Project Tip: Know Your Power Tools

I've been struggling with cuts on my table saw for some time now. The trouble is that wood often comes off burned on one side, which requires me to sand when it shouldn't really be necessary. And, as you probably know by now, sanding ain't one of my favorite pastimes.

Don't get me wrong - I love, love, love my table saw - it's a Riyobi BT3000 that includes a router table so I can use the rip fence as a router fence whenever I need to work some routing magic. Here's a stylized picture of my wondermachine:

I discovered last night that the back end of the fence was not holding fast once I locked it into place. The wiggle room is only a couple of millimeters, but it's enough to throw off a cut and cause the burning. Upon closer inspection, I discovered the part that clamps the fence to the rail on the far side is broken and it's been in that state since I purchased the saw a couple of years ago. Here's the part:

The culprit is the part marked '7' on the diagram. I found a replacement for it on eReplacementParts.com. It's called a "Roller Holder" and costs $3.16. 

Lesson learned.