Unifence vs biesemeyer

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Sam, why don't you like the unifence?

I bought a used unisaw to be used in the new woodshop construction, and it came with the unifence. At first I hated it, it was installed wrong, the tape was between 5 and 6" off, it needed cleaned up, and it didn't slide properly. I tried to find a sanely priced Bies to put on it, but while I was waiting I adjusted, tweaked and used the unifence. Turns out, I kind of like it. The ability to slide the fence back to the end of the blade is nice for the construction lumber it's being used for, it slides well, and with the fixing of the tape issue, its accurate now too. I'm still not a huge fan of the way it "locks" to the rail, as you can unintentionally unlock it pretty easily, but I think I'll keep it.

[keith micinski]

Another vote for the unifence. While I will say the Bies is by no means a bad fence I don't agree with the statement "neither one is much better then the other." The unifence is better for all of the reasons that rod mentioned plus the other feature of not sliding around like a sloppy mess while adjusting.

[Bill Space]

Like many others I love my Unifence!

One enhancement is to buy a Uni-T-Fence from Peach Tree Woodworking. The original rail has its uses, but the Uni-T-Fence rail adds tremendous functionality.

I have only recently started pulling the fence rail back when ripping and do not know why it did not occur to me to do that before reading it here!

A Unifence with the Uni-T-Fence rail is unbeatable in my humble opinion!

Bill

[Charles Lent]

I have a Unifence on my Unisaw and love it. I also have the Uni-T-Fence accessory from Peachtree and also bought a short Uni-T-Fence section that I use mostly as a cross cut stop and I frequently switch back and forth between the original Unifence extrusion and the Uni-T-Fence depending on the types of cutting that I will be doing. Where I work they have a Biesmeyer fence that I used before getting my Unisaw and Unifence for home use. I bought my Unisaw used and it came with the Unifence and at first I wasn't happy with it, but I quickly grew to love the Unifence as I gained experience with it. I now very much prefer the Unifence over the Biesmeyer fence.

Charley

[Jim Becker]

Very much a subjective decision.

I'm a fan of the UniFence and am glad that the fence on my MM slider has some similar qualities. It's harder to "roll your own" jigs, however...at least with the stock fence face. But there is an aftermarket fence that fits onto the UniFence structure for when you want to accommodate that need. The most endearing quality of the UniFence and similar is the ability to move the fence parallel to the cut line or use a smaller piece for what you only need it as a stop. (Clamping a block to a "standard" fence certainly works for that, but it means you have to remember to account for the thickness of the block when setting the fence position) I also like that the face of the UniFence 'is' the measure point on the scale.