These fences *appear* to only lock
at the front with little stabilization at the rear. This scares me as
well.


Fear not little one. All the really good fences only use a front-only
locking design. Beismeyer and all of their clones function this way. By
locking only in the front they are only using the front rail as a reference
for setting the "angle" (which should be parallel to the blade).

It is easy to make front-rear locking design that will lock very securely,
*but* it is hard to make the always lock at the same angle, which is
critical.

I used to have a craftsman with a front/rear locking fence. The fence was
the worst part of the saw. I eventially replaced it with a front-locking
Vega which performed beautifully.

In short Front-only locking is generally a good thing.

-Steve