Do you use the tape on table saw fence?

[Dick Brown]

I like the tape on my saw fence but if I need something exact, I don't depend on it. Have a cabinet maker friend that doesn't have one on his saw at all. What is your favor?

[Brian Brightwell]

I use mine all the time. It is very accurate. Why not use it.
I use them on my two radial arm saws also, with one of those Brosett sliding stops.

[Stephen Cherry]

I've got a digital fence- once calibrated, it's super accurate. Used to have a normal fence- once set up it was very accurate.

Basically, you install your blade, lock the fence to make a cut whose width you can measure, make the cut on a test piece, measure the test piece with calipers, move the little pointer so that it aligns at that measurement.

It takes some care to set it up, but once set it can work very well. All this is assuming the fence is well built to produce repeatable cuts.

[Bruce Page]

I used to have to measure everything with my old Craftsman TS. The one on my Unisaw is dead nuts accurate. I use it all the time.

[glenn bradley]

I put a Starrett stick-on metal tape after I moved my fence tubes over to get more capacity. I have a DRO for the actual measurements but, the tape gets me in the ball park quickly.

[Jim Andrew]

My unisaw has the tape on the Biesmeyer fence. There is an adjustable arrow, so once it is set it is right on. I used to think I had to measure every time, because I did with the old cman saw.

[Jeff Miller]

I use mine all the time. It is very accurate. Why not use it.
I use them on my two radial arm saws also, with one of those Brosett sliding stops.

Me----Same as he does


JEFF

[Kevin Groenke]

We rely primarily on our SawStop T-square style fences and also the scales on our Exactor sliding tables. If the blades are the same width, the scales on the fences are accurate to .005" - probably better than you can do with a ruler or ESPECIALLY a measuring tape since they really don't start at 0" due to the sliding hook. Since the arbor is on the left and the fence is on the right on our saws, the blade width will throw off the scale, as a result we try to stick to .125" blades though it is easy to recalibrate the scale with a dial caliper and a scrap of wood.

-kg

[Jay Rasmussen]

I used to have to measure everything with my old Craftsman TS. The one on my Unisaw is dead nuts accurate. I use it all the time.

Bruce and I have the same history. Never a second guess with my Unisaw.

[Kevin Guarnotta]

I've got a sawstop, and I use the built in tape to get it close, but always tweak it with my tape measure. It seems like I can dial the saw into the built in tape, and get it right on. But then a few cuts later it is no longer accurate, or if I move the fence. I'm not sure what is moving on the saw to get this so far off, but something is.

[Peter Quinn]

I use the tape on my accu fence (powermatic) all the time, its as close as I need for wood working. I batch cut parts that must mate or be the same. Say I'm cutting plywood for cabinets. Do I really care if they are 23.243", or 23.237", or 23.259"? Not hardly as long as they are all the same. If I have to remake something I can usually get pretty close with the "bump" method. The tape is a reasonably accurate and repeatable reference for a device as crude as a TS. On the shaper I use a dial caliper to facilitate quicker set ups, and there a few thousands matters to me when running mating joints or something.

All that said, I've used a slider at work that has a large magnifier on the fence, and it has a rack and pinion set up for micro adjust. Throw a digital read out on that, thats just about perfect. No bumping just a hair, no hunting and pecking. Its probably more accuracy than is really necessary, but its more about speed and repeatability over time in that environment. I haven't gone through the trouble or expense to add that sort of functionality to the home shop, but it sure would be a nice way to work.

[Troy Turner]

I've got a Vega on my old craftsman. Once it got dialed in, I put the tape measure up. Only time I measure is when I have a dado set in.

[Mark Ashmeade]

Yes.

Ten characters.

[Dick Mahany]

I set up a Biesemeyer fence with integrated tape on a unisaw over 10 years ago. Still absolutely perfect, never has needed adjustment and I still never have to measure the cuts afterward as they are always right on. For narrow pieces less than 1" thick, I will occasionally use calipers and the "tap to tweak" fence adjustment to fine tune but only for the most precise requirements. I think it has to do with how well the tape and fence are positioned and set up in the first place.

[Todd Burch]

I've been changing blades too often lately to use the stuck on tape.

When I was woodworking professionally, I would install a blade, adjust the sight glass for the tape, and cut away. Now, with all the diverse cutting and blade changing I'm doing, it's quicker just to use the tape to get it close enough for "ballpark" cuts, but then I use the measuring tape when precision is needed.

Todd