What Is Difference In Fences,, Biesemeyer and Universal ?

[ScRaPLeR]

Any Difference and do I need one or the other just starting out woodworking... ie. making new cabinet doors and general house repair/remodeling??

[bf]

I think the Beismeyer is better. I've had a friend complain that the Unifence has a little bit of flex at the far end of the fence (after many years of use). He showed me, and sure enough, it did flex. He ended up buying a Biesmeyer to replace it. Note, he had a unisaw, so this was the heavy-duty unifence (they make beefier versions for the unisaw vs the contractor's saw).

I have a biesmeyer and love it.

Supposedly, the selling points for the unifence are that you can slide it forward to start a cut and you can rotating it for cutting thin pieces. Can't say that I ever missed those features. I cut thin stuff just fine on the Beisemeyer.

Note, I'm not saying the unifence is crap, as I'm sure it has many happy users as well, but that's my slightly biased opinion.

[Dave Jackson]

For what your using it for, the unifence should be fine. Although unifences do have a tendency to wear out where the lock mechanism catches inside the front rail. I've only noticed this problem happening after years of using the same measurements. ( In a cabinet shop, it's roughly the

18", 24" and 36") For part time woodworking, unifence should last for years. Beis is a good alternative. Personally, i prefer Vega. Simple and very effective.

Hope this helps, --dave

[Bob G.]

I agree on the Biesmeyer My Bies has been in use now for close to 15 years and I have never...not even once had any trouble with it..

BUT to be truthful I stopped looking at fences the day I installed mine... SO there are most likely more then a few on the market today that are just as good.. (Can't figure how one could be better).... .

Bob G.

[Duane Bozarth]

...wrt Biesmeyer fences...

Bring cost down would be a real good way in my book...that's what kept me away from all the replacements. (I have a roughly 25 year old (Gosh, how can it be so long already!) Model 66 and the fence is "ok, but not great" but I can't see 25-30% the cost a a new saw for just a fence... :(

[aswr]

I will respectfully have to disagree with you on this one. A POW 66 sells for around 2000.00 and you can buy an industrial 52" Beisemeeyer fence system for less than $350.00...this is less than an 18% of the cost of a new saw. Putting a precision Beisemeyer fence on a tablesaw and replacing a jet lock fence is different from night and day. You would be getting a saw that is a pleasure to work with and save you the time and trouble of measuring each time you move the fence. "You get what you pay for"...."ain't no secrets"...bringing down the cost would only cheapen a good quality product......I have a certain amount of time that I get to do woodworking for me.....I do not want to waste it being frustrated.....besides I am worth it!! Mike from American Sycamore

[Duane Bozarth]

Yeah, I was still in the time warp of what I paid in (I think) '78 when I wrote and didn't even think about it being wrong... :(

It (a Biesmeyer) may be worth it, I'm still unable to bring myself to pop for that much w/ as many other things demanding $$ as there are...

If the Pow 66 fence is zero'ed, it's scale is close enough for the way I make 99.44% of the cuts I make using the fence so it isn't a real time factor from that view point. The thing I dislike about it most is that it is tapered slightly from bottom to top so making auxiliary fences, etc., is more of a pita than it should be...

[Silvan]

I've seen better. The Bies is the best thing I've ever seen on a consumer saw, and I kinda wish I had one, but I've seen fences on industrial stuff to make the Bies look downright flimsy. Of course, the stuff I'm thinking of makes Unisaws look downright flimsy too. Ah, if only I had 440V and some place to put the stuff. :)

[Roger Shoaf]

OK how about this. Dual encoders (one front and one rear) tell the micro processor when the front and the rear of the fence are in exactly the same spot. An entry on a key pad (Dust and water proof of course.) is all you need to do to get and exact fence adjustment. Read out on control panel also defines blade height and angle.

[Roger Shoaf]

Ah, if only I had 440V and

Getting the powe company to give you 440V is fairly easy, getting thenm to run a third line so you can have 3 phase is pricy unless it is already on the pole.

[Wes Stewart]

[snip] |OK how about this. Dual encoders (one front and one rear) tell the micro |processor when the front and the rear of the fence are in exactly the same |spot.

How useful is a zero length fence? (Sorry, couldn't help myself)

[Mike]

I tend to agree. I have a Uni at home that I use when my Wife makes me and a Beisemeyer on the job that I use every day. I would not take the Uni to the job. The Uni is accurate but the rail system is not as heavy as I'd like on the job. Also, the Uni just seems to be over thought in it's design. The feature of rotating the fence for narrow stock IMHO is a totally useless feature and I have never used it. This also requires two pointers on the measure indicator for use depending on which way the fence is installed. Mine currently has a piece of tape over the pointer I don't use. The Uni also slides into the rail system from the front. It has a heavy metal finger that goes into the groove on the front of the rail, you then turn the handle which turns the finger so that the fence cannot come out. To lock the fence you just push down on the handle as you would expect. To remove the fence you release the handle (pull up) and then you have to turn the handle so that the finger is in proper position to be removed from the rail. I'm so used to just lifting the Beisemeyer that the Uni now seems a pain.

Since the prices for these two fence systems is very comparable, (at least on the Delta saw packages) I would (will) always go for the one with the Beisemeyer.

Mike O.

[Woody]

I've got a Unifence on my Unisaur and the biggest complaint I've got is attaching anything to it. For that reason I'd go with the Biesemeyer given the choice over. It appears (from the later New Yankee shows) that Biesemeyer has added a cut-off fence attachment (to perform the same function as sliding the Unifence) as well as an auxiliary fence that can be used as a "sacrificial fence" for use with dados. See:

'm probably going to upgrade to a Uni-T-Fence (from Might-T-Track) at some point.

~Mark.

[Duane Bozarth]

Woody wrote: ...

Link, reference??? And your reasons? I'm not familiar w/ it.