On Sun, 10 Aug 2003 02:05:04 GMT, Ted Rose wrote:
OK, first things first, I'm a newbie to this wonderful hobby of woodworking,
which I am finding is just a black hole to throw money into. Anyway, on to
the question. I recently bought a craftsman 10" direct drive table saw with
a full size 27" wide cast iron top. Unfortunately the fence that came with
the saw just plain sucks and I was looking for some suggestions on a fence
system for this saw. Price will play a large part in the consideration of
this purchase due to the fact that my wife and I are expecting in less than
a month. Any suggestions are appreciated.

Depending on the saw, it might be difficult/impossible to fit one of the
'regular' aftermarket fenceds like Biesemeyer, Vega, HTC, etc. to the
small direct drive bench top saws. Full sized cast iron top might make
a difference, though. AccuSquare/MuleCab is about the cheapest of the
mainline aftermarket fences, though sometimes you can find a
scratch-n-dent universal fit Biesemeyer Home Shop on clearance. Vega
was looking pretty good last time I looked. For now I'm making do w/
the Align-A-Rip 24/24 that came w/ my (used) saw. Finally have it
whipped half-ways into line, I think. This is the fence that is used on
the larger/full-size Craftsman and Ridgid contractor's saws and locks up
front and back. Some love it, some hate it (the front-n-back locking).
Me, I'm not sure yet, but front-only like a Bies is looking pretty good
lately.

Another option might be to dig around Rousseau (www.rousseau.com) and
see if they have an aftermarket fence system to fit your saw. Seems
they focus on fences and accessories for benchtop/portables. Never
heard anything bad about them, other than being a little spendy (a good
aftermarket fence for a contractor saw may cost up to half what the saw
itself cost, where on a portable it might cost *as much* as what the saw
did!), but that's the nature of the game w/ these little beasts, it
seems.

HTH,

nuk

--
I know more than enough *nix to do some very destructive things,
and not nearly enough to do very many useful things.