Max Mahanke wrote:
I agree the Biesmeyer is a quality fence but Delta owns both the Biesmeyer
and their own Unifence. The Unifence is usually about $50 cheaper than the
Bies which puts it in the range of the Home shop Bies. For a one man shop
the Unifence offers a lot more options (pulling the fence back for cut-offs
and managing sheetgoods, two different profiles, the ability to raise the
fence off the table to avoid sawdust buildup against the fence, easier to
adjust than the Bies, and easily retrofits to any saw. Some say its not as
sturdy but it boast the same 64th accuracy and I think if you're slamming
things that hard against the fence your biggest worry isn't the fence
moving. Be prepared to spend around $300 but its definately worth a look.
And as for spending that much on a contractor saw, well I have one on a
sears contractor (great fence waiting for a real saw to show up some day)
and I think the fence affects the quality of your work much more than the
rest of the saw as long as trunions can be aligned and the arbor doesn't
have runout.
Also take a look at Delta's new low-end fence, the T2. Its similar to the
Bies home shop in design and size, maybe not quite as sturdy, but a good
little fence for around $200.
BTW, I know of a cabinet shop owner who bought one of those trick fences
with a micro-adjuster and his workers broke the damn thing off about the 3rd
day.
"Bob G." wrote in message
...
On Sun, 22 Jan 2006 02:09:29 GMT, "rockfish"
wrote:
My father gave me his TS for Christmas. He didn't use it much and I
sure can put it to use. I'm re-setting it up per the manual. It's and
older Craftsman 10". It needs some TLC, a neww belt, and could really
use a new fence. I have been woodworking for a shile and have had more
time than money so I have looked at just about every fence out there.
T-square, Beisemeyer, Vega, Accusquare (and the Rockler clone), HTC,
Jet, Incra, Powermatic, most all of them. I have noticed some
commonalities and some differences. They seem to either be aluminum of
steel with an overlay of some laminate of composite material. They seem
to either have aluminium or steel rails. Some have "micro-adjusters"
and some do not. Some have a lever lock and at least one hase a
turn-knob lock.
I am in search of experiences and rational argeuments as to which brand
or features I will find most usefull/accurate/pleasureable to use.
My criteria are simple: Accurate, I want to set it up then slide the
fence to a increment I specify and cut exactly that increment. Solid:
If it moves when you bang it with lumber, it's useless. Price: comes in
third, but still matters. Dimensions: This is for a contractors saw,
but I want at least 40" to the right and 12" to the left.
That's about it. Looking forward to any experiences and resources you
can provide.
Thanks,
Rockfish
==========================
Well I ordered my Jet Cabinet saw gosh almost 20 years ago now...(how
time flies) and I ordered it with the optional Home Shop Bies
fence...(Delta did not own Biesmeyer at that time and it was an
upgrage option from Jet)...
To be very honest I have NOT looked at fences since... I use my saw
allot and I can not remember when I last adjusted it ...I do know it
has been more then a year...its solid... !
The homeshop is just a little less expensive then the Commercial
version..the fence itself is only 36 or so inches long (but most
tablesaws are only 27 inches deep)..the commercial version is 40+
inches and the rails are bigger...and in MY opinion the rails I have
are not small...
I also offset the rails to the left...as I wanted 20 or so inches to
the left and still have 42 inches to the right... the rails are really
close to 6 foot long..
I have absolutely no need for a microadjusting fence... I can bump it
with the best of them... lol !
Seriously I love the thing and I was also serious when I said I
stopped looking at fences the day I first used the Bies...
Bob G.
My Grizzly ZF series contractor's saw came with an upgraded Shop Fox Fence.
http://www.grizzly.com/products/G4722
I bought it about 8 years ago and added the long set of rails. This is
the only fence I have used since my old 8" Sears table saw that the
Grizzly replaced, so can't really compare it to the Beis or Vega. I know
that it has performed flawlessly since I've owned it and it STAYS in
alignment. The only time I had to readjust it was when I went back and
readjusted it to be dead on with the miter slot and blade instead of the
1/64th off recommend by some folks. Only minor complaint I have is that
you have to remove a screw and rubber stop from the end of the rail to
remove it. But, with the long rails, that isn't needed very often (in
fact I can't remember the last time). This might be a problem for
someone who can't accomadate the long rails in their shop and needs to
remove the fence a LOT, but it actually only takes a few moments in any
case. Or, you can use it without the stop, but you have to remember not
to slide it off the end.
I remember when I was buying the saw and deciding on whether to get the
upgraded fence, one of the ww mags had a review of fences and it was
viewed quite favorably. Only complaint I remember was that it was a
little tedious to set up the first time.
-jj
--
Remove BOB to email me