Perfect fence for my Sawstop - finally!

[Adam Cribb]

I have never liked my composite material stock Sawstop fence. I seemed to have trouble ripping wood with parallel sides and this was especially problematic when making picture frames. I finally measured the fence face plate and the metal fence that the face mounts onto. The fence itself was wavy and concave in by up to 0.007". The face plate varied in thickness by 0.007". That may or may not seem like a lot, but I was not getting straight rips and so I decided to try and make it better.

I owe much of what I did to Mike Leung who posted on this in 2013. Following Mike's lead, I bought a 42" Woodhaven extrusion channel. This channel was precisely milled - 0.747-0.749 in thickness and flat within 0.003". I next fashioned a snug fitting carriage to ride in the left miter slot so that I could precisely measure the variation in my fence which I noted on blue tape on the top (pic 1). Since the fence was mostly concave in, I taped brass shims on the fence so that they hung down on the fence (pic 2). In order to mount the channel to the fence, you need 1/4-20 x 3/8" button screws and t-nuts and have to elongate the stock holes in the fence by about 1/4", which I did with dremel. You have to take off the right face plate to attach the new left face plate/channel but that's not too hard. Voila, a new and improved fence (pics 3 and 4).

The new fence is within 0.003" flat using the same dial caliper as above. Ripped a few pieces of oak and their width was within 0.001" along the length. Meets my needs! Picture frame miters are now perfect. The slots on the channel make it easy to attach auxillary fences. I was quickly able to make a 12" tall fence for ripping larger pieces on edge, slid it right onto the new fence and tightened down a couple of 1/4-20 x1" flat head bolts.

It took me 10 years to get er done, but Thanks Mike!

Attachment 501255Attachment 501254Attachment 501257Attachment 501256

What model Sawstop do you have? I have a “CB” 3hp which I think is the original model that came out, now known as the ICS.

Wondering how flat your factory fence is. I also had to shim my factory fence similar to yours to get the Woodhaven 42” extrusion to install flat. I used that HVAC shiny tape as shims and got it pretty flat, within .003 like yours until it hits the end which seems to go off to about .007.

Also, how did you get your right side factory fence back on? After putting on the Woodhaven on the left side, there is not enough angle to use the ball Allen wrench to get the right side on. My fence is made to put the right side on first, then the left side.

[jim gossage]

Hi Adam,
I have the 10" professional cabinet saw, PCS31230, with 3hp motor.

The metal fence was off by about 0.007". I'm not sure I measured the flatness of the composite face plate, but it's thickness varied by 0.007".

Re getting the right side face plate back on, that was not a problem. I had to put the Woodhaven track on the left side first because the screws were now deeper (pic) in the fence and the ball allen would not reach them - so I had to tighten it's screws through the slots in the right side of the fence. The right (original) face plate just went on like normal. Since I made no changes to the right face plate, the ball allen still worked (see pics). I wonder if our fences might be somewhat different? Mine is 11 years old.

IMG_5105.jpg

IMG_5106.jpg

[Michael Burnside]

I had to shim mine as well. The fence was good, but the extrusion had a 0.003” hump. Honestly this is woodworking not metal fabrication, so it would have been fine, but figured I’d fix it while it was off LOL.