Pinging Charles Self

[Slowhand]

I just read your article on fences in the newest wood working mag. Very nicely done.

And after all these years I thought that biesemeyer was the *only* fence available. SH - duckin and hidin

[Charlie Self]

Yeah, me too at first. I sure wish my copy of that WWJ would arrive. I haven't seen the piece in print yet and now you and a good friend of mine down in VA have told me about it.

Charlie Self "A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right." Thomas Paine

[Edwin Pawlowski]

The article is on page 78. I glanced at it, but I've not gotten back that far yet. Until now, I hadn't looked to see who wrote it.

I like articles that bring out alternatives tot he few heavily advertised tools. If asked, I'd have guessed there was maybe 5 or 6 makers of fences. I'd have never searched out the other brands. Ed [e-mail]

[Greg Millen]

I don't know what the game is, but everyone so far has successfully avoided mentioning the *name* of the WWJ.

Would you please reference it for the rest of us that would like to get it?

thanks,

Greg

"Slowhand"

[Charlie Self]

Greg Millen asks:

Oops. Bad habit. It's Woodworker's Journal.

Charlie Self "A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right." Thomas Paine

[Greg Millen]

Ah, now I see! You said "that" WWJ, not "the" WWJ. I was wondering "which" WWJ, lol. Once again, we are divided by a common language.

thanks Charlie,

Greg

[Pat Barber]

[Dan Oelke]

I was just reading that article last night. Great article - probably the most fences I have seen in a single review.

Only thing was that it left me wanting more. I'm not a "align it to

0.001" kind of guy - but I would like to see some objective measurement of the different fences as to how well they remain parallel across their movement. Also something about how well they hold parallel when the tail end has say 50 lbs of force applied. Other piece of info I was looking for was if they have a way to adjust their alignment.

Dan

[loutent]

This was a great article - never saw so many fences compared in a single article like this.

My situation is probably shared by many. I have a fairly good open stand TS (AMT - out of business now). I have built up the crappy fence that came with it. It operates OK - not to .001 or even to .01 (I'm not even sure of 0.1) - but I have gotten by with it for almost 15 years now. Many projects have come out of it - most pretty acceptable I think.

To spend $200-$300 on a fence for this machine seems absurd to me. I think I paid $325 for it (FOB Royersford PA).

What to do? Love to have that Biesmeyer on a 3 or 5 HP Unisaw but would it improve my woodworking?

I don't think that putting a $300 fence on a $300-$500 machine makes sense. Almost bought that Vega once on sale for around $200 - maybe I should have.

My 2ç

Lou

[Charlie Self]

loutent asks:

How long have you had the saw? 15 years, you say. How long will you have it? If you have no plans to change in the near future, it seems to me that one of the lower cost but good fences would make such a difference in your saw use you mightnevre consider changing. There are several in the article that are well under the $300 mark, a couple, IIRC, about $200.

Keep a check out for used of any of the brands listed: if one doesn't show up in a reasonable time, then go new. You really won't believe the difference in accuracy and repeatability.

Charlie Self "A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right." Thomas Paine

[bridger]

if you keep an eye on

can get some great deals on a great fence. I bought the fence there and fabricated rails from locally purchased steel.

[loutent]

Thanks Charles - that makes a lot of sense. If I REALLY was forced to make a decision today, I would probably get a quality saw (Unisaw, Powermatic, etc) with a quality fence. Figure I got 20 more years to use it!

Again, great aricle...

Lou

[Charlie Self]

lou responds:

Once a saw is set up--whether contractor's or cabinet--the fence is the dominant daily impression maker. Whether you've got a name saw or not, it is well worth checking out the results with a good fence. See if you can locate someone who has one of the fences in the article mounted and working. Get a look at it in use, bring some wood (if you can) and make a few slices.

You will then either buy the new fence or force yourself to buy the saw that has one of the top rated fences.

Someone probably needs to do a test on the really finicky fences like the one from Taylor Designs. They are wonderful in their own ways too.

Charlie Self "A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right." Thomas Paine