Table saw/aftermarket fence question

[Danny Thompson]

Use them only for good. . . . or a good laugh.

[Brian Patterson]

Sounds to me like a fence like the Delta T2 for $150 or less would make the most sense....you'll get about 95% of the fence at about 50% of the cost. It's like a "Biese Lite".

A word of caution about this fence... I was in your same position, a lower end saw with a need for a better fence... i checked this one out at the local lowes and discovered that the under side of it has an additional piece of 1/8" metal welded on to the bottom where the fence attaches to the back rail... you can't use this like a beisemeyer - that additional piece of metal (maybe the size of one of those dinner mints? (1"/ 0.5" ) sits proud of the base... if your table fits the exact size this fence requires, then you're in business... i wrapped a much larger outfeed table around my saw so i couldn't use it....

maybe i didn't do a good job explaining it, but head to a lowes and try it out first... might save some shipping costs if it doesn't work for you...

[Chuck Tringo]

A word of caution about this fence... I was in your same position, a lower end saw with a need for a better fence... i checked this one out at the local lowes and discovered that the under side of it has an additional piece of 1/8" metal welded on to the bottom where the fence attaches to the back rail... you can't use this like a beisemeyer - that additional piece of metal (maybe the size of one of those dinner mints? (1"/ 0.5" ) sits proud of the base... if your table fits the exact size this fence requires, then you're in business... i wrapped a much larger outfeed table around my saw so i couldn't use it....

maybe i didn't do a good job explaining it, but head to a lowes and try it out first... might save some shipping costs if it doesn't work for you...

Nothing a Grinder couldnt fix

[Eddie Darby]

The following site is Dave Wooland's site who knows a thing or two about saws.

http://store.thesawshop.com

[Brian Patterson]

Yep. A nasty frisbee incident cause by the unreliable fence and one too many tipping incidents inspired me to embed the saw in a 3' x 7' mobile workbench I had. Needless to say, I chunked the fence.

The miter slots on that little saw are not a standard width, and the puny miter guage that came with the saw was crap, so I leveled the sawtop with the workbench frame, secured it to the stretchers, overlaid it with 1/2" mdf and a formica sheet, raised the blade through to create a "zero clearance insert," and very carefully routed two new 3/4" wide miter slots parallel to the blade. I could have cut a hole for a real zero clearance insert, but never got around to it, so I was restricted to 90-degree cuts. Also, I lost 1/2" cutting depth due to the mdf.

If the slots in the TS had been usable, I would have left it flush with the workbench top and routed slots as needed on the infeed and outfeed sides of the workbench, similar to how you would with an outfeed table.

So, this pic provides an end-shot of the Frankensaw on the right. You can just see the bottom of the Delta Shopmaster peeking out under the workbench's black apron (just above the planer).

About 6 months later I found a 7' Biesemeyer rail on clearance at my local woodworking retailer ($60) and a commercial Biesemeyer "scratch-n-dent" fence from the Biesemeyer site (I couldn't find any dents or scraches on it) for about $120. And there you have it. My cuts have been accurate ever since.

I never mounted the back rail, because its intended purpose is to keep your auxilary table level with the table saw. In my case, it wasn't possible to attach the rail to the actual saw. You can see the back rail sitting on the bottom shelf of the workbench.

Danny,

I've built a table saw/router table using the same saw and fence... I was given the saw new, never used and I found an incredible deal on the fence and couldn't pass it up... I still need to add the hole for my router plate, but after some set up it's been cutting true for me... I had built the table saw cabinet and router table separately and then saw an article in a shopnotes magazine and decided to combine them. It was a good learning experience for me - learning about how to laminate etc. There is a small bubble near the miter slot that has been repaired since the photograph. Overall it's more than I need right now for a table saw...

and to the original poster... my thought is I can always take the fence with me when i upgrade to a new saw...

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