Indeed. If one leans into the fence so hard as to deflect a proper T- fence like a Bies...I think that a Unifence would be much help ether. I have bought, used Unifences, and Biesemeyers...all fine by me. Serious beef, and adjustability along with a solid locking mechanism... neither rocket surgery nor brain science.
Fastening in two places can induce some error. Logic is outdone by sheer strength. What you are saying is comparable to saying a rowboat with two lines to the dock is harder to move than a battleship with only one line on it. The Beisemeyer is rather solid and does not deflect. You put it on the mark, push the handle, and it is locked accurately in place. Every time. My old saw the two locking points was a PITA and had to be tweaked for perfect measurements. Of course, that saw total price was about the same the Beis fence.
Quite right. I saw a photo of a three-sided wrap that looked like a winner.
Best, Christopher
The Unifence is secured by a three (3) point clamping consisting of two (2) points on the front rail and a single point pad pushing down on the table 12"-5" forward in the clamped position.
The extrusion which is the actual fence is simply along for the ride when it comes to clamping.
Lew
Sure, the same common sense tells me that a fence with more lock down points is also more prone to the possibility of additional errors cropping up should any of those points be incorrect.
When I bought my Excalibur, circa 1993, I wasn't able to get around much at the time and the Excalibur was the first aftermarket fence I'd come in contact with that had a number of recommendations, so I bought one. I'm still using it on the Rockwell Beaver contractor's saw I bought in 1973. I'll be going to a General cabinet saw and a Bies type of fence that comes with it when/if I manage to find a suitable workshop space to rent. Hope that happens sometime, because I've been looking for more than ten years.
Yup. I've looked at a few during the occasional workshop show I've attended. That robust 3 point clamping system is also a factor that has had me a little concerned, especially the Delta fences. It all adds up to a number of inches in front of a saw table, keeping me that much further back from a table top when I'm working from my chair. Agreed, we're only talking about 2"- 5" or so, but it's that much less control I'd have when needing/wanting to be closer to my work. Luckily as it may seem, the Excalibur lets me get closer to the table top than any other aftermarket fence I've seen. I also cut three inches off the legs of my contractor saw, something I couldn't have done very easily with a cabinet saw.
The new line of lowered General woodworking tools (one of them being a cabinet saw) is something that will greatly aid people in similar situations to me. I even looked closely at a SawStop and there's just too much internal mechanism for me to modify its height.
You obviously have other important things to consider that never even cross our minds, so our input on the matter is sort of moot.
Think PUSH STICKS.
Lew
If you feel offended for some reason, then I apologize. I do appreciate your input despite the fact that I have additional concerns. Be assured it isn't moot or wasted since a bies type fence is something that I'll have to buy and use sooner or later.
This is just a simple discussion on a Saturday night. Yes, I've discussed it before, but it's always nice to hear new viewpoints.
I've had the Jet Deluxe Xacta Fence II, a Biesemeyer clone, on my saw.
The ShopFox variant I got with my Jet has plastic boards you can pop off and on. I replaced mine with a tall wooden fence with a slot, for featherboards.
You can get extra metal clips that work with the fench. I think it's cool beans.
Adding a wooden fence also gives one the opportunity to add some simple T-nuts opening the door to all sorts of add-ons, jigs and hold down devices.
OFFENDED!? No man, just the opposite. This is the problem with text only interfaces. :-)
I totally respect you for keeping up with it, while in the chair. I was tying to convey that little things we take for granted and don't have to give a second thought to, become challenges for you and require quite a bit of thought and effort to resolve.
Hope I didn't offend *you.*
I was thinking about that last night, when I posted about there being no sideways deflection.
I didn't think to check about uplift, so I went out and lifted it. While I
*can* lift it, it's pretty heavy and I think the shear weight of that mofo is plenty enough to use feather boards.On Oct 11, 12:28=A0am, snipped-for-privacy@teksavvy.com wrote:
Have you ever considered a power feeder? $ 395.00 (Canadian) buys you a General "Brute". Not really designed to be ripping 8/4 oak all day, but sure would help you a lot...me thinks. No kick-back issues. You don't have to reposition yourself to continue a long cut. The cut quality on sheetgoods improve because those nasty stop/and/start saw-blade wobble marks go away in the middle of a sheet. Also, the consistency of the feed rate improves the overall cut as well. You dial in your speed and tweak it as needed. On a shaper, they're a 'must have'. BTW, shapers are really cool when equipped with a stock feeder and 1/2" routerbit adaptor (Most come with) The induction motor of the shaper, the sheer bulk of the thing and used as a routertable with a feeder..a very capable, quiet combo with excellent dustcollection capabilities and all for around $1300.00, including an auto-start dust collector. The steady speed of the feeder and the rock-solid speed of the induction shaper-motor makes for excellent cuts.... particularly when climb-cutting molding bits.... no burns no chatters no flying strips of splintery shit. Somebody should do a (Mike Holmes-style) documentary on making a full access workshop, somewhere, time allotment to be doled out to several users. NO government funding!! There will be plenty of interested corporates. Make a standard layout in consultation with material handling experts. And rather than lowering the machine, raise the floor. (Makes for a great place to hide power lines, duct collector ducts, tilt-up storage.)
Get to work, dammit.
:-)
r
Exactly what I documented as having done on my Unifence only with a T-Track.
Lew
As I was reading the first part of your post, I was going to reply to him, that he might consider taking the legs (or shortening) off his saw.
Your idea is a good one and is a SMO for video production suites. The raised floor acts as a cable chase and contains all the extra duct work required to cool all the machines. I've spent plenty of hours down there amongst the cobwebs and dust.... and crumbs and stickiness from spilled sodas. :-)
I have numerous shop-built accessories for my Bies fence. It is a popular fence so there are articles on how to build them for a fraction of the cost.
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