Has anyone made their own table saw fence system from an Incra positioner ?

[Kelly Colin Mark]

I have a Sawstop contractors saw with the 36" rails. In my small basement shop, the rails are really too big. I really don't need to rip 36" and if I do, I have a track saw for that.

I considered a) cutting my T-glide rails, and b) buying another fence and rails.

Then I started looking at an Incra Ultra positioner I had lying around for a project I never got around to, and started wondering if I could rig up my own fence system, a la the Incra table saw fence system.

I've got a couple of lengths of the Incra incremental track I could use as rails that also have the saw-tooth pieces. Rigging up something myself would mean I could make my setup a lot smaller, I think, and since I have a lot of the pieces already, I could probably save a bundle.

Seems like in addition to a positioner I would need some extrusion with T-slots to form the rails, and something to hold the positioner in place between the rails. It seems the rub would be figuring out a) how to secure the rails to the saw, and b) how to make a mounting bracket for the positioner.


Anyone done something similar ??

[Peter Kuhlman]

Love my Incra table saw system!
You will need front and back rails and the extended fence if you want a system like the factory unit. Can be purchased directly from Incra. Will also need all the special hardware to do it right.
If you can anchor your existing positioner solidly with plywood or such, you would not have to have the rails. The fence could be made up with laminated wood to give a straight fence or could use whatever aluminum you have available. Key is that the fence and positioner don't move relative to the blade as any out of parallel change will cause dangerous kickback.

[hank dekeyser]

No experience w/ the Incra system - but you could always make shorter tubes or cut down current ones- I built a Beismeyer clone for my uni-saw which allows me 36" left of blade and 53" to the right. Simple to do if you have the tools and time

[fRED mCnEILL]

I just installed the Incra fence system on my saw last week and I love it . I also looked at whether you could use just the positioner.

From my experience here is what you could do.

1. You would have to figure out a way on how to secure the positioner to the saw. This wouldn't be too hard BUT it is the mounting of the positioner that determines the accuracy of the fence position. With the full Incra fence system the positioner is mounted to a carriage which runs on rails and this mounting is adjustable. Getting it accurate is pretty involved so you would want to make sure it stayed in adjustment. For example, if you mounted the positioner to a piece of plywood and secured the plywood to the table top with clamps everytime you unclamped it and moved it you would have to go through the efofrt to re-adjust it. Not suggesting you do that but just an example of probably NOT how to do it. I think if I was going to do it I would drill oversized holes in the table which would give you some adjustablity.

2. With the full setup the positioner is mounted to the fence with 2 bolts. This alone is enough to make the fence quite rigid. Surprisingly rigid, actually. On the full setup the ends of the fence also glides on the rails and you can secure each end to the rail but this is really only necessary to keep the fence from lifitng when using hold downs like Board Buddies. With normal ripping it isn't needed.

3. On the full system the fence ends glide on the rails so the fence itself does not touch the table top.You would have to figure out a way to make the fence glide easily on the saw top. Perhaps using some UHM tape would to the trick.

4. All in all it wouldn"t be as versatile as the full system but then it isn't as costly either. But quite doable, in my experience.

Regards

Fred

[Paul Douglass]

Keep in mind, on the Incra positioner you need extra space at the end of the tablesaw for long arm on the positioner to stick out when you move your fence away from your saw blade. Another nice thing about using their rails, makes it so easy to remove the fence and return it where it belongs, no readjusting each time.

[Bill Wyko]

I have 2 table saws with Incra systems, one is the actual TS/LS system with a router lift built in and the other one is an older one I adapted from a router table. On this one I didn't use any rails on either side of the saw, never neem an issue. On the big one, i never lock down the ends of the fence even though it does have rails. I'll take pics if you like. In total I have 5 incra fences, none of which have I ever had to secure other than the lever lock itself.

[Kelly Colin Mark]

Thanks everyone for the replies !

I have 2 table saws with Incra systems, one is the actual TS/LS system with a router lift built in and the other one is an older one I adapted from a router table. On this one I didn't use any rails on either side of the saw, never neem an issue. On the big one, i never lock down the ends of the fence even though it does have rails. I'll take pics if you like. In total I have 5 incra fences, none of which have I ever had to secure other than the lever lock itself.

Bill, I would love to see pics of your home-grown solution as it sounds like that's what I'm trying to do.

Fred, you're right that the heart of the problem is figuring out how to secure the positioner. I am imagining getting aluminum rails - maybe the Incra track with the sawtooth inserts - and then screwing those to the saw like normal rails. Then I'd need to fabricate something to bridge the two rails - or maybe just fix against the front rail - which would support the main positioner, probably mounted on plywood. I'm thinking this would be locked to the front rail by jig fixtures going into t-track on the rail. All this piece would really need to do is hold the positioner parallel to the rails. Ideally, I'd be able to move the position of this bridge, to overcome the relative shortness of my positioner.

The other thing I could do : I discovered that most of the table saw system is available as replacement parts, so maybe I could just buy what I need (say, the carriage, fence, etc).

Paul, I do realize that the positioner can take up space at the right end of the saw when the fence is away from the blade. This is less of a problem than the protruding rails are for me, because the positioner protrudes in the middle of the saw tables, whereas the rails take up space front and back... the difference sounds small but in my space, it could mean the difference between something that is workable and something that drives me crazy... maybe.

[Kelly Colin Mark]

Not exactly what I'm trying to do, as I'm trying to replace my own fence entirely, but here's a picture where the guy just mounted his positioner right on top of an existing fence...

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[Terry Therneau]

I have seen (somewhere) a simple mount for the incra. A 2x2 screwed onto the bottom of the plywood square, which hooked over the right end of the table saw with the plywood on top; Incra mounted to the ply. Then a pair of simple clamps. It could be taken on and off and was always the same distance from the blade.
(Might have been Stumpy Nubs' router table fence made from on Incra jig.)

Terry T.

[Ruhi Arslan]

You need more room to the right of the rails with Incra positioner.

IMG_4263s.jpg

[Kelly Colin Mark]

Ruhi - That must be the 32" positioner which looks positively huge.... I think the one I have that I am hoping to adapt is either the 17" or 25"... I know it looks way, way smaller. For wider rips I would need to move the positioner base.

[fRED mCnEILL]

I would look at the 8020 extrusions and fittings for what you want to do. They have EVERY imaginable connectors/etc and I have to believe it would be cheaper than buying stuff from Incra. More work, mind you,but with a little ingenuity might even work better.(http://www.8020.net/)