubbing against the metal bar, it cannot be good for the belt. However not sure how you could resolve.
Click to expand...


I agree. I assume that bar was kept away from the belt when the dust cover was in place?

What does it do? anything useful? maybe it could be removed/reshaped.

I really do hate these 'bent metal' machine designs - really nasty!

Bob


----------



## wizer

Your guess is as good (much better in fact) as mine. It seems like it was meant to be. The blade cowl does not affect it any way. I think it shifts it out of the way when the blade is lowered for some reason. When the blade is fully up then the belt is free. That bent strip of metal looks like it will remove easily. Maybe I will to see if the belt interferes with anything without it.


----------



## WellsWood

Must be something wrong there, surely? It simply can't be right for the belt to be rubbing on anything, let alone be interfered with to the extent of twisting it like that. That offending strip of metal surely must have a purpose, any idea what it is? What does it do once it has disappeared through the slot on the right? It looks as if it might be a cantilever arm designed to keep the riving knife horizontal as the blade travels up and down. If it were flat, would it still line up with the mountings boths ends and still go through the slot without interferance, or does it need to be crankedto avoid something? If it would work just as well when flat I'd strip it out and take a big hammer to it. Any chance of a look at it from a different angle, one that shows the bend and both ends would be most enlightening I think.

BTW Tom, I can't find any obvious fault with your preliminary plan for the cart. I particularly like the outfeed table and the design of the pivot/support arms - but I would recommend adjustable mountings between the arms and the table as it would remove the need for super accurate drilling of the pivot holes to true up the outfeed table to the main saw top.


----------



## TrimTheKing

I'm almost certain that bar shouldn't have a bend in it Tom. Looking at your manual it is listed as part number 16 and described as a 'long plate' and the diagram shows it as being straight.

I know these manuals are cheap and chearful but by any design rules there is no way on earth that the belt should be touching any other component when it can possibly be running.

I would take it off, silly billy it about with a hammer until straight and stick it back in.

Or, see if you can fabricate something else up, the same LxWxH, but straight, as a temp measure and test the movement mechanism with that. If it all still moves okay then there's no reason why it shouldn't work.

You got any flat bar knocking around you could try it with?


----------



## jimi43

I reckon that that bar has been force bent because the whole assembly has been locked in place at one time and then the winder turned with force to try to move it.

The result was that the mechanism did not move but the bar bent.

Would this be possible?

I tried making sense of the diagrams in the manual to see what the other end of the bar connects to so that I could see if this is possible but it is one of those bits that crosses diagrams.

A closeup photo down into the box into which the bar disappears would be a help mate.

Cheers

Jim


----------



## WellsWood

TrimTheKing":1gjka4iy said:


> .... by any design rules there is no way on earth that the belt should be touching any other component when it can possibly be running....



Abso-fookin-lutely!


----------



## wizer

Right I just nipped out to take some photos. It's not the easiest thing to photograph. 



























Indeed in the diagram it seems that that part should be straight. I'm sure you're all right, but I don't ever remember cranking the wheels hard enough for something like that to bend. As far as I can see that would be the only way the user could bend that part. The bend that's clearly visible by the belt looks intentional to the untrained eye, but the bend further back is clearly not meant to be. 

The question is, what does it do? and what caused it to bend?

Sure I can take it out and try to flatten it or replace it, but what if it does it again?

Thanks guys


----------



## jimi43

I would take it out.

Make a copy of it out of something similar..probably thin hardwood would do..and put the replacement back and what what it does.

That bar should be straight and has been force bent by the look of it.

Jim


----------



## WellsWood

Right, I'm 99% certain I know what the problem is.

You see that bit with a double 90 crank in it - the one with the 2 bolts for attaching the riving knife? Well undo the strap from it at the bolt between the 2 pulleys and see if it's free to move around the arbour. If, as I suspect, it's seized then there's the issue. figure out how to get in there and free it up, straighten the bar and re-install, and I reckon you're good to go.

A look at the exploded parts diagram might help to confirm. Are they online somewhere, or can you email me a copy? I could pop round breifly tomorrow if you're about, seeing it in the flesh I reckon I could suss it easy-peasy.


----------



## jimi43

Do you not think that bar may now be weak Mark?


Also Tom...is that gunk all over the arbour and surrounding metalwork or rust? It looks like surface corrosion from the pics but may be mistaken.

Looking at the pictures again and from what Mark said I think he is spot on there.

Jim


----------



## wizer

I'm going to have to re-read that a couple of times to understand it. I'll pop back out there later to see if I can work it out.

I'm here all day tomorrow, just let me know a rough time if you're able to pop in.

Jim, I'll have to double check, but I don't think it's rust. I did spray some silicone in there yesterday, so it might be some that I've missed when cleaning up.


----------



## TrimTheKing

wizer":2o2rsduh said:


> I'm going to have to re-read that a couple of times to understand it. I'll pop back out there later to see if I can work it out.
> 
> I'm here all day tomorrow, just let me know a rough time if you're able to pop in.
> 
> Jim, I'll have to double check, but I don't think it's rust. I did spray some silicone in there yesterday, so it might be some that I've missed when cleaning up.


Saved you some time Tom,


----------



## wizer

Thanks Mark. Get it now. Will play in the morning.



WellsWood":2yp7fzby said:


> A look at the exploded parts diagram might help to confirm. Are they online somewhere, or can you email me a copy? I could pop round breifly tomorrow if you're about, seeing it in the flesh I reckon I could suss it easy-peasy.



There are some (diabolical) exploded diagrams in the manual, here:

http://www.axminster.co.uk/downloads//manual_600822.pdf

Cheers guys, I nearly didn't mention that bent bar :roll:


----------



## 9fingers

Let me know if you want a new, stronger bit making assuming that the part does something useful.

Bob


----------



## TrimTheKing

9fingers":idncole3 said:


> Let me know if you want a new, stronger bit making assuming that the part does something useful.
> 
> Bob


Without actually seeing it in the flesh I am with Mark (WellsWood), I think it controls the height of the riving knife when you wind the blade down.

Thinking about it Tom, you were looking for a way to shorten the knife below the blade height IIRC. I can't think ATM whether that bar would need to be longer or shorter (shorter I think), but I'm certain that either lengthening or shortening it would achieve what you are looking for.

Would probably make a new one out of thicker flat stock to make sure it has the oomph to do its job as Bob suggests.

Might turn out to be a fortuitous mention...


----------



## wizer

TrimTheKing":2xq8tzj5 said:


> you were looking for a way to shorten the knife below the blade height IIRC



Nope, I already did that when I first got the saw by trimming the top of the knife.

I think you're right, a thicker sturdier part is less likely too bend in the future.


----------



## 9fingers

I can't really think why the riving knife has to move differently from the blade arbour. Surely the top of the knife just has to be level or higher than the the tips of the blade.

I'm sure it is fixed on my TS?

Bob


----------



## jimi43

Tom...is this how it moves?







Jim


----------



## wizer

erm yeh

It's so hard to relate to in 2d pics. I'll check it over tomorrow and confirm


----------



## studders

From the parts diag it definitely looks as if it should be a straight support bar that pivots.


----------



## wizer

studders":1w6464rb said:


> From the parts diag it definitely looks as if it should be a straight support bar that pivots.



hehe thanks Studders :wink:


----------



## Hobbyshop

Judging by the exploded diagram you linked to it would appear that the strap is a tie rod that acts to keep the riving knife vertical as the blade is raised. It looks like the arbor assembly is raised by rotating about a pivot point and so the blade and arbor actually move in an arc. Not noticable on a circular blade but maybe moreso on the riving knife.
It looks to me that this tie bar will act to pivot the riving knife as it raises, so keeping it vertical.

Hate to say it Tom, but I took a look at your pictures on page 3 of this thread and it looks to me like it was straight when you started. 

I also notice in the diagrams that there are bolts at each end of the bar. (There would need to be if it works as I think).

The way it is bent at the moment I can pretty much guarantee that there is no bolt at the far end any more (the end we can't see in your pictures), which is possibly how it got bent in the first place. ........... Maybe.

Guessing a bit as I have never actually taken one of these apart and I am just working from the diagram.

EDIT - just had another thought. If the bolt on the far end is still there then it could have been bent by attempting to raise the blade through the table top but restricting the movement of the riving knife.
How did you have it supported when upside down? Is it possible the supports were in the position the riving knife raises through, so although the blade could raise, the riving knife couldn''t?


----------



## wizer

Thanks Kevin. It looks like you're right, I've just looked at the master images and that bar doesn't appear to be bent when I took the initial pics. Or, at least, not bent as much as it is now. However, I still can't work out how it's got bent as I've not put the sort of effort I assume would be needed to bend a piece of metal. The rise and fall was a little stiff, but no so much that it was a struggle to turn the wheels. That bar must be made of cheese!

I think you assessment of what it's for is bang on. That came into my mind earlier, but I wasn't sure how to articulate it. I think the bar is still fixed at both ends. The saw is upside down on the supplied base, so the saw mechanism can easily pass though the space in the middle. The riving knife has been off most of the time, but it's always been free to pass through. As I say, I never got the feeling from cranking the hand wheel that there was something restricting it. The movement was always continual, just stiff. IIRC it was just as stiff in both directions.

Again, I'll have to have a look tomorrow and see what's what.

Thanks for you help.


----------



## Hobbyshop

I just noticed too, that when you removed the dust collector that one of the studs securing the riving knife support plate is now missing. It appears to be a stud conected to the dust collector itself.

I don't know if it has any effect on the movement of the support plate, but if you are not going to replace the dust collector I think I would definitely reolace the stud with a suitable bolt.

It has to be worth taking the support plate off and getting some lubrication behind it too.


----------



## WellsWood

I've just had a run through this thread from the start, and a good peruse of the exploded diagram in the manual, and I'm confident I now know how this all happened. Explaining the mechanics of it properly is too much for this time of night, but the essence is that I think it all stems from cutting the top off the riving knife. I'm assuming the reason you did that was to be able to lower the blade completely into the table, and therein is the problem - I strongly suspect it was never designed to do that, and that the bending of the bar occurred when you ran out of available movement (but kept winding anyway).

I also suspect this is why you needed to cut that corner off the plate which poked out the side of the case - by any chance was the trunnion wound all the way down (here's the crucial bit: _without the crown guard and riving knife on_) as well as tilted all the way over?

I'm glueing up the side panels for the desk tomorrow, but can only do one at a time for lack of clamps. As soon as I get the next one clamped up tomorrow morning I'll pop over and we'll set it to rights. About 11ish if that's agreeable?


----------



## studders

WellsWood":1f9mfgxp said:


> the bending of the bar occurred when you ran out of available movement (but kept winding anyway).



I'd say you were right but I agree with Tom that it must be pretty bloody flimsy to bend like that, unless he had three Shredded Wheat for breakfast?


----------



## OPJ

WellsWood":2qdshtpy said:


> I'm glueing up the side panels for the desk tomorrow, but can only do one at a time for lack of clamps.



What?! Where are the WIP photos??? 

I've tried to follow this thread as best as I can and, I feel inclined to agree with Mark's previous post (well, everything before the paragraph I've quoted ).


----------



## WellsWood

OPJ":1xdk7ec0 said:


> WellsWood":1xdk7ec0 said:
> 
> 
> 
> I'm glueing up the side panels for the desk tomorrow, but can only do one at a time for lack of clamps.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> What?! Where are the WIP photos???
Click to expand...


Patience my boy, patience :wink: 

Like the table BTW Olly -very nice work indeed. =D>


----------



## TheTiddles

the last 4 pages of this thread are frustrating... I wanted to know about the rip-fence upgrade! Does it flit the current TS200 rails? If it does I'm ordering one right now

Aidan


----------



## wizer

So Mark woke me up at 11am this morning :shock:  and popped around to give me a hand. All his predictions were basically correct, so we set about removing that bar and we also decided that the blade cowl played an important part in the mechanism. So like Bean did years ago with his Kity, we ground off the side so it just left the backing plate, allowing dust to just fall straight down. To get the bent bar out, the motor mounting bolts had to be slackened so that the belt would come off:






Here's the hacked blade cowl:






Not pretty but all sharp corners where filed... and here's the bar returned to flat.






Mark did this and it took him all of 30 seconds :roll: 

Then we put it all back in






and here's a shot of the underside where you can see the straight bar back in place:






So big thanks to Mark for levering me out of a hole once again. It's now working well. The problem with this machine is that the stops at full height and fully lowered are very spongy. I'd prefer them to be positive, so when it stops, it stops. As it is, I'll just have to remember that when it starts to get spongy is the time to stop.

Next job will be to fit the AM fence. Then the ZCI. Tonight I'm going to try to draw up the hopper and the cabinet that I want to install it into.

Thanks everyone for chipping in with this, I really appreciate it. Hopefully some of this will help other people with this saw.


----------



## 9fingers

Tom,

Looks like you are making some good progress.
To make your height stops more positive you need a couple of stops on the thread itself.
You may not have any nuts to suit the thread of the adjustment screw(may even be a left hand thread) but find a couple of largish hex nuts and drill them out to be just a touch bigger than the outside diameter of the screw and then drill and tap for a convenient small screw through one of the flats on the nut and out through the otherside. Then fit two screws in each and slide over the main screw thread. Decide where you want the adjustment limits to be and then tighten up the small screws to grip the main thread.

If you don't have anything suitable to hand, measure the main thread and I'll make you something and pop it in the post for you.

Bob


----------



## wizer

Thanks Bob, will have a look. I'm not sure I want to touch it now :lol: It does need some dry lube, so when I flip it over again I'll see if I can work out if stop nuts could be added. From memory, I think adding a pair of stop nuts would take away from an already limited cut depth. Similarly, when the blade is lowered, it now doesn't go below the table, so when I make a board go over the top (to use as another work surface), I'll need to make a rebate for the blade.


----------



## wizer

TheTiddles":3rl6fn8d said:


> the last 4 pages of this thread are frustrating... I wanted to know about the rip-fence upgrade! Does it flit the current TS200 rails? If it does I'm ordering one right now
> 
> Aidan



Sorry Aidan, missed this. No it's not a direct replacement. I'll be using Green's method of fixing some angle alu to the current rails. This is next on my list so keep watching. I'm making no excuses for my snails pace tho. It might be months  before I get it done!


----------



## wizer

Rob and/or Ed can you please expand on you hopper design. I'm having problems visualising how it fixes to the frame? In Rob's pic:






it looks like there is a piece of 25mm ply fixed to the bottom of the frame. One assumes there is a square hole cut in this for the 'hopper' to pass through? What\How then does the hopper fix to the 25mm ply? Also, is there some trickery pokery to working out the angles of the hopper?

To make things more complicated, I'm seriously considering building in an integral 'drop box' of Garnham design. :-s


----------



## woodbloke

wizer":39xujza5 said:


> Rob and/or Ed can you please expand on you hopper design. I'm having problems visualising how it fixes to the frame? In Rob's pic:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> it looks like there is a piece of 25mm ply fixed to the bottom of the frame. One assumes there is a square hole cut in this for the 'hopper' to pass through? What\How then does the hopper fix to the 25mm ply? Also, is there some trickery pokery to working out the angles of the hopper?
> 
> To make things more complicated, I'm seriously considering building in an integral 'drop box' of Garnham design. :-s


Tom - without going outside in this freezing bloody cold and upending my saw, I can't remember exactly _how_ I fixed the hopper to the bottom. However if you hang fire for a moment, I'll be getting my O's very shortly from Axminster, so that hole you can see in the underside will have to be enlarged. I'll have another look tomorrow night as I'll have to turn the saw upside down to do the hole...will take some 'up close and personal' pics at the same time.
As to the trickery pokery involved in the hopper, it's all done by guesstimations, just fitting the four bits together a little at a time. It's useful to make a full size mock up using cardboard to get the correct sizes of the pieces.
The removal of the internal cowling is exactly what I did, so mine looks the same as your saw on the inside - Rob


----------



## wizer

woodbloke":2lk8ckcm said:


> I can't remember exactly _how_ I fixed the hopper to the bottom.








:lol: 

Thanks Rob, I'll wait with baited breath... and go off to research drop boxes...


----------



## Mr Ed

My stand had a solid top, so I cut a square hole in the top and then fixed the hopper to the underside of that. I made some timber fillets to block the hole between the saw and the stand and sealed it with duct tape.

Ed


----------



## wizer

Thanks Ed, makes sense.


----------



## stoatyboy

Ok so back to the bent bar again (sorry)

If one was to use a riving knife that didn't rise and fall with the blade but was fitted to the throat plate if it was a ZCI (i've seen some mini ones that do this?) could then the entire cowl be removed without the need to cut half of it off and put it back again (and presumably that bendy bar could go as well)

Only ask as I'm very interested in the dust extraction mods as trying to plug up that big hole at the back with the moving pipe coming out of it is pretty impossible

Well done on the mods so far though - there's been afew murmurs about the saw in this thread but I'm really pleased with mine - now i've aligned it - and some better dust extraction will further improve it. 

Tinkering with a tool like this gives you a much better understanding of how it works and therefore what it can and can't do and so how to use it safely IMHO.

keep up the good work


----------



## wizer

Stoaty, the problem with removing the cowl in it's entirety, as I was initially going to, is that the belt and pulley are then both unprotected from the saw. This shouldn't really be a problem, but if something were to go wrong with the blade then it would shred the belt and pulley in an instant and any of the parts that surround it. Also both the bendy bar and the back plate of the cowl play a part in the mechanism. Removing the cowl as well as filing the top of the riving knife led to the bar getting bent so easily. If you wanted to do this then I would definitely suggest you do that same as I and others have done and remove the front of the cowl. It turned out to be an easy job. Mark used my dremel to cut through the welds then used a cold chisel to tap through the paint that was holding it on. Less than 10mins later, the result is not pretty but worth it IMO. You could make up a replacement plate, but I honestly think that would take longer and be much more complicated than using the back of the cowl. 

With the way it is now, I can plug the hole in the back and use some brush strip on the parts which move. Also grinding the bottom corner off the motor assembly meant that I can do away with one of the site panels, replacing it with a flat piece of ply\mdf.

Keep watching, Dust extraction is on my list. I just need to get my head around it all


----------



## wizer

Well, I like to please my audience, so today's Wizer Whisperer is about fitting the aftermarket fence.

I got this idea from someone else who'd done it some time last year and promptly forgot who it was. I'm sure they did a video of it. Another member, Green, reminded me when he mentioned he'd also done it. It's the Axminster Rip Fence Upgrade, which is intended for use on bandsaws. Green very kindly sent me pics of how he mounted it. Which is very straight forward. Here's how it goes.

Unpack the box, throw away manual...






...(make manly grunt)

Lock the fence onto the rail and then clamp it in position over the table. I have positioned the new rail so that the fence will lock just a fraction past the left hand side of the blade, thus giving the maximum capacity to the right.






With this clamped in place, I could mark the positions on the old rail for the brackets to be mounted to. Note: Green used a piece of 4mm angle Ali around the old fence rail to bulk it up. I didn't do that because I'm a cheap bone idle so and so. With the bracket positions marked, I drilled a 5mm hole for each.






and then used an M6 tap in the drill press. Actually, I did consider using the drill press to tap it, but realised this was foolish. What I actually did was use the tap chucked in the press but with hand pressure to twist the head. But I still managed and oopsy...






.. by putting too much pressure on the drill press handle, I manage to strip the thread :roll: No bother, these brackets are fully adjustable to anywhere along the old fence rail, so I just moved it along a bit and did it again.






The screw tightened up nicely and I'm sure will be strong enough. Although if I ever feel the angle ali is needed then it's an easy job to add it later.

That's the bulk of the work done. I did manage to get it fractionally too high and as a consequence there is about a 2mm gap at the beginning of the fence.






I'm not sure is this really matters. The fence does not glide along the table like I'd hoped, but is a massive improvement on the old one. The problem I have is comparing everything to the supersaw. That fence would glide effortlessly over the table. But then that had a pad at the end of the fence (and was nearly three times the price). I'm wondering if I should fit something like a foam pad at the far end of this one to both take up the 2mm error and help with movement.

If anyone is considering doing this then there is one massive (well bigish) consideration you have to make. You loose quite a bit of rip capacity.






The new fence gives me 540mm from blade to fence. However, the way that this is installed, you can continue to use the old fence if needed. So if you need to rip more than 560mm, you just get the old fence out. Personally I don't think it's going to be too much of a problem. Considering my health, I'm probably going to have to restrict my woodworking to small items anyway.

One thought I had was the rail that comes in this kit could probably be made in wood. The profile is pretty simple






The fence runs on bearings, so you'd just need to use a wood that was unlikely to move a lot. Something naturally greasy might be an advantage? Another reason for doing this upgrade is the ease of adjustment.






I'll cover that when I come to do it. I want to get the dust extraction sorted before I start setting it up and using it.

So there it is. No major cockups today. Well none that I've noticed


----------



## dicktimber

Wizzer
After keeping track of your exploits, I can only make the following comments...
Good job so far..however
If you take into consideration 
Man Hours spent
Specialist help from outside (mind you only half a day as you got out of bed at 11.00):roll: 
Loss of production time
specialist tools required...hammer and DTI
sleepless nights..... :wink: :wink: 

You could have bought back that Jet thingy you sold last year or so,
purchased a larger workshop
had 3 phase installed
full central heating
and there would have been cash over for
A JACKOOOOZIE
and sauna
to relax in at the end of the working day :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:


----------



## wizer

Nice idea dick, but although time is money, it's not worth much to me and apart from £50 on the new fence, I've lost nothing but time. I've already said in this post that I bought the saw second hand, so actually it's still a very very long way off the price of a Jet Supersaw. Also, for the millionth time , I need a _small _tablesaw to fit into my workshop. A Supersaw would not fit in. Neither would a 10" SIP. Maybe an old 9" Startrite would fit in, but I don't see them going for under £250 on eBay and an old 2nd hand saw would need just as much work.

So please, stop telling me I could buy a better saw, coz if I could I WOULD!!! :evil: :roll:


----------



## OPJ

I thought you were the _Wood Wizer_? :-s :wink:

Good to see how the new fence works. I actually think your idea of using the pillar drill chuck to keep the tap held vertically is a good tip. 

What's next, then? Build it in to a larger station with a router table?


----------



## big soft moose

wizer":gukfef4i said:


> Nice idea dick, but although time is money, it's not worth much to me and apart from £50 on the new fence, I've lost nothing but time. I've already said in this post that I bought the saw second hand, so actually it's still a very very long way off the price of a Jet Supersaw. Also, for the millionth time , I need a _small _tablesaw to fit into my workshop. A Supersaw would not fit in. Neither would a 10" SIP. Maybe an old 9" Startrite would fit in, but I don't see them going for under £250 on eBay and an old 2nd hand saw would need just as much work.
> 
> So please, stop telling me I could buy a better saw, coz if I could I WOULD!!! :evil: :roll:



yerrbut if if you'd spent all that time doing freelance web design - or selling your body down the docks for that matter  - you'd be able to buy a bigger workshop and a supersaw to put in it :lol:


----------



## 9fingers

Unforgivable hijack but (BSM you have pm to collect)

sorry guys

Bob


----------



## wizer

OPJ":e65xuc87 said:


> I thought you were the _Wood Wizer_? :-s :wink:



hehe the name of the site _was _Wood Wizer, not THE Wood Wizer  But that's gone now 



OPJ":e65xuc87 said:


> I actually think your idea of using the pillar drill chuck to keep the tap held vertically is a good tip.



Cheers, I've seen it somewhere, can't remember where. I'm not sure how you do it otherwise, it looks terribly trick to get it started as well as being straight, etc.



OPJ":e65xuc87 said:


> What's next, then? Build it in to a larger station with a router table?



Yeh, I need to design it first. I've got some ideas down on sketchup, just need to get it finished and stop getting distracted by Turning courses and dust extraction ideas :roll: :wink: 

What I'm going to do over the next couple of days is mock up a full size prototype of the dust hopper. I'm having real problems drawing it and I think, like Rob and Ed, it's better to just get stuck in with a bit of trial and error.

I've also got to get my head around the ZCI.

I'm actually enjoying this. It's nice to be doing something that has no deadline pressure and I always hanker after well fettled tools, but have never bothered to actually do it before. I can't win around here, If I splash out on expensive tools I get reprimanded and then when I try to make the best out of what I've got, I get reprimanded :roll: I can't win guv!


----------



## dicktimber

Yeh
seems to me it's a chicken and egg situation here.....
you actually should have built a bigger workshop first :lol: :lol: :.
and as for selling your body down by the docks..  
give us directions and I'll put a tenner in your hand :wink: :wink: :wink: 

PS Can't wait for the chapter on fixing a TS 200 electrical wiring!!!!


----------



## wizer

big soft moose":19zkl43z said:


> spent all that time doing freelance web design



I'm beginning to think that's more like banging my head against a brick wall than this project!! But for your info I'm busy in that dept too. I'm not spending whole days on project, 2hours max, each day. So, so far, I've probably 'wasted' a day.


----------



## big soft moose

wizer":1xc6e2tr said:


> I can't win around here, If I splash out on expensive tools I get reprimanded and then when I try to make the best out of what I've got, I get reprimanded :roll: I can't win guv!



i'm sure all the reprimands are meant in a light hearted manner , but imo the reason you get such "reprimands" is not so much to do with buying expensive kit or making the best of cheap stuff but to do with the ... ahh.. turnover 






still that said i supose you could always sell the BRM and buy a unisaw with the proceeds :roll: :lol:


----------



## jimi43

So...Tom....

When you gonna cut that there fence down to make it safe!!? :twisted: 

:wink: 

Jim


----------



## wizer

jimi43":2xixn0wq said:


> ..
> 
> When you gonna cut that there fence down to make it safe!!? :twisted:



Waterlox!

One of the main reasons for the upgrade was the full length fence. I don't care how 'safe' short fences are, I just can't get on it them. The new fence does have a T Slot in the face, so I can fix a block to it if I need to. 

Pete, My days of buying flashy tools are over. In fact my days of buying any tools may soon be over. From now on it's buy cheap or make do. Tho, saying that, it's awfully hard to get out of that frame of mind. A couple of years ago I didn't need to give much thought when buying things under 1k. Now even under £100 has to take a lot of careful thought. How times change, the crunch certainly bit in this household.


----------



## big soft moose

wizer":2i20ise7 said:


> jimi43":2i20ise7 said:
> 
> 
> 
> ..
> 
> When you gonna cut that there fence down to make it safe!!? :twisted:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Waterlox!
> 
> One of the main reasons for the upgrade was the full length fence. I don't care how 'safe' short fences are, I just can't get on it them. The new fence does have a T Slot in the face, so I can fix a block to it if I need to.
> 
> .
Click to expand...


mr maskery does a nice jig for a short rip fence that sits over your full length one - thats on the list of things to go with our TS200 when we get a moment.

on your second point i know that feeling too - 18 months ago i had about 10k in my current account and more money than i could spend each month - these days i'm down to less than 2 in the "reserve" and i have to take on freelance jobs to make the ends meet.


----------



## chill

i was a successful sausage maker but went bust because i couldn`t make both ends meat :lol:


----------



## studders

Either that fence is a lot bigger than it seems in the pics on the Axi site or the table saw is a lot smaller than I thought. :shock:


----------



## xraymtb

The TS200 is actually pretty small once the sliding tables and extensions are off. Thats part of the reason I think a lot of people want to build them into units (that and saving space as they tend to be in small workshops).

I personally think they are a great saw for the price and have never had a problem once it was setup correctly.


----------



## wizer

studders":3packbwi said:


> Either that fence is a lot bigger than it seems in the pics on the Axi site or the table saw is a lot smaller than I thought. :shock:



The pic on Axi's site appears to have chopped the end off the fence, so it looks very short. Which is what's put me off buying it until I saw Green's pics. Tho, as Mike says, it's a small saw. Precisely why I bought it. I'm putting it into a rolling cabinet to make efficient use of it's footprint. By both putting a router table in the side wing and having storage underneath.

Some more progress today. Will write it all up in a bit..


----------



## wizer

'here we go then.

Today I needed to cut the cover panels for the side, base and back of the saw. The base will eventually become part of the hopper. But until I work out how to do it, it's just a piece of 18mm ply. The side replaces the fabricated one that came with the saw. By cutting off the corner of the motor assembly, I can now fit a flat 12mm ply panel. Similarly, with the blade cowl in the trash can, the large hole in the back that allowed the dust port to move, can now be covered with a piece of 12mm ply.

To cut these panels I needed the saw setup. I put the rails back on and checked the blade for square. Normally, I use the wixey angle gauge, which I can get to 90.1:







That's fine by me, but I thought I'd check it with an engineer's square (yes, I know the square is battered)






While I was here, I thought if it could get to 45 ok.






It's hard to see in the pic, but the wixey shows 45, but the engineers mitre seems to be touching at the top and bottom, but not in the middle. I'll do more extensive tests on that later when I properly commission the saw.

Next was to true up the fence itself. 






Using the same jig in the same slot, I took a reading off the front






and the back






So the fence is 20 divisions or 0.2mm away from the back of the blade.

Before I made any adjustments I checked if the fence was square to the table






It's hard to see in the pic, but there was about a 1-2mm gap (must get some feeler gauges) at the bottom of the fence, meaning it was leaning in.

So I looked in the manual to see how the fence adjusted. Silly me, why would the manual have that sort of information?! :roll: :x All has is a picture of the adjusting screw at the back of the fence.






Again, hard to see, but it's a slotted screw on the back of the fence. One big problem with this... I can't move it! Now, I freely admit I'm a rather weedy geek, but I'm surprised that I can't turn it, even a bit. Being that the fence is just 0.2 away from the back of the blade, I decided this is absolutely fine and so left it. I did find it odd that there is only adjustment on one side, the screw on the other side is blanked off. Inside the bearings are the same. The side that is adjust able on the outside, had a slotted screw. The other is blank






There is no other form of adjustment on the underside. Unlike a Beismier style fence, where you have at least 6 points of adjustability.

I was on my own to work out how to adjust squareness to the table. But I guessed it would have something to do with the two screws in the top of the fence






But...  I couldn't shift these either :shock: . Must have spinich and shreddies for brekky tomorrow :roll: 

I gave up pretty quickly. The panels did not require precision. 

Lastly I needed to affix the tape measure. This was also doomed to fail. Why?






Because this fence was meant for a bandsaw, who's fence is generally on the other side. So it only went up to about 300mm on the right! I'll be tapping up Mr Maskery for a proper one :roll:

So I just got on with cutting the panels. I will come back to setting everything up later when I have finished everything else.

Cutting the ply panels was really enjoyable! I know that's probably an odd thing to say. But the way the saw was setup before I was always reluctant to use it. The only thing that's really different is the tiny adjustment on the blade alignment and the new fence. At the moment I'm using a tape measure to set the fence, but it's much easier to do with this fence. You can get it near, but a little pressure on the locking handle, then tap it to the right measurement. Let's just say that before was no where near that simple! 

The back panel needed a notch cut out to allow the rear fixing for the motor assembly to pass through. Very quick and simple.






I couldn't fit them as I had no bolts of the right size and as I'm not driving yet, I'll have to wait for the wife to run me down to Toolstation in the morning.

I finished up by re-sawing a chunk of unknown reddy hardwood to use as ZCI plates.






Long post for not a lot of work, I know. But there you go.

Tomorrow I have hospital appointments all day. Thursday I'll be back at it. Fixing the panels and then fiddling with the design of the hopper. I may also have a go at the ZCI's if I get time.

I remembered today that it's my wedding anniversary in two weeks and I was supposed to be making my wife a jewellery box :shock: So I might have to delay making the rolling cabinet and at least have a go at the box.


----------



## studders

Mike Bremner":2g8l689w said:


> I personally think they are a great saw for the price and have never had a problem once it was setup correctly.



I've been faffing about for ages now... get it - don't get it, but I think you're right, for a small w/shop, which mine is, and for the price, it would be hard to find better. Soon as funds allow I'm going to get one, so long as the price doesn't leap up again which was another thing that stopped me buying earlier.


----------



## studders

wizer":176iyj67 said:


> studders":176iyj67 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Either that fence is a lot bigger than it seems in the pics on the Axi site or the table saw is a lot smaller than I thought. :shock:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The pic on Axi's site appears to have chopped the end off the fence, so it looks very short. Which is what's put me off buying it .....
Click to expand...


Just had another look and you're dead right, the pic is very misleading, to Axminsters detriment. :?


----------



## stuartpaul

> I would take it off, silly billy it about with a hammer until straight and stick it back in.



6 pages before there's a technical phrase that means something to me!!

Good going Tom, - interested in your ZCI adventures.


----------



## woodsworth

This has become a bit of a marathon thread. I expect to be seeing a jewelry box thread with pictures. Either that or a dog house thread.


----------



## wizer

woodsworth":31e1kpbw said:


> This has become a bit of a marathon thread..



Yes, partly because of my tendency to ramble and partly because I'm only managing 2hours a day in the workshop. So there tends to be a couple of posts from me each day plus responses. When it's all finished, I'll add an index to the first post.



woodsworth":31e1kpbw said:


> Either that or a dog house thread.



Much more likely. I have a reputation to keep up!


----------



## wizer

Guys, what are your thoughts on fitting a face to the fence? Either hardwood or something like phenolic? Is there any point?


----------



## 9fingers

I'd leave it as bare anodised ali. It should be low friction.
Once the anodising starts to wear (it is pretty hard though) it might mark the wood and can be clad.

Also cladding it will lose your tee slot and despite your dislike of short fences, you can use it to add one for batch cross-cutting to length and accurate shoulder cutting of tenons. I find the latter method far superior to a bandsaw.

Bob


----------



## wizer

that's sorted that then 

Thanks Bob


----------



## stoatyboy

marathon thread or not I'm finding it fascinating - can't wait to see the hopper and hear how well the dust extraction works

and is that the beginnings of your router table on the right there in the fourth pic? Hope we're going to get the full story on that as well ?!

keep 'em coming please

Cheers


----------



## woodsworth

true enough. I think this is the best example of turning a sow's ear into a silk purse? is that the saying. Fascinating stuff.


----------



## wizer

stoatyboy":17of1t86 said:


> and is that the beginnings of your router table on the right there in the fourth pic? Hope we're going to get the full story on that as well ?!



That's actually the old 'temporary' one. It's just a piece of worktop with an insert, nothing special. I will be building a new one within this process.


----------



## TrimTheKing

stuartpaul":3aysccni said:


> I would take it off, silly billy it about with a hammer until straight and stick it back in.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 6 pages before there's a technical phrase that means something to me!!
> 
> Good going Tom, - interested in your ZCI adventures.
Click to expand...

I think that is one of my literary gems, I thank you for the compliment


----------



## wizer

Panels on. Pretty it aint:






I started thinking about plugging all the holes but I'm wondering if it's worth the bother? For example the back has this hole






Which could be covered like this







But is it worth it? The whole frame has a gap all around and the front will be tricky to plug the moving handle.

Any thoughts?


----------



## Green

are you fitting a moustache to your tablesaw?


----------



## Mr Ed

I used duct tape for most of the awkward sealing jobs on mine, including the moving handle. If I want to cut a bevel I'll just peel it off and then use a new bit after.

I do think its worth sealing all you can just to avoid losing all the suck from the system.

Ed


----------



## wizer

Green":af0uhv98 said:


> are you fitting a moustache to your tablesaw?



I will call it Mein Fuhrer when I've finished.


----------



## jimi43

I think this thread will go down in history too!!!

Some brilliant stuff here which can be used by others for other jobs. It is great how you can adapt ideas others suggest for jobs you have been pondering about for ages. 

I had a look at a virgin TS200 the other day in Sittingbourne and it is really quite compact but one step above most small saws. Really nice feel to it. I noted that the riving knife does rotate in a planetary motion around the blade to keep it at the same level with the blade so that bit was important Tom!! I guess it becomes less important without the guard but still....probably necessary.

I can't wait to see how the hopper idea works....I already have the spanner in my hand ready to turn the Scheppach upside down AGAIN!!!

Jim


----------



## wizer

jimi43":1jiq4155 said:


> I can't wait to see how the hopper idea works....I already have the spanner in my hand ready to turn the Scheppach upside down AGAIN!!!



hehe that's funny as I nearly gave up on that idea today! I think I'm trying to over engineer it with not much of a clue about engineering. Finally, I realised that I'm never going to get all the dust and just a hopper from the bottom panel will have to do. 

So next onto figuring out the compound angles and how to cut them on the SCMS.


----------



## big soft moose

jimi43":2nql1nyx said:


> Some brilliant stuff here which can be used by others for other jobs. It is great how you can adapt ideas others suggest for jobs you have been pondering about for ages.
> 
> I can't wait to see how the hopper idea works....I already have the spanner in my hand ready to turn the Scheppach upside down AGAIN!!!



i was looking at the work TS200 today and i think it wont be too long before we join tom in the "lets butcher the ts200 " club 

for a start the sliding table is definitely coming off - the slide fell off three times today and for breaking down sheet material it is neither use nor ornament.

and secondly the crappy crown guard is definitely going - not only is the extration from it awful, it also keeps jamming against the work piece as its fed in - i'm binning it and replacing it with a suva stile guard 

and thirdly we need to improve the below table dust extraction as there was mdf dust all over the blinking place today - i think we'll be going with a hopper approach too.

fourthly the extension table isnt flipping level with the top of the saw - theres about 2mm difference - so thats getting taken off and replaced with a fold down torsion box construction a la steve maskery - we may aslo put fold down torsion boxes on the left and outfeed as well

and finally the crappy leg stand is going and being replaced with a mdf/ply box stand on wheels.

arrrgh rant over 

when we get round to doing all this i'll start a seperate wip thread - it wont be for a while tho as we have to build a stand for the cnc router first , and a mitresaw station for the new scms


----------



## wizer

I'm going to have to cease progress on this for the time being. For a few reasons but mainly, as I mentioned above, I would like to at least try to get my wife's anniversary box started\finished.

Don't give up on me baby, I fully intend to finish what I started


----------



## jlawrence

bsm, i find the sliding table is pretty easy to wip off when you need to work sheet goods.
i agree the guard is cr4p and a suva style seems thbe way to go.
rather than a hopper underneath i'm just going to have a drawer - I think a hopper will just waste too much space.
The other thing you will want to change is the insert. 3mm Al fits just nice for a zci.
I must be the lucky one in that my extension table is pretty flat and level  so I'll be sticking with that - though having a router table in the extension wing could be handy.


----------



## OPJ

Pete, I'm sure there was another member on this forum who found the extension table on his saw was 2mm in higher one corner than the rest, or something like that. Anyway; he spoke to Axminster and they were happy to replace that part at no charge. If your saw's still under warranty, you could try the same.


----------



## big soft moose

... and having read this whole thread from start to finish we will also be upgrading the fence - adjusting the old one is a pita

olly - ours is out of warranty but anyway its not skewed, just 2mm too low ( I suspect the suplied spacers dont raise it up enough - we could just make more spacers but as i want to make the ext table fold down when not in use anyway i think we are going to butcher it) - I'd not noticed before because we normally rip quite narrow stuff whereas yesterday i'd forgotten the railsaw so was using the ts200 to breakdown some mdf found in a skip.


----------



## dicktimber

Yawn.......Yawn...Yawn....snoooooooooze............


----------



## OPJ

wizer":2vz9cyxw said:


> I did manage to get it fractionally too high and as a consequence there is about a 2mm gap at the beginning of the fence.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'm not sure is this really matters. The fence does not glide along the table like I'd hoped, but is a massive improvement on the old one. The problem I have is comparing everything to the supersaw. That fence would glide effortlessly over the table. But then that had a pad at the end of the fence (and was nearly three times the price). I'm wondering if I should fit something like a foam pad at the far end of this one to both take up the 2mm error and help with movement.



Tom, I think it would be worthwhile fitting something below the tail end of the fence. Not only to 'level' it to the front (if that matters?) but, I reckon it will also help it to glide along the table.

I have got some Self-Adhesive Cork Dots I could send you... But, I reckon they're more likely to _increase_ friction! :roll:

A couple of bits of 1mm Formica/plastic laminate would probably be better, glued (or taped with double-sided) to the underside. Again, if you haven't got anything like that, I could send you a bit. Tufnol, nylon or similar would also do, if you had the right thickness.

Did you also notice that Axminster do a "Re-sawing and Veneering Plate for Rip Fence Upgrade" at £6.60? It's on the same page as the rip fence upgrade you bought.


----------



## wizer

Cheers Olly, I've got some felt pad dots somewhere. That should do it.

I saw that resaw attachment, which I assume is like a single point thingy. The only use I can think for the TS would be for when using the fence as a stop. But I can just use a piece of wood for that.

I was using it today, so much more pleasant to use now.


----------



## big soft moose

you can get little bits of self adhesive teflon - that would work well for increasiung slidyness i reckon


----------



## big soft moose

Well we started butchering our TS200 at work today , no bigs as yet but basically the same procedure as tom

stripped down to the main unit only, sides off, dust cowl off (tom is right this is very fiddly), faffed about putting the riving knife back on and everything lined up

didnt bother chopping the corner off the motor mounting plate as i dont think we need to

tommorow we are going to butcher the router table i bought from paul J last year and fit the ts200 into the stand, then refit the router table top (complete with T11) as the right hand extension. - the plan vis a vis dust extraction is to hopper like ed, tom , and rob, but rather than fitting it in onto the saw , we are going to enclose the saw in the stand (except the front which will be snugged in the draft excluder or duck tape) and fit the hopper into the stand. - just got to work out what to do re dust extraction for the router.

I'll hopefully have some photos tommorow.

after this we are going to make a hinge up torsion box as a left hand table, and a bigger one at the back as an out feed table


----------



## big soft moose

more butchering and modification took place today - still no pics because i forgot to pick the camera up

however we have now butchered the router table (which started life as a norm style router table - built by paulj) and turned it into a stand to take the TS200 with the router table and T11 as its right hand extension.

I'm really happy with progress - noticeable that 2 people working together are much more than twice as fast as one working alone. (especially when one's me and the other is our "head volunteer" andy)

all that remains to be done is to fit the dust hopper and run the hoses and also build the torsion boxes for left ext and out feed tables (which are going to hinge down) - I am toying with having another hinge up torsion box as an infeed table at the front but that would require relocating the nvr on the saw to the side of the cabinet and i'm not convinced that the cable is long enough.

oh yeah we also have to still sort out the fence - i'm still debating whether to buy one like tom did, or whether to try an improvise something from bits already available.

one more day should see the saw mods completed - then we are on to building a stand for the scms


----------



## Richard D

wizer":jdhi4u3z said:


> No it's definitely mounted to the table Jim
> 
> I don't think the manual will be much help
> http://www.axminster.co.uk/downloads//manual_600822.pdf



What? That manual is the very zenith of clarity and usefulness compared to the manual that came with my 15-year old Kity 419. From the look of things, they are *very* similar pieces of kit, so I'm printing out the Axminster manual before I wreck something by trying to rely on the Kity manual (which is much, much less use than Katie Price).


----------



## simocco

Hi. i have just read through this thread as i have a ts200 also. there appear to be loads of images missing or not displayed, is there any chance that they could be reposted or do I need to do anything to view them? cheers


----------



## Tony Spear

A long shot, but you could try Wizer (Tom) over on the Wood Haven. He's the guy that started this thread off and being a bit of a Computer Whizz, he may still have a record of his posts at least.

Worth a try.


----------



## aquarmby

It would be awesome if this thread could be updated along with the old photos and updates etc. The posts are a great read, just let down by lack of photos. The TS-200 is still on sale and would appear to remain as a popular choice for woodworkers! @Wizer to the rescue?

Adam.


----------

