Record Power TS250-RS - assembly, set-up and review

[siggy_7]

Well after further deliberation and an appearance of the purchase monster, I decided to go for the Record TS250-RS after all. I bought one from Yandles at the recent Record Power show, including Squaring Table, Wheel kit and Mitre fence, along with a DX4000 and accessory kit. The saw and accessories were delivered the following Friday, the extractor was out of stock and came separately 12 days later.

I set aside quite a bit of time for assembly, knowing that it wouldn’t be a 5 minute job – and so it proved. The instructions aren’t terrible but aren’t perfect either, there are a few omissions and mistakes which I hope to save other people the hassle from in this review. I received a total of 7 packages with my saw order, which came in polystyrene insert packaging to keep everything nice and secure during transit.

The first assembly step is to assemble the base for the cabinet. The four sides bolt together, and I was surprised at the amount of adjustment in the holes. My recommendation would be to set the front and back panels so that the tops sit slightly lower than the sides, and also to set them back slightly so that the tops of the front and back panels are slightly closer together than you might think. It doesn’t need to be much, but I found that when fitting the saw unit on (which attaches via two bolt holes on each side piece) I had to reach inside the cabinet to slacken off some of the bolts and make adjustments – not ideal! I added on the swinging outrigger arm at this point because I have that option. The outrigger feels quite solid and slides without any play. It also has a magnet that holds it against the cabinet when not in use, a nice touch.

There is a base stabiliser which attaches to the front; the written instructions mention that you need to screw this in with 4 hex-head M8 bolts but it’s obvious you need to do so. There is an M10 bolt that attaches to the underside of the stabiliser which serves the purpose of levelling the unit on uneven ground; where the manual says “M10 bolt and washer” it actually means the bolt and a nut for locking it in place. As I had the wheel stand, there was a longer bolt included in the box for that accessory.

I next put the assembled cabinet on the wheel stand before lifting on the saw unit. Obvious to most people I hope, but I wouldn’t put it past myself to not have rushed into it without thinking and then had to lift the much heavier fully assembled unit on as a result. The wheel stand is a welded frame which has two fixed wheels and two non-adjusting skids on the other side and a cut-out for the base stabiliser. A twin jockey wheel inserts in the other side and lifts the two skids off the ground, which works well and I found surprisingly manoeuvrable and capable of going over my tamped concrete drive easily, which I was prior a bit worried about. The wheels are arranged with the fixed wheels on the right of the saw, and the jockey wheel fits to the sliding beam side of the saw on the left, so you move the saw right-left in a straight line, rather than forward-back as I was expecting.

Lifting the saw unit on is definitely a two person job, but not actually as bad as I was expecting – I managed to do it with my Mum quite easily, she’s very small and I’m no beefcake, so two reasonably able adults should be able to handle it. The manual states that you should attach the saw with 4 M8 allen head bolts, but the threaded inserts on mine were M6 which caused some initial confusion – fortunately there were M6 bolts supplied for the purpose!

The hand wheels are solid cast, and I had two different wheels (the grub screws were different sizes) although the manual states that they are identical. The smaller grub screw wheel I attached to the angle adjuster; the grub screw fits into a keyed slot. The larger grub screw wheel I fitted to the rise and fall shaft, which has a machined flat for the grub screw to engage onto. The grub screws require quite a long handled allen key to tighten, which wasn’t supplied – fortunately I had ones that fitted (the saw was supplied with a 10,13 and 16mm spanner as well as two allen keys for the M6 and M8 bolts).

The NVR switch is stored within the saw for safety during transport, and is easily retrieved from within by opening up the access hatch on the left hand side. Whilst this was open I also dropped down the hose for the internal dust extraction and had a good poke about. The extraction system has a plastic shroud around the blade which is extracted via a 100mm flexible hose. This looks fairly decent and I am hoping will give good extraction, although only some use will tell. Picture of the internal shroud, taken through the side access hole:

The threads on the rise/fall and angle screws are rolled threads and engage with metal teeth on the trunnions, which have a solid and smooth feel. Everything was nicely greased and the table was covered in a protective anti-rust oil as well.

There is a plastic component that looks like it should push into the back of the saw for the dust extraction system, so that’s what I did with it (no mention or sign of it in the manual). It was a tight fit to push in, but engaged nicely once done. The 100mm flexible hose passes out through this, then a large jubilee clip attaches to another solid plastic coupling to link up to a 100mm extraction hose, and also has a 30mm port to connect to the crown guard extractor. A 30mm hose is supplied to connect this up. The crown guard is a standard plastic affair that attaches to the riving knife with a knurled fastener, which will be replaced at some point on my saw with an overhead guard which will allow me to cut down the riving knife for part-depth cuts.

It was at this point that I found that a few small bits for installing the sliding beam were missing from my kit! I called Yandles to ask them to sort the problem out, as it was a Saturday I had to wait until the following week for Record to resolve the issue. These things happen I guess and to be fair to Record they called me the day the fault was reported to them and the parts were with me the following day. If I’m honest I would have run out of time before completing assembly that day anyway, so no real harm done.

I took the time I had at this point to check a couple of alignments. The blade wasn’t at 90 degrees when against its stop, so I set that right. The stop engages on the rolled thread via a grub screw and is not a separate bolt on my saw as the manual suggests. This proved to be a bit of a faff to set up, as undoing the grub screw even slightly causes it to foul on the front trunnion. My solution was to slacken the grub screw off just enough to free the stop, set the blade at 90 degrees and then wind the stop hard up against its rest face. I couldn’t tighten the grub screw in this orientation, so I wound the stop back a quarter of a turn and locked it off, tilted the blade at an angle, then wound the stop forward the quarter of a turn again. I re-checked and all was fine. Picture of the stop, taken through the rise and fall slot:

I checked the run out on the blade with a dial test indicator, which was 7.5 thou – not super-great, but I consider that passable for the supplied blade (a 36 tooth multi-purpose). I plan to replace this with a 60 tooth ATB blade for general purpose duties soon (I don’t plan to rip much thick hardwood), either a Freud LP040 or an Atkinson-Walker Industrial one. When I do this, I will check the run-out on the arbour as well, but as the blade came attached I didn’t remove it just for this purpose. The riving knife has 2.3mm thickness stamped on it, which I measured as 2.34mm with a Vernier. The alignment needed some tweaking, which is achieved via three grub screws which are easily accessed through the side of the saw once the 16mm nut is slackened off a bit. Make sure you really tighten this nut back up again – when I was doing some trial cuts, I inadvertently hit the back of the riving knife with a board sliding the carriage back for another cut, and the knife sprung back onto the blade. Close-up on the riving knife adjustment:

Fast forward two weekends and it was time to finish the assembly. The sliding beam is aluminium, which I am treating very carefully to avoid damaging it too much – the one on display in Yandles appears to have suffered a bit from being bashed about, but being built to an affordable price not everything can be solid precision ground cast. A small plate sits at either end of the saw on which the sliding beam rests, and is secured onto these plates via a bolt from the underside into a nut running in the slot on the underside of the beam. Two bolts on the underside of the beam align the beam front-back, and two bolts on the side of the saw act as stops to ensure a consistent parallel distance from the main table, although these bolts cannot be adjusted in situ. The sliding beam can be levelled by two grub screws underneath each of the small beam rest plates, which quickly got the whole thing levelled with the main table, and then clamped down nice and tight. The image below shows one of the plates in position at the back, and the slot where the second one will rest at the front, along with the levelling grub screws clearly visible:

The manual doesn’t mention the installation of the sliding beam lock, which I tackled next. This bolts onto the underside of the sliding beam, and once installed provides a simple lock to the sliding beam travel by sliding a sprung catch into a notch on the underside of the beam.

Next was the installation of the pressed steel extension tables. Two bolts fix the rear extension table, and four for the side extension table. There is some vertical travel in the holes on the extension tables, and grub screws also which provide the means for aligning the extensions to the main cast table. This didn’t take too long although was slightly fiddlier than I thought. Once these were on, I bolted the support for the crown guard extraction hose onto the side extension table.

The scale and rip fence rail bolt on to the front of the cast table. The measuring scale has some horizontal movement, although it is at the limit of travel to one side at the moment and I think it needs to be further over still – I didn’t fully check this though so will check again soon. The rip fence rail attaches via four bolts with a nut either side of the table; some vertical adjustment in the slots sets the rail at the correct height and a nut either side of the cast table sets the rail so that the rip fence is parallel with the blade. The front mount is pretty solid and includes a micro-adjuster; I plan to get a magsquare to provide additional support to the back of the rip fence as with all non Biesemeyer-type fences only mounted on one rail the far end could do with a little extra support. It’s still reasonably solid though. The rip fence can be adjusted front-back to help prevent kickback when ripping, so no need for a separate short rip fence. The following two images show the compact size of the full saw assembled (minus squaring table) and the mounting of the rip fence rail.

I tried the mitre gauge in the slot. It doesn’t appear to slide when everything is tightened up – I need to investigate this some more, but it seems that the intention is that the mitre gauge is clamped in position on the sliding beam and then the beam travel is used to make the cut. It seems very solid in the slot when clamped down. Unlike in the brochure images, there is no hold-down clamp on the gauge.

There is a slot in the side of the sliding beam that accepts a double bolt mount for the squaring frame table. A single rod screws into the underside of the squaring table, and a pair of nuts the other end secure the rod into the outrigger, and provides a height adjustment to level the table. The squaring table sat proud of the sliding beam when installed; I need to investigate a way of levelling this.

There was a loud clunking when I tested the complete assembly, which I traced to the outrigger pivot. There are four grub screws which require tightening up against the pivot; these obviously must be to align the pivot vertically. I just wound them in; I will check the proper alignment in the near future.

The cross-cut fence can attach to the squaring table in one of two positions; a pin sits in a hole on the squaring table about which the fence pivots. The pin sits in a slot on the underside of the fence so when cutting at an angle you can still ensure the fence supports the workpiece up close to the blade. The fence is clamped onto the table by a bolt and hand lever. For cutting at 90 degrees, there is a stop which pushes up from the squaring table to butt the fence up against (one at each end for each of the holes for the locating pin). This is eccentric, so the 90 degree position can be set correctly by undoing a grub screw and rotating the stop in its mount, then locking into position again with the grub screw. There is a flip-over stop for cross-cutting which runs in a slot on top of the fence, but no hold-down clamp. I plan to source one soon. There is a small support on the end of the fence for supporting long pieces, and the fence telescopes out to over 2m in length when needed.

After all this, all that remained was to screw on the crown guard and hook up the 30mm hose to the rear extraction point. And I was finished! I still need to re-check a few alignments, and I also need to check the beam and mitre slot are parallel to the blade – as the beam is aluminium, I can’t use a magnetic base for a dial test indicator. I plan to make up a simple jig riding in the mitre slot for this purpose.

I hooked up the extractor and made a few trial cuts on 1” thick chipboard up to about 1m square, which I will be using to board up the workshop roof for storage of all the junk that’s currently in there. While obviously no test of cut quality, everything ran smoothly and there was no hint that this was really trying the load bearing capacity of the beam and sliding table. Dust extraction from the cabinet seemed good, although the crown guard extraction was not at all effective. I plan to replace the crown guard with a proper overhead style one at some point, and probably run this to a separate extractor as I don’t think the 30mm tee into the main extraction hose is providing sufficient suction. The one limitation I have found so far is that it appears that the outrigger travel does not extend far enough to allow a full 1220mm stroke on the sliding beam when the extension table is used. I didn’t have enough time to properly look into this before it started to get dark (my workshop lighting is currently terrible!) so I will add onto this thread as I get more experience with the saw. Overall though, I’m very pleased with it and think I made the right choice; with the squaring frame off it’s nice and compact for my small workshop but with it all set up it appears to have the capacity for working with quite large and heavy sheets accurately.

Final image of the complete set-up:

 

[siggy_7]

Since the initial set up, I've had the chance to play with the saw a bit, so thought I'd document how I'm getting on.

One of the problems I mentioned I noticed initially was the squaring frame, which attaches to the sliding beam, wasn't level with the beam and the rest of the table. I have since found an adjustment. There are two round-headed allen key bolts protruding from the squaring frame which fit into a slot on the side of the sliding beam. The holes for these are actually elongated; by popping the black plastic cap off the end you can adjust these up and down thereby levelling the side of the frame with the beam. You can of course adjust the height the other side by adjusting the length of the rod connecting the squaring frame to the outrigger. A close-up below:

I bought a Freud LP040M 250mm cross-cut blade (60 tooth ATB, 2.8mm kerf) to replace the 36 tooth general purpose cheapy blade that comes with it. I measured the run-out on the arbour as being below the accuracy of my equipment and method, which I was quite pleased with. I confirmed this and the quality of the blade by measuring no more than 0.001" run-out near to the teeth on the blade installed. It now cuts much smoother and with little resistance, and I have been getting zero tearout in plywood and virtually zero on laminated MDF without a zero clearance insert. Needless to say I'm satisfied with this! On the subject of inserts, the existing one is thin metal and sits a little below the main table when fitted. I've shimmed it out roughly level with some bits of paper for now, but I will make up a decent insert and a ZCI when I have the time, although I'm not sure of the material to use as it's only supported by a rebate to the right of the blade and also it's not very thick, so something strong and precisely thicknessable is key - maybe phenolic if I can find some.

One limitation I found initially was when using the squaring frame in terms of stroke length. Although the beam has a stroke of just over 1200mm, this is restricted by the outrigger unless the squaring frame is near the leading edge of the beam as it can't reach back fully if the table is mounted further back. This requires the cross-cut fence to be ahead of the material being cut, however unfortunately even in the forward-most mounting hole there is approximately a 20cm gap between the blade and the cross-cut fence, meaning you effectively lose this bit of travel when using the cross-cut fence and squaring frame - not ideal for 8'x4' sheet work, one of the main attractions for buying the saw. I plan to address this by making an alternative squaring frame up which will extend forward of the sliding beam and therefore allow the full travel to be utilised. A job for later this year when I have some time to go and tinker with a TIG welder. I also plan to try out a drill press cam clamp from Rutlands on the cross-cut fence.

The dust extraction below the table is reasonable, with relatively little dust ending up on the floor or in the cabinet (I've mostly been cutting MDF and generating lots of fine dust). The above-table extraction is somewhat lacking with the existing crown guard, to the extent that I don't bother using it - although this is with the hose teeing into the main 4" extraction hose, so I might try it with a second vacuum solely for the crown guard to see if this improves things. A better overhead crown guard and a proper riving knife which doesn't sit proud of the blade are also on my to-do list. On the subject of the riving knife, I took it off to try and cut some grooves to create some splined mitre joints at the weekend (which wasn't successful as the test piece predictably kicked back on me), re-fitting it was a bit of a pain although I should have just disconnected more of the guard around the blade to start with, rather than fiddling for ages around the guard.

Generally, I'm very happy with how the saw is performing. I've trued up the main areas up enough now to get it cutting nice and square, and with the new blade it's cutting very well. I changed the cable on the power cord for a 5m length of 2.5mm cable which menas I don't have to faff with extension leads, a very worthwhile tweak if you ask me. I had a bit of rust developing on the cast iron top (it's stored in an unheated detached garage) which cleaned off in less than 5 mins with some scotchbrite and WD40, I've applied a couple of coats of Liberon lubricating wax which I'm hoping will prevent reoccurence. I stand by my decision to buy it; for the smaller workshop I think it's a cracking saw. If you have the space for something bigger and less mobile I can't say I'd recommend it over something like the Axminster MJ12-1600 which seems amazing value by comparison, but sadly I don't and realistically the Record will do everything I am likely to ask of it simply and accurately.

 

[Eric The Viking]

Thanks for the review, especially the bits about the sliding table. I can't say I'm not jealous, but I haven't really got the space!

Regarding panel cutting, Have you considered using a rail saw (Festool, Makita, DW, etc.) to make the first cuts. Aidan has a really good design for a knock-down panel-cutting table, which he kindly posted here. For me it's a better and safer solution, although the sliding carriage on my Kity wouldn't manage a full panel under any circumstances, anyway!

Regards,

E.

 

[siggy_7]

Eric,

Regarding panel sizing, I've cut panels up to 8'x2' so far without any real trouble. I will invest in some support stands at some point when I have more large sheet work to do and when I have sorted the cross-cut capability out; at present the projects I'm doing are exclusively on smaller stuff. Given that all I would use it for is initial panel sizing I wanted to avoid the extra expense and kit required for a rail saw - if I struggle with absolute accuracy on bigger sheets I should be able to rough-cut on the table saw easily. I did see Aidan's designs though and they look very well thought out, if I do find the need for a hand held saw I'll be sure to make one.

 

[The Real Knocker]

Hello All
I have one of these models. It's a bit older circa 2009. It a great machine but I am having a few problems.
1. Dust extraction is poor. I have a record RSDE2 but still end up with lots of saw dust under the machnie
2. Purchased a great liminate blade, but still fuffer with breakout, chipping

Any advise would help

 

[siggy_7]

Regarding dust extraction, I have found also that there is some dust below the saw, but my collector does do a good job of catching most of it. If you look at the 4th picture in my first post, you will see the shroud that fits around the saw carriage and the 100mm extraction hose connected to it - is this still on and secure on your saw? (Inspect this by taking off the side-plate on the saw, 4 screws). Mine came loose during installation and I had to tighten up the jubilee clip around the hose, which isn't the best way of securing a round hose to an oval duct. Also, your extractor is about 50 litres/second flow - the manual recommends a minimum of 690m^3/hr for the main extraction, or about 200 litres/sec - so it could just be that your extractor doesn't have sufficient flow to really do a good job of collecting.

On tear-out, I've had zero tear-out cutting plywood and very acceptable levels (for me anyway) cutting veneered MDF. I'm using a 60 tooth Freud LP40 cross-cut blade. Assuming you have a decent multi-tooth blade in good condition and you are feeding at a steady pace, if you are still suffering from tear-out then there are a few things you could try. One is to score along the cut-line with a knife. You could also run masking tape on the underside of the cut, this will support the fibres a bit as the blade teeth exit the cut into the table. Matthias Wandel of Woodgears recommends setting the saw to about a 1mm cut depth and running the board backwards over the saw first, as the direction of the cut on the underside will then be the saw blade cutting into the board thereby reducing tear-out - to do this you will need the riving knife set slightly lower than the top of the blade, and I make no guarantees that this is a sensible and safe practice (although as it's a shallow cut if done with care I don't see any obvious risks). The final thing you could do is fabricate some sort of zero clearance insert to replace the aluminium one, preferrably that goes either side of the blade. I will have a look at my saw tomorrow and see if there's a feasible way of doing this.

 

[siggy_7]

I had a look on my saw today, the insert around the blade measures about 430mm x 60mm and is 5mm thick. There is a 7mm gap between the blade and the sliding beam. I think that this could be increased up to about 17mm by repositioning the beam on its mounts, so I reckon you could make up a zero clearance insert from polycarbonate that would support the wood on both sides which would help you with the tear-out.

 

[siggy_7]

Since I last posted on this thread, I have made a couple of minor modifications to the saw.

Firstly, I have levelled out the throat plate a bit. The throat plate is 5mm aluminium and when tightened up all the way on its three screws it sits noticeably below the cast table. Part of the problem is that the holes in it are not concentric with those in the table. So I enlarged the offending hole a little, and built up the underside of the plate with layers of 30 micro aluminium tape. I also added two extra M4 machine screws to hold the plate more level - I tapped the holes for these into the cast iron table. The levels are now much better and accuracy is not longer compromised here.

The second mod is to the riving knife. In common with a lot of table saws, the riving knife has a crown guard that bolts to the top of it. This means that partial depth cuts are impossible with the riving knife installed, which in my opinion is a daft way to design a table saw as it positively encourages the user to remove it for these kinds of cuts. I have therefore modified my riving knife so that it sits lower in the saw carriage, and is about 1mm shy of the blade tip. I elongated the three slots where the knife fits into its carrier, and trimmed a bit off the bottom so it would slide all the way down. I also found I had to grind quite a bit off the rear edge of the knife to avoid it fouling on the saw carriage when the blade is wound down under the table - this fouling forced it forward to the extent where it made contact with the blade. The end result - I can now make blind cuts without any changes to or removal of the riving knife. Picture of the modified knife is below - you can see my slightly wobbly extensions to the slots where I made a succession of holes with the pillar drill and then smoothed over with a dremel, and also the profile at the rear of the knife where I ground off the back.

Unfortunately I've not been able to devote a great deal of time to woodworking projects recently. I am hoping to get my custom router wing made up in the next couple of months though; I'll upload the details when finished.

 

[davidcht]

Though this thread started some time ago, it's worth saying again what a really helpful guide this is - thanks for the trouble taken, Siggy. I'm in the middle of setting up a new TS250-RS; amazingly (or not?), every inaccuracy and omission you identified in the instructions is still there eighteen months later - and no supplementary error sheet. Any further modifications or advice on using the machine since your September post?

Many thanks again,

David

 

[siggy_7]

Glad you found it useful David. I haven't made any further modifications since, although I have a couple planned. From an accuracy and set up perspective, the most important of these is a new insert for the saw blade. The one that comes with the saw is aluminium and 5mm thick. Unfortunately the middle of the three screws that locate it is not in line with the tapped hole in the table, that in combination with the flatness of the aluminum means that I can't get the insert level with the saw. Having abandoned my attempts to rectify this with additional screws and shims (it was better but still not perfect), I've bought some 4mm perspex and grub screws so that I can make a levelling insert plate to replace the metal one - I'll let you know how I get on with this.

The trickiest part of setting up the saw is the beam. I've fiddled with this a few times, and found the best method to be as follows:

1. Use a dial gauge to set the beam angle relative to the blade. Attach the dial gauge to the beam, then slide the beam along so that the dial gauge runs in contact with the side of the blade from front to back. You want a slight relief, maybe 0.1-0.15mm, so that the cut piece resting on the beam doesn't get a second cut from the rear of the blade. There are two bolts protruding from the saw to help you position the beam angle in this regard. Once you have this set, apply a loose locking pressure with the two bristol levers underneath.

2. Move the beam travel to its mid position, and lock the travel. Then, set the beam level to the table. I use a known 2' straight edge which rests on its side (a Dakota one from Rutlands) and a feeler gauge underneath for this, which makes it very quick and easy. To make adjustments, slacken off the bristol levers just a bit and make the tiniest of adjustments to the grub screws underneath the levelling plates. Be aware that the bristol lever pressure can affect the alignment a bit, but you should get a feel for it after a while. Make sure you check it all when fully locked down. Note that it's important to do this step with the beam in the locked position, because that's where it will matter for ripping when you want the whole assembly as level as possible. Record recommend that the beam is set about 1mm proud of the table so that cross-cuts don't drag, but that would mess up your rip cutting so I don't do that. I don't find a significant drag set up as it is.

3. If you've made big adjustments, I'd probably repeat steps 1-2 again just for my own peace of mind. Any adjustments needed this time around should be small, and you should be quite quick at this point anyway!

4. I use the straight edge to check the squaring frame as well (see earlier posts for how to adjust this). Because it's fabricated from box sections, it's not all that dead flat and straight on top, but it shouldn't matter too much. I have found that tightening up the bristol levers too much that attach the frame to the beam can change the alignment of it all a bit, so I don't use very much pressure on these - just enough to secure it. There are also four grub screws at 90° on the support arm, which you can use to make sure that the outrigger stays level through its travel. Adjust these in opposite pairs if you decide this needs changing.

Hope that helps, happy to answer any more queries you might have. One other modification I have planned at some point is to buy some hexagonal steel bar the right size for the T-slots on the cross cut fence and sliding beam, and replace all the fittings for those. Currently, as you will find, the little square nuts sit in the slots with the bolts screwing into them. This means that unless the bolts are precisely the right length, they bottom out on the T-slots which I think is a terrible design (I've had to re-fabricate the cross cut fence clamp already because I stripped the nut in the fence, and want to get these made up before I need to do this again).

 

[davidcht]

Thanks again, Siggy - really helpful; I have a carefully annotated copy of this thread alongside the machine as I continue my setup and fettling.

The guidance on levelling the sliding table works really well, but I lost it all when trying to change the blade. I discovered that I couldn't move the sliding section sufficiently far forward to clear the blade, as shown in Figure 9.1 of the manual. Even after removing the red nylon travel limiters under the sliding section, and moving the fixed section forward until the sliding beam lock touches the main body of the machine, the end of the sliding section overlaps the back of the blade and stops me drawing it off the arbor. I need to use rip and crosscut blades regularly, and to remove the entire sliding table (and lose the setup) every time I change a blade will be a ..... disappointment! But surely I shouldn't have to - what am I missing?

Two other minor queries at this stage. Did you have to extend the holes on the measuring scale to get the fence reading true? I am about a millimetre out at full travel. And what is the role of the mystery part - a pointed metal rod about 90mm long with an M8 thread on the upper half and a large black plastic knob; something else I've missed?

Thanks again.

David

 

[siggy_7]

Regarding blade changes and the beam - mine initially came so that when I slid it fully to the front of the saw the blade was completely free. If you think about it though, the beam is 1.32m long but only has 1.25m of travel - so if you have part of that 1.25m of travel used up providing for blade clearance, you can't cross-cut an 8x4 sheet. I therefore adjusted mine (I undid one end of the sealed parts of the beam, took out the ball races and re-positioned it all) so that it runs more like it sounds yours does. As you point out, this then makes changing blades awkward. I have found that I do have enough clearance with the blade vertical, although it's tight and requires a few seconds of patient manouvering.

Do you have enough clearance (try from either end to see which gives you more) to get the 16mm spanner on the arbor and drop a screwdriver the other side of the blade to lock the blade? If you can loosen it off like this, then you should be able to wiggle the blade out. You might find after taking the nut off that tilting the arbor then gives you the clearance you need, have a play and see how you get on. You might find access from underneath the table by taking the side plate and dust shroud off easier also. You definitely shouldn't have to be taking the beam off each time, you'll have no end of bother setting it up afterwards. The nylon limiters are only there to stop the ball races crashing into the end of their travel, and don't really limit the available movement very much (or at least, they shouldn't if properly positioned) - I would fit them back in if I were you. If you can measure about 1250mm of travel, that's as much as the beam is designed to give you.

Regarding your other queries - yes, I also found the holes on the scale needed adjusting to get the scale accurately aligned. The metal rod you describe sounds like the locking mechanism for the arbor tilt wheelm located underneath the right hand extension table. It should just thread in through the centre of the wheel; do it up to lock the tilting screw, and then just crack off half a turn when you want to angle the blade before nipping back up again.

 

[johnnydejaegher]

Hi Siggy, David,

I was wondering if you guys are still using this tablesaw today ? And do you have any more tips ?

3 weeks ago I bought this model myself, including all options. And I have had a similar experience with it as I read in this thread. (bolts and nuts missing as well as parts that weren't mentioned in the manual).
Furthermore I have not been able to align the carriage/beam 90 degrees to the blade. I used a 5-cut method to test this and the closest I could get it was still 0,6mm off on a 60cm cut...

Finding this thread made me regain some energy to get back to making this thing work, but I must admit I had given up and I didn't even get any further than trying to align the carriage/beam (the ripfence I haven't touched yet as I want to be able to cut a reference board first).

Sorry if I made any mistakes to the English language, it is not my mother tongue !

Kind regards,
Johnny

 

[siggy_7]

Johnny - yes, I am still using this saw regularly and it continues to perform well. Regarding your issue of cutting alignment with the sliding beam, you should have a bolt sticking sideways out of the main frame of the side of the saw that points towards the sliding beam (one at each end of the beam). You can see these two bolts clearly in the 7th picture of my original post (beam not installed in that picture). If you slacken off the clamping pressure on the beam, you can use these bolts to nudge one end of the beam quite precisely and improve the alignment. I think they are M6 threads, so each turn of a flat (1/6 turn) is 0.16mm adjustment. Then re-tighten the beam clamp, and check the beam is still aligned with the top of the table. I found it took a while to tighten these up consistently, as a different amount of torque when re-tightening can adjust the alignment flatness-wise. You should find it's relatively quick to align the beam this way and then re-try your cuts - if you note the adjustment made and the result, you should be able to make a more informed adjustment subsequently.

The above should help you get the beam tracking precisely with the saw blade. To get 90 degree square cuts, you probably need to align the fence on the beam (I presume what you are struggling with is that you don't have 90 degree cuts when cutting a panel with the squaring table, for example?). To adjust the fence alignment you should change the setting of the stops that are built into the steel frame that bolts onto the side of the beam (the one supported by the outrigger). You can see in the last but one picture of my original post that the fence is pushed hard up against one of these stops, which push out from the frame. To make an adjustment there is a grub screw to slacken off, you can then rotate the stop inside the frame (as the stop is not concentric with its mount, this makes an adjustment to the final fence position). Re-tighten the grub screw and then put the fence back on, ensuring it's hard up against that stop and properly clamped onto the frame. Then re-check with the 5 cut method. You should find that this makes alignment quick and easy. I have found the fence stop gives a repeatable setting for reassembly.

Only other change I have made to date is I cut a small section of the sliding beam out at the front end. When I slide the beam fully forward, this gives me sufficient access to change the blade much easier than before. I'm most of the way through a router table extension at the moment, and I'll be updating this thread with details when finished. Oh, and your English was absolutely fine, so no need to mention it.

 

[davidcht]

Hi Johnny - sorry for the delay in responding. Yes, I'm also still using the saw, not very intensively at present, but still referring to Siggy's posts for guidance. You'll find that most problems can be sorted by following his suggestions, so don't give up; the manual is by far the worst thing about the saw. (I hear that Record are undertaking a rewrite of their manuals, so let's all give them lots of motivation!)

The only experience I can add relates to the riving knife adjustment. The knife is held between two plates and clamped to the body of the saw by a nut and bolt through the whole assembly with plain and spring washers to assist the process. As Siggy says, this needs to be cranked up pretty tight to prevent the riving knife being pulled on to the blade if you get a bind and are foolish enough (as I was) to try to withdraw the board before turning off the power - very pretty shower of sparks.

The alignment of the riving knife assembly is adjusted with three M4 grub screws which are mounted in the rear clamping plate but accessible through holes/slots in the front plate and riving knife. Having withdrawn the board I was ripping (a knotty bit of cedar ful of stresses), I checked the alignment, tightened up the securing bolt - and saw the knife assembly snap out of alignment with a nasty metallic crunch. Under (not excessive) pressure, the grub screws simply lost their grip in the clamping plate; lessen the pressure, and the riving knife would move easily.

The problem derived from the oversize tappings in the plate, which made the screws a very slack fit - you could wobble them from side to side with finger and thumb. The plate is around 2.6mm thick, so M4s will be held by 4 threads at best, I guess; to drill and retap the holes for a larger screw might therefore only compound the problem, with even fewer threads engaged - assuming a very precise piece of drilling. So there was no alternative but to wait for a new part from Record, which arrived fairly promptly, and was much more accurately machined than the original. It's now in place and all is well so far - though I'm pretty cautious when tightening up the securing nut. Tight enough and no more - as always, the presence of a spring washer is a pretty obvious hint!

Good luck!

David

 

[Yorkman]

Well, I got this saw just before the summer and want to change the blade, because it's cxxx.

There is however one slight problem. With the sliding table in the "back" position the front end of it still covers 2-3 cm of the blade, and the blade can not be removed.

Is there any way of moving the sliding table a few cm back, so I can get the blade out?

After a nice long holiday I don't remember how the table was mounted, but I imagine there must be a screw or two to loosen and the adjustment made.

Thanks for any help or suggestions.


Paul

 

[siggy_7]

The beam has a shorter travel than its length, mine hits the limits at either end before clearing the blade. My solution was to cut out a small section of the beam at one end:

This doesn't affect performance when locked in position for ripping, but gives me enough clearance to get the blade out quite easily. There's a knack to not losing the nut and washer assembly, but I can easily change blades now in a minute or so.

 

[masher_oz]

I'm looking at getting this saw over here (www machineryhouse com au/W688).

Is it all still going well?

How far is it from the mitre slot on the sliding table to the blade?

 

[siggy_7]

Yep, saw is still working well and nothing's broken. The t slot right hand edge (it's not a normal mitre slot) is 170mm from the blade on my saw, although the exact distance depends on the positioning of the cross cut beam.

 

[masher_oz]

Good to hear. Mitre slot or t-slot, as long as it is able to have jigs and featherboards attached to it, it's all good by me.