Paralleling a Table Saw Fence

In order for your table saw to work as well as it should, it's really important that the rip fence and the saw blade are perfectly parallel to each other. Now, my technique for this is I'm assuming that you've got the blade and the miter gauge slot already parallel. Then the easiest way to check your fence is to make the fence also parallel to the slot. So here's the way I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna slide my fence over until the face of the fence is even with the miter gauge slot and lock it down. And I'm not locking it. I'm feeling it. My fingers in this case will tell me more than my eyes will. So I'm feeling that. Then I'm gonna feel it all the way to the back. And if they're even in the front, in order to be parallel, of course, they need to be even all the way back. Now, if they're not, we need to make a correction. I'll show you the correction as it's made on two different style of fences. This is a T-square style fence. With these, the way it commonly works is that underneath the fence, there are tabs that look kinda like a leaf spring. And here on the front of the fence, there's a set screw. So when I dial that set screw in, it pushes on this tab, and that of course torques the fence in the opposite direction. If I back the set screw out, it lets the fence come in. So if I'm on a parallel, I'll make an adjustment by turning the set screw just a little bit. Bring the fence back. Check it again. And just keep that dialing that in until we bring the fence in parallel. Of course, it's good to look at the owner's manual for your particular fence. Make sure you're getting that just right. Now, there's a different style of fence you might have. On this fence, it's a little bit different. It's not a T-square style. The way this one works is that there are four bolts here. And these hold the body of the fence to the head of the fence. So when I loosen these bolts, that'll let me move this part, the body, independently of the head. So step one'll be the same. I'll bring this to my miter gauge slot. I'll check 'em to see. Make sure they're parallel. If they're not, loosen the body of the fence. Get it in just the right position. And then using the bolts, lock it down. Sometimes you'll see a couple of bolts up here through the top, sometimes down here, but the concept is the same. The bolts are in oversized holes. The oversized holes give you the wiggle room that you need in order to adjust this. So couple of different styles of fences. Again, best thing to do is refer to your owner's manual. Make sure you're doing it right for your fence. Most importantly, make sure that your fence is parallel to the blade in order to be safe and get the best quality cuts.