Greg,

The extensions on my Jet cabinet saw were not beveled either. After shimming
them out they finally were "close enough" and I tightened them down. Then I
took an 8" mill ******* file and extended the bevels on over to the wings
and ended them with a soft curve and then took the sharp edges off all the
way around. I don't recall seeing any manufacturer having a bevel on the
extensions.

I doubt the tops and the extensions are made and ground as a matched set so
if the beveled the edges on the extensions, there's a good possibility that
the bevels would not match anyway - so pick your poison.

Looking forward to Part III and to what Frank has to say.....;-)

Bob S.

"Greg G." wrote in message
...

[Announcer's Voice:]
When we left our heroic wooddorker last week, he was about to
discuss assembly of the extension tables and fence. But now, a word
from our sponsors...
[Switch to Pandering Ad Reel]
FireStorm... FireStorm... Whatcha gonna do with that FireStorm...
ad nauseam... Video of Bruce Phillips trying to install a screw
with a drill running counterclockwise. The screw slips, and he
slices his arm on the CMS - affectionately named Radial Arm Saw.
The escaping blood covers the screen which fades to a red logo.
[/END]

OK - it wasn't all that funny. Maybe I need a new straight man.
And a technical proofreader as well. Whadda ya want fa free...

Part One left off at the point where the extension tables and fence
were about to be assembled to the saw. And I know some of you out
there are cringing at the thought of this...

But for you guys that flip to the spec's and then leave the magazine
on the rack, I'll throw out a few measurements for ya...

Factory blade angle setup was pretty close.
90 d blade angle was 90.4
45 d blade angle was 45.4

Looks as though the guy really tried to get it, but his tool was off.
(I hate it when that happens...) Double checked my tool... yep still
there. Checked the geared protractor as well - yep, good to go.
Minor quibble, just an observation.

Blade to Right Miter Slot parallelism was off by .008" over 10".
This will have to be corrected - I prefer this to be spot-on.

Miter Tracks were parallel within .002".
Good enough, and there ain't nothin you can do about it, neither.

Magnetic switch is an NHD brand MS1-09D-R - an OEM version of an off
the shelf switch. It does do current sensing and power fail shut-off.

Power cord has an interesting N 6-15 plug on it that fully shields the
electrical outlet full-circle. Nice touch, although it's imported.

Now I'll comment on some of the accessories.

Blade Wrenches. Usual stuff. Cheap steel flat stock wrenches,
probably die cut, and soft. One thing I can't quite figure out is why
they bothered to put a bend in the arbor wrench. It really makes it
useless, as the cleanest approach is from directly above. Go figure.
Could be something different about the left-tilt vs. right-tilt model,
could be because I'm a southpaw, _could be_ they bought a box of them
on eBay. I'll hammer it out flat later - or add it to the collection
of _other_ useless wrenches and drivers.

Handwheels are heavy, give a smooth feel to the mech. I am not
convinced that they are not imported, but it's possible. The curious
thing is, the included 1/8" wrench doesn't fit the allen head
setscrews. The grub screws are 5/32"... or is that 4mm?
They are not the finely machined handwheels that came on the Navy's
latest flying toy, but are cast-iron and dripped in black gloss paint.
The handgrips are bare steel, probably zinc but possibly nickel
plated. They and their axles are press fitted into the wheel. Mine
could have used a wee bit more pressin', as they rattle a touch now
and then, and move axially 3/8" or so. No biggy.

Rear Fence slide leaves .018" clearance between a flat table and the
lower edge of the fence facing. We'll talk about this later...

There were 4 3/8" flatwashers and 2 3/8" lockwashers missing from the
hardware pack for the fence. But I've got a cabinet full of 'em.
(No, I didn't lose them.)

The Blade Guard - what can be said about this pinnacle of engineering
prowess and UL/CSA approval that I didn't cover in an earlier post.
Simply meeting some UL/CSA standard as to the existence of a blade
guard doesn't equate into a useable OR well designed feature. What it
DOES indicate is that MFG's designed some minimal, crappy contraption
that was needed to barely pass spec 20 years ago, and hasn't put one
iota of though into it since. This applies to ALL manufacturers.

Let's take a poll - how many people here like OR use the guard that
with their saw? A show of hands, please... Nuff said.
At least this one came with a longer tab that retains the plastic
guard in the upright position - barely. It'll still fall on your hand
and introduce it to that nice, sharp WWII. Yep, not one iota...

Those darned extensions. I've heard a million stories of grief about
mounting them. It's actually a pretty easy job - to a point. The
manual doesn't show the proper orientation till later on - when you
have to take everything back apart if you get it wrong - but it's
pretty obvious how they go - to me. Wasn't a problem, but I can see
someone, somewhere making that mistake - twice. g

Hold one extension table up, aligned vertically. Hold the bottom with
one hand, the pre-assembled screws and washers in the other. Balance
the top against the side of your head if you have to. Put the screw
into the CENTER hole, and when it's just finger snug, simply rotate
the table to the horizontal position and install the other two.
Balance does the work for you. Don't torque those screws just yet.
The switch bracket is also mounted under the front screw on the left.
Another pan-head bolt holds the switch bracket at the front.

I only mention this because I've heard others tell tales of struggling
on the floor, upside down underneath the saw table while trying to
hold the extension's entire weight and the screws, and align it to the
saw while attempting to install the screws.
Now THAT would be a real PITA. g

So, rinse, repeat. Then wipe the top down with kerosene, rust buster
spray, whatever you've got that isn't too flammable and cuts this
stuff. Don't dribble it into the mech. Prepare for a mess on the
rag, your pants, your shirt....

The wings don't have an entry bevel cut on them like the saw table.
You would think that a cross-model generic design would match all the
tables - including the bevel - especially the top end, but not yet.
So there is a point that hangs over the front edge of the saw table.

So, it's cleaned up and you back up to get a better view of the
results of your labor.

Well, gotta go. Hate to leave you in suspense, but I guess there will
be a Part III after all. And don't forget to buy that Ovaltine.


Greg G.