Recommend a Band Saw Fence for Mini Max S 45

[Richard Kee]

I have an older 1990s Mini Max S 45 band saw that will soon become my major power cutting tool. The factory fence leaves a lot to be desired and I want to upgrade the fence for both normal cutting and for re-sawing. If you have one of these band saws and have upgraded to a better fence, please give me your recommendation.

[John Lanciani]

I put a driftmaster on my MM20. Pricey upgrade (even more so now than when I bought it) but it was worth it for me. I use my MM20 exclusively for ripping and resawing and the driftmaster makes it easy to get the results I'm looking for.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Have you considered making your own fence? Works for me on my Delta 14"

[Van Huskey]

1. Laguna Driftmaster

2. One of the Grizzly fences that has a long enough fence

3. Build an add-on to the fence you already have

4. Build a whole new fence

[lowell holmes]

I have absolutely no knowledge of a Mini Max, but the Kreg fence on my 14"Jet is an excellent fence.

[David Kumm]

Driftmaster is great but overkill for an S45 which is not a real resaw machine. I use a Kreg on my Yates Y20. I use it mainly for tenons and it can adjust enough to get a few thou narrower at the end to help with fit so it is pretty accurate. Not stout enough to put much pressure against but you don't do much of that when resawing. DaveDSC04310.jpg

[Edwin Santos]

I have absolutely no knowledge of a Mini Max, but the Kreg fence on my 14"Jet is an excellent fence.

I have had the same experience as Lowell. The Kreg fence is an extrusion that will accept facings, and you can quickly detach it and re-orient it to use as a low fence when needed.

[Frederick Skelly]

I agree with Lowell. I just bought a Kreg. It would be worth looking at.

[keith wootton]

i have a s45 with a kreg fence i installed. i like it, but you will have a few annoying quirks. you have to take the fence mounting track off to change blades. and i leave the old fence track turned backwards and upside down to keep the table flat, the blade changing slot comes out the front, and the table won't stay flat without something holding the sides together and flush (and the kreg track won't do it). i figure it adds about five minutes to changing the blade. also be very careful sawing narrow boards. the blade can suck them into the slot! i keep my shopmade zero clearance inserts with slot at the back of the blade and you can set your narrow board on top of a wider thin board to span the slot.

[lee cox]

I have the Kreg bandsaw fence on my Minimax S45 bandsaw. I like it. The standard fence is too short so you need to buy the 24 inch fence for additional cost. But I think it is still less than $150 total if you shop around for the fence kit. I had to buy the longer fence from Kreg.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Instead of taking fence rail off for blade changes, can fence be mounted backwards? Just a thought.

[Tom Trees]

I made my own for my 24" and done it this way because I couldn't bring myself to get rid of the round fence bar' bandsaw compressed.JPGSAM_0939.JPG
If I dd not have the round bar I would copy this design ......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bUoHHdLex0
Tom

[Paul K. Johnson]

i have a s45 with a kreg fence i installed. i like it, but you will have a few annoying quirks. you have to take the fence mounting track off to change blades. and i leave the old fence track turned backwards and upside down to keep the table flat, the blade changing slot comes out the front, and the table won't stay flat without something holding the sides together and flush (and the kreg track won't do it). i figure it adds about five minutes to changing the blade. also be very careful sawing narrow boards. the blade can suck them into the slot! i keep my shopmade zero clearance inserts with slot at the back of the blade and you can set your narrow board on top of a wider thin board to span the slot.

I got so annoyed with removing the mounting bracket that I finally just cut it in two pieces, drilled a new hole in each piece and remounted it. Now I can leave it on to change blades. It was very worth it.

[lee cox]

I mounted my Kreg fence to the S45 fence bracket. There are quick release knobs under the table which allows the Kreg fence to swing out or off for blade changes. The S45 knobs do not need to be removed just loosened. It is not that big of deal to change a blade with the Kreg fence for me.

[Richard Kee]

Lee,

It appears that you have the best selection of a fence for my needs - upgraded fence, but the convenience of the quick-change for blades that the S 45 had originally.

Will you please post a close-up of the fence mounting onto the S 45 rail?