Vega fence or Accusquare?

[SteveC1280]

Any opinions on a Vega fence vs Accusquare for an old sears TS? Can a sacrificial board be mounted to the Vega? TIA

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[Ron R.]

I have the Vega and like it very much. A sacrificial board is no problem. The fence is accurate, strong, and easy to install. I also put link belts and machined pulleys on the saw which decreased vibration considerably. I still don't have a "silk purse", but I no longer have a "sow's ear" either.

Ron

[Chuck Hoffman]

I've got an old Sears TS that I put a Craftsman extruded aluminum Align-a-Rip 24/24 fence on for $160. It locks at both ends and has a T-track on both sides on which you can mount an aux fence, featherboards, etc. I've got mine aligned so that the total front-to-back error is less than 5 thousandths. It works well for me, is very secure and cost about half the price of the brands to which you referred. I've done quite a bit of ripping and the cuts are dead even, front to back. It does, however, take a little more care in setup than a front-locking T-square type fence such as the Biesemeyer.

I'd say my old TS -- which was definitely a rusted sow's ear when I got it -- is now very nearly made of silk.

[C & S]

I had an old Crapsman to which I added a Vega. I liked it allot, and yes I had a sacrificial wood fence.

-Steve

[Bob]

Get a Vega and yes a sac fence can be added. I got the 50" on my Sears saw. One of these days soon I am going to sell my Vega which has the 70" extension with 2 legs included, finger saver, and hold down attachment. Vegas are extremely accurate and also have a micro adjuster on it. The Vega is VERY accurate. I just bought a Grizzly G0444Z so I am going to sell my Sears TS with cast iron wings after I reinstall the old fence. I am going to sell the Vega and the TS separately.

[SteveC1280]

Chuck, I looked at the Craftsman Aligh-a-Rip fence. It looks good except that is mounts 24 inches (if I remember correctly) to the left as well as right of the blade. I only have a about 8 or 10 inches of table to the left of the blade. My shop is REAL small and I'm afraid that I'd impale myself on the protruding extensions as I walk through the maze of tools.

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[James "Cubby" Culbertson]

I put the Vega 50" on my Jet Contractor's saw and it's great. Dead accurate, square and very solid. So much so, that now I'm gonna sell the Jet and get a cabinet saw to match the fence! I purchased from Amazon which at the time, had the best price, a $25 off, and free shipping. It was quite easy to install and adjust. I think you'll be quite happy with it. Cheers, cc

[Chuck Hoffman]

Steve, Sears used to have a 24/12 Align-a-Rip fence. Don't know if it's still available.

Truth be told, I had to shorten both my fence rails. My TS has a rod that carries the splitter and blade guard that protrudes thru the back right where the rail would be. So I took them to a metal cutting shop and had the left sides removed. Now I only have 24 inch right rip capability but that hasn't impacted any of my projects thus far. If I need left rip, I can always clamp a straghtedge to the table. Seemed a shame to spend $160 for a

24/24 fence and then another $15 to shorten the rails...but it was still a less costly solution than another brand of fence.

What I did was cut off the rear rail almost directly behind the splitter (allowing about 1/2 inch for the guard and splitter carrier rod) and the front rail at the left edge of the main table so it will still pick up the leftmost mounting bolt. Turns out that shortened both rails by almost exactly the same amount.

[Dan]

On Sun 12 Dec 2004 05:05:32p, [e-mail] (SteveC1280) wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Don't know about the accusquare, but I put a Vega 50 on my used Craftsman saw pretty easy. It demonstrated really well how much everything else on that saw was out of whack. Bought a Griz, put the fence on that, and everything's fine. I've used a sacrificial fence and a homemade extension. I've had it a couple years, had to adjust it for square once since I've had it on the Griz. Can't adjust the scale to zero but I got it at exactly one half-inch from zero when it's at the blade so I just figure 1/2 inch long when I move the fence.

For a long time I double-checked with a rule to make sure. Then I figured out that every time I got the measurement wrong, it was with the rule, not the fence. So now I trust the fence scale. Little dickens is right on, every time. It's great.

[WD]

I got a Mule's Accusquare fence for my old Crapsman. I really like it. Very reliable, rugged, easy to installed and I believe it's cheaper than Vega. Seller very responsive to enquire and questions.

Call him or sent him an email nothing to lose

[Mike Marlow]

I'll echo the above with the exception that I can't say it takes more care than a Biesemeyer. Never had a Biesemeyer, so I don't know how they set up. My Align-A-Rip seems very fast and very accurate to me so it makes me happy. I the Bies is easier to setup then it must come with a 28 year old brunette that does the setup for you. That would be a good thing. I'd consider a Bies for that...

Likewise, the Align-A-Rip has made my saw something that it never was all of its life before the new fence. The saw is a good basic tool and a good fence does make it a very good tool.

[Mike Marlow]

That's the 24/24. I believe they also make a 12/24 that mounts only 12 inches to the left of the blade.

[Mike Marlow]

Funny how we're like that, isn't it? My fence set up perfectly at 0 with the fence just touching the blade and every test cut I made was dead on. I made a ton of test cuts at all sorts of lengths... BUT, for the longest time I still measured everything with a tape measure. Don't do that anymore, but it was something that took a while to get over.