Unifence(s)

[Scott Schwake]

I've ended up with 2 Unifences, but only one rail. One fence is light gray, and one is blue-gray. They look pretty similar, but if a guy was only going to keep one, is one superior to the other?

[Chris Rosenberger]

The darker one is older & a little heaver. Other than that, there is no difference.
Some people like to have 2 for times when they need to make quick cuts on the left of the blade. They put the fence on the right side of one of the heads.

[Roger Davis]

I have two Unifences and have installed a Uni-T-Fence Table Saw Fence available from Peachtree Woodworking on one of the Unifence heads. The Uni-T-Fence Table Saw Fence provides T Tracks on the fence face and on the fence top for attaching stop blocks and other accessories not available on the stock Unifence. I find that having two fences saves a lot of set up time by switching from one fence to the other. Just remember to adjust the plastic crosshair window on the fence head for the rail tape for each fence.

Roger

[Paul Stoops]

It is hard to see in your pic, but I would suspect the darker colored one is the older model. As I recall one of the differences between the two is the size of the plastic adjustment bolts that contact the front of the rail. I have the newer one and it has larger adjustment bolts. That said, either one should work well. I would keep both in the event you might need them in the future. I think they are no longer made, so having a spare might be wise.

Paul

[Bill Geibe]

Paul is right that the older models use a bigger front adjustment bolts, but both those units seem to be the newer versions, though I can see slight differences. The older Unifences look like this:

bigafence.jpg

Bill

[Chris Rosenberger]

Both of the fences are of the newer design. The darker one is the older of the newer design heads, because it is a heaver casting.

[Paul McGaha]

Just curious and I apologize for drifting off topic but are there any advantages to using a Unifence over a Biesmeyer?

PHM

[Bill McNiel]

i believe the lighter color one came with the Aniversery issue model

[Bill Geibe]

Both are excellent fence systems. One thing the Uni can do is be flipped over so the short edge can be used for sheet goods. A trick I do with mine is to take a short piece of the fence that I cut off (an edge was damaged) and I use that as a stop block on the right side of the blade when doing repeat crosscuts with the miter gauge on the left.

I don't have that Peachtree Uni-T-Fence for mine - yet.

Bill

[Paul Stoops]

I like the ability to flip the fence over so that the thin leg is on the table, making ample room for your hand to the right side of the blade without interfering with the fence. Also, another unique feature of the Unifence is that you can slide the fence toward the front of the saw just clear of the front edge of the blade and use it as a length stop for repetitive cuts. One downside of the Unifence is that you must clamp the rear end down to the table when using downward facing featherboards and tools because the fence only mounts to the front rail. The Peachtree Uni-T-Fence is a little pricey, and somewhat heavy, but it does provide the T slots for tooling. I have been using a Unifence on two different saws for more than 25 years and I still love it. Not sure if they are still available, tho.

Paul

[marty shultz]

I have two fences too. I keep the Delta power feeder on one fence because it's much faster to change the fence than to remove the power feeder.

[Scott Schwake]

Good points, thanks everyone, I'll hold on to both.

One is missing the plastic crosshair window dealy, are parts still available?

[Chris Rosenberger]

There are cursors for the newer style Unifence still out there. Do a google search for, Delta 400-06-375-0002