"Andy" wrote in message

That was my goal, but I couldn't seem to make it work very well.
Granted I didn't fiddle with it very much, but the hold-down was
nowhere close to parallel with the table. I'd hold it down against
the workpiece, but as I tightened the holddown bolt, it would torque
the clamp face up at an angle. This left only the very back of the
holddown (nearest the fence) actually touching the wood, which allowed
the workpiece to lift up at an angle as I retracted the chisel.
Any advice for squaring the holddown, or for keeping it parallel as I
tighten it?

Sorry, wish I could offer some advice. About all I can say is the Delta must
not be making them like they used to as I haven't experienced that problem.

Are you tightening it more than you need to?

It's a kludge, but if all else fails, how about a shim that can easily be
slipped in and out between the hold-down and the workpiece when that
situation arises?

That said, I've not used the hold-down a few times when I only had a few
shallow slat mortises to do, just used my left hand to grip both the
workpiece and the fence tightly, and got along just fine, but certainly not
something I would want to continually do on through mortises in a 3" table
leg.

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Last update: 2/20/07