Biesemeyer fence?

[Chuck Hoffman]

Does Biesemeyer still make a rip fence drilled for older Craftsman table saws? Or is the hole pattern for Delta saws the same as for the Craftsman?

I have an old flexishaft driven Craftsman (possibly made by Emerson) to which I fitted a recent Craftsman Align-A-Rip fence but it is not as stable as I'd hoped. Since the saw works just fine my thought was to fit it with a Bies rip fence but I can no longer find any information concerning Craftsman saws on the Biesemeyer web site.

I'm trying to do fine cabinetry so I need accuracy and setup speed. Yes, I know I'll eventually have to replace the TS but that won't be for a while. I have a brand-new-in-the-box flexidrive shaft on the shelf so I'm good to go for the foreseeable future.

[CW]

I have used the Biesemeyer fence but never really noticed how it is mounted. Just put a Vega on my Hitachi a few weeks ago. Highly recommended. You might want to look into this. It is very easy to mount on a wide range of saws and, such as was the case with my saw, If you do have to make any modifications, it would be no more than drilling a new hole in one of the rails. The fence locks up solid and strait and stays that way.

[Stoutman]

What do you mean by "not as stable"?

How inaccurate is your current fence? What is causing it to be inaccurate?

[Chuck Hoffman]

I can set the fence to about .002" over its length but it doesn't stay there very long. It's slow to position because I have to be very careful not to knock it out of adjustment. And because it's a rear-locking type it WILL easily lock in a non-parallel position. I'm looking for a T-square type - prefereably steel - so I can be confident that it's true when I set it.

Also, I'd like to make an outfeed table that fastens to the rear angle iron and you can't do that with a rear-locking fence like the Align-A-Rip. Another point - all of the reviews I read say the Bies deflects less than the other T-square types when in use.

Am I trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear? Perhaps, but as long as the table is flat, the motor turns the blade (and a stacked dado set) and the arbor is parallel to the miter slot what else do I need?

[Stoutman]

I don't think so. My fence isn't the best (stock fence on a delta contractor's saw), but it is good enough for now until I upgrade my saw.

I see nothing wrong with trying to get the most precision possible out of a table saw.

You might want to check out my review of the TS-Aligner Jr.

[Leon]

Several years ago I upgraded my Crafts cast Iron TS to a Bies clone, the Jet Exacta fence, Holes did not align however drilling the cast iron TS tops is slightly harder than drilling wood. These cast iron tops are very easy to drill.

I was very happy with the Bies style fence. there was no more wondering if the fence was parallel to the blade and you can use the scale to set the rip distance. No more using a tape measure to set the width of cut. Now I have a Jet cabinet saw with the same stile fence and am still very happy with it. Worrying with the fence has not been a wood working factor for about 10 years now.

I would recommend possibly the commercial grade Biese fence. It will be big enough for a cabinet saw should you go that route in the future. Some saw manufacturers allow you to buy with out a fence.

[russellseaton1]

Check into how much it will cost for the fence by itself, compared to buying the fence with a table saw thrown in. Sometimes it does make economic sense to nto upgrade but to start fresh. If the Biesmeyer fence is $350 and the fence with a saw thrown in is $700, it might make sense to just get the new saw.

[Neil Larson]

I can second this. Last year I put Vega 50" fence on my Delta Contractor saw to get a couple more years out of it. It has worked great. Installation and Set-up is easy and once aligned, the fence is rock solid. The lehgth allowed me to add an extension table and mount my router there so I can use the fence for both.

Neil Larson

[sailor]

I have an old Unisaur that I needed to mount a Biesmeyer style fence to. I only had the fence, without the rails. I checked the sizes of the steel needed, and went to a steel supplier and bought the angle iron and rectangular tubing, cut to my specified lengths. I went oversize on the tube, just because I thought the orig. was a little thin. Total cost was about $65. The mounting would be the same on any saw. Line up, measure, measure, measure, drill holes and bolt on. Talk about a sturdy fence! If you have the rails, just line it up, and drill some holes

[Pat Barber]

Their "universal" rail will fit most saws and if not a drill bit is the only thing required to make it fit.

are infamous "swiss cheese" fence rails that have a "lot" of holes predrilled.

Chuck Hoffman wrote: