Table Saw Fence Scale (Tape)

[Brandon Shew]

Chris - If you need to be that precise then I would suggest at the very least a machinist rule and measuting every adjustment or some sort of laser mesurement device.

[John Russell]

Brandon,
Do you know of any laser type devices that are made for this purpose or is this is a matter of adapting something designed for other uses? Laser's also seem to have their accuracy issues, so I am just curious if there is something that may exist that could be easily adapted to a table saw fence?
Thanks

[Charlie Plesums]

Gentlemen,
Consider before buying the Wixey model that the specifications on the web site list a fudge-factor of .005" plus or minus per linear foot. That translates to about 1/64" per three feet, 1/32" per six feet in length. For my machining operations, this is well out of acceptable tolerance. I cannot consider it for this reason, otherwise it would be perfect for my table saws.

The upscale version of the Wixley is at
http://www.digi-kit.com/digifence.htm
which claims a higher accuracy since it is total, not per foot. A tape with repeated marks is attached to the rail, and the digital readout counts the marks. Presumably that tape is accurate....

[Brandon Shew]

Brandon,
Do you know of any laser type devices that are made for this purpose or is this is a matter of adapting something designed for other uses? Laser's also seem to have their accuracy issues, so I am just curious if there is something that may exist that could be easily adapted to a table saw fence?
Thanks

I don't know of any Laser products made speciffically for that purpose. I do know that survey instruments can measure within a 1/100 of an inch in precision over distance. Not sure if the close proximity would affect the laser measurement accuracy in any way.

What about some sort of caliper used to measure inside diameter? That might work on cuts less than a foot depending on the caliper size & scale

[John Russell]

This thread was an eye opener -- doing some searches here and elsewhere indicates that the stick on tapes have inherent problems. It seems that if you rely on the tape at longer distances, this could lead to inaccuracy that may or may not be a problem. I think the Jointech and Incra fences address some of this problem, otherwise the digifence seems like a good option unless there is something else?

[Jamie Buxton]

This thread was an eye opener -- doing some searches here and elsewhere indicates that the stick on tapes have inherent problems. It seems that if you rely on the tape at longer distances, this could lead to inaccuracy that may or may not be a problem. I think the Jointech and Incra fences address some of this problem, otherwise the digifence seems like a good option unless there is something else?

Yes, there is something else. Like I said before, use a long machinists rule. They are manufactured with a different process than those printed tapes, and are much higher accuracy.

[John Russell]

Jamie,
Looks as if the max length on the Enco rules is 48". I did some searching and found these folks who will make a rule to custom sizes, like for a 52" fence:

http://www.schlenkerenterprises.com/...ion_scales.htm