On Tue, 29 Jan 2008 17:19:12 -0700, "Kevin"
wrote:

been looking for a good used cabinet saw

two have come my way

2003 unisaw w/ 52" unifence
2003 unisaw w/50" bies

both are priced about the same..

I have a Delta contactors w/ 40" home shop bies. I like the bies, but have
never worked with a unifence.

Is there a dollar point where you'd take one over the other? I assume it's a
commercial bies, but not sure yet. I have pics of the unifence - looks like
new.

The rails on the unifence look like all Aluminum. Is that a pro or con?

I guess I need to run down to the store and kicks the tires on a Unifence.
The Bies is no frills, but no spills either.



Have both, used both, have sold both and like both.

The sales pitch when asked to compa

Unifence has a few more features. Fence can be pulled back to use as
a cuttoff guide with the scale still in use. Fence can be laid over
on the short side to let laminate hangover ride over the fence, scale
still good at secondary witness mark. Later models have stops that
are really nice when you have to break a setup to do another operation
but want to go back. Unifence has adjustment in all planes, including
perpendiculariy.

Biesmeyer is a little tougher with steel guide rail and HPL laminated
baltic birch over steel tube fence. Biesemeyer can be used on both
sides without switching the fence to the other side of the fence block
as with the Unifence. A little easier to attach feather boards, space
blocks and temporary sacrificial faces to the Biesemeyer. Scale is not
accurate with the attachment of a cuttoff space block. Biesemeyer, at
least in my day, did not have a perpendicularity adjustment, but the
factory took pains to get it right.

All the above while doing the side by side demo.

Good news is you have a choice and can't really go wrong either way.

If your primary use is throwing up boards and panels and ripping all
day long, I might suggest the biesemeyer. If not either way.

Frank