Band saw table pin?

Two things:

1. Straightens the miter slot (by slightly expanding the table).

1. Aligns the table vertically (i.e. no bumping as the wood crosses the slot).

IMHO #2 is the important reason.

Thanks, Derek & D J... I guess I'll have to order one from ridgid if mine doesn't turn up..

mac

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mac davis wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Yours is hiding in the shavings and sawdust under a loaded shelf in the corner of the shop. At least that's where mine always goes, when it's feeling underappreciated.

Patriarch

Time to bag and drag the magnets around....

it also helps keep a broken blade from getting out as easily

I think the shop gremlins got it.. after looking about 20 times, I had the grandkids looking with large magnets on dowels.. They found a LOT of interesting hardware, but no table pin.. lol

mac

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How do you know it's working..........if you don't know what it does?

Barry

You might wanna look inside your shop vac................that's where I find most of my stuff..................Barry

Barry, The pin is there on purpose. They the table was cut halfway through to allow the blade to pass, it allowed any internal forces in the iron casting to release. This often causes a warped table. Two thing may happen. First, you may hit a 'bump' as you begin sawing. Second, and more likely, your miter gage will not slide smoothly. After changing the blade, tap the tapered pin into place until your miter gage moves smoothly with no catches. Dan

wow, Barry.. you must of pulled this out of the archives!! the tapered dowel, (which is still in there) fit, and the saw cut, so I figured the saw "worked".. I'd guess that if I had also mentioned that i had a larger, wood table over the steel one, that it would of been less important or whatever..

mac

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before I got a DC, I used to find 3/4" bench pegs in the shop vac all the time..lol

I always fish a large magnet around in the shavings before emptying the vac or cyclone, so it wasn't there.. it will probably show up the day after I buy a new pin..

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

Go "panning," by shaking and bouncing the shavings. Heavier stuff will head for the bottom. Then the magnet.

I had gone from steel to easily snipped brass welding rod on my old pin chuck, just so I wouldn't bother looking. Took more time than cutting a new one. The thicker one from Best Wood Tools has fallen into the bag twice so far. Don't need to say the bag was full both times, do I? Never falls when the bag's freshly emptied.

don't worry about it, you have the tapered dowel in there and it is doing the job of both keeping the slot open but more importantly keeping the top of the table flat so it doesn't warp at the slot.

Brian

Yep, my saw has one, too. I was just never clear on its purpose. I assumed it had something to do with keeping the table flat, but wasn't absolutely sure. Actually, I was just tweaking your brain a bit with my smart-assed comment. :-)

Barry