Beisemeyer (or clone) micro-adjustment

[Mark Carlson]

Glen,

I bought one of those Rockler micro adjusters. I cant resist a new gadget. Its an illness. In theory it should work but the magnets arn't strong enough to keep the thing from moving along the fence rail. It hasn't gone into the trash yet because I'm sure I'll find some use for it.

What I do with all fences that need to be micro adjusted is to position the fence, and make a test cut. Clamp a block of wood up tight against the fence and losen the fence and then use a paper shim between the block and the fence to sneek up to your cut.

You probabaly know this but Incra sells fences that allow you to adjust the fence in and out by thousands of an inch. They of course arn't cheap.

~mark

[Glen Blanchard]

You probabaly know this but Incra sells fences that allow you to adjust the fence in and out by thousands of an inch. They of course arn't cheap.

~mark

Yeah, I've got an Incra on my router table. Love it. I just don't have the room to the right of my table saw to accomodate such a fence on the table saw.

[Mark Carlson]

Yeah, I've got an Incra on my router table. Love it. I just don't have the room to the right of my table saw to accomodate such a fence on the table saw.

I have an Incra on my router table also. The router is mounted in the TS extension table. I also dont have room for the TS version of the Incra fence. One thing I've thought about but not tried is using the Incra adjuster with the B-meyer fence. If you could mount the adjuster securely to the right of the B-meyer it could be used as a stop for your fence. Just a thought.

~mark

[John Miliunas]

Glen, this is what I use to ensure repeatable cuts: http://www.wixey.com/fence/index.html

No, you still have to do the "bump" thing but, if you want "exact" every time, this is the best thing I've found to date. Installation is quite simple. If you have a left tilt saw and need the same accuracy with a dado set or even switch between thin and full kerf blades or, use an auxiliary fence on your fence, you can re-index (zero out) the unit in seconds to whatever your new start point is. Works great!

[Jim Becker]

I'm thinking about the DRO that John mentions for my X-Acta fence. I've enjoyed having one on my planer (outside of discovering this weekend that the batteries need changed...) and it sure is nice for repeatability as well as "dreary eye syndrome" when making ready for a cut. That said, even without my "cheaters" I don't really have a problem setting my fence to an "exact" measurement...at least in the context of accuracy I feel necessary for woodworking.

[Glen Blanchard]

Glen, this is what I use to ensure repeatable cuts: http://www.wixey.com/fence/index.html

Yeah, I've had my eye on that as well. It is on my Christmas list. It does make repeatable cuts possible, but does not really address my micro-adjust craving.

[Mark Hubler]

Couple of options:

There used to be a kit (maybe someone else can remember the name) that attached a coupling nut directly to the fence. A clamp-on device was attached to the tube, with a section of all thread between the clamp and the fence. The all thread had a handle, at the clamp, with 1/64" markings - 1/16" travel per turn. Should be easy enough to make.

I like the DRO option better. http://www.digi-kit.com/digifence.htm It is a great system (more expensive than the wixley, but more features), accruate - repeatable - easy to reset - zero anywhere on the table. I never bothered installing the scale tape with this on my machine! More info here http://benchmark.20m.com/reviews/Dig...kitreview.html

[Glen Blanchard]

I like the DRO option better. http://www.digi-kit.com/digifence.htm It is a great system (more expensive than the wixley, but more features), accruate - repeatable - easy to reset - zero anywhere on the table.

What I think the Wixey has up on the competition is that it reads out on decimal inches and fractional inches simultaneously. The decimals display continuously while the fractions only appear when the fence (or whatever) is exactly at that distance from the blade.

[Jamie Buxton]

Here's a pic of a microadjuster I built for the fence on my bandsaw. Similar things could be built for almost any fence. The only tricky bit is the knob and thread which drives the fence both ways (unlike that Rockler thing), and Kreg provides that for $15.

[glenn bradley]

Very cool Jamie. That's more like what this sort of device ought to be like. I'm really tempted by the Wixie though ;-)

[Rich Torino]

Yeah, I've had my eye on that as well. It is on my Christmas list. It does make repeatable cuts possible, but does not really address my micro-adjust craving.

Glen,
your right about the micro adjust but if you get it figured out and couple it with the Wixey digital readout (I have one on my 1023) that will make an awsome combination

[Glen Blanchard]

Glen,
your right about the micro adjust but if you get it figured out and couple it with the Wixey digital readout (I have one on my 1023) that will make an awsome combination

You are absolutely correct Rich. I would love to have the Wixey....it is on my Christmas Want List that I have submitted to my wife. Along with a Festool 150/3 sander, Jointech Smart Miter, Wixey DRO for my planer, and some WW books. But I digress. Putting a micro-adjuster on a tablesaw fence that has micro-adjust capabilities would be awesome indeed.

[Stan Krupowies]

Glen, this is what I use to ensure repeatable cuts: http://www.wixey.com/fence/index.html

No, you still have to do the "bump" thing but, if you want "exact" every time, this is the best thing I've found to date. Installation is quite simple. If you have a left tilt saw and need the same accuracy with a dado set or even switch between thin and full kerf blades or, use an auxiliary fence on your fence, you can re-index (zero out) the unit in seconds to whatever your new start point is. Works great!

I've been using one of these on my Unisaw for about a year and it's great. Repeatability down to 1/64" is much better than you can get with a tape or scale. I'd highly recommend it.

[Samuel Brooks]

Yeah, I've got an Incra on my router table. Love it. I just don't have the room to the right of my table saw to accomodate such a fence on the table saw.

I have a couple of stops on my table saw Incra rails so I can slide the main assembly in close for most of my cuts then slide it out to the right when I need to make large cuts. I have the 32" version and with the rails offset to the right I can cut upto a 46" board using the 32" version so I did not have to mess with the really long rails.

It does take up space to the right, but only when doing a big cut otherwise I have the rail slid in next to the blade area and it does not get in my way.

I can say that this fence is one purchase that I do not have any regrets about. In fact I like it more every time I use it. The fence locks automatically to within 1/32nd of an inch and then you can dial down to 1/128 if needed. I actually use the dial option when I am doing Dado's. For a 3/4" Dado, I Setup a 1/2 Dado stack and on the 2nd pass I adjust my fence and then dial in the exact width that I need. The dial ability 1/128 is great for a snug dado and the setup time is almost nothing.

Comment: On the Rockler micro adjuster, why not just upgrade the magnets on it to help keep it in place and put one on the end of it to allow for reverse adjustment.

[Glen Blanchard]

I bought one of those Rockler micro adjusters. I cant resist a new gadget. Its an illness. In theory it should work but the magnets arn't strong enough to keep the thing from moving along the fence rail. It hasn't gone into the trash yet because I'm sure I'll find some use for it.

Thanks for the mini-review. I just removed it from my Christmas list.