My Biesmeyer fence on my '98 Unisaw was ok, but the faces were uneven and slightly out of whack. Only a few 10's of thousandths, but it bugs!
Looking around I found the VSCT fence which can come as a full kit, including the box tube fence rail, or one can just buy the fence. I've been using it for a few years now.
I opted for the fence only since my tube was fine.
The neat thing is they use the big-kids erector set extruded "bar" as the fence, only thing is they mill it square and straight. I wish other Mfgs that had extrusions as parts of their devices (i.e. miter bars) would do the same treatment.
The head is the same basic construction as the Bessy, T-square style with nylon pads to glide on the rail and allow for adjusting to square and for tilt.
The inch marker is very crisp and rides close to the rail tape for low parallax error. Also has a goodly amount of adjustment ability for various fence face thicknesses.
Nice thing is that you can get the fence section at just below 48" long (under the UPS shipping limit) or spend the enormous shipping upcharge for a much longer version.
The fence connection to the locking head has two guide blocks that ride in the groove of the extrusion, This allows inward/outward adjustability, locked down by two of the standard bolt/wedge nuts used with this material.
This can be handy (ala the Unifence), but the bolts are recessed hex drive and not that convenient to access. Ok by me since I'm used to operating without that feature.
Setup and alignment is easy enough and I was able to get it perfectly square with the table surface and a dial gauge riding on my miter gauge showed only ~0.001" of runout over it's travel range in the slot.
The bare extrusion (no faces) has largish radiuses corners, which can make for issues when cutting thin stock (can slide a bit under the fence). I just added some melamine that extends down to the tabletop and has a non-marking slippery surface.
The extrusion has the dual-grooves on the faces and a single on top, perfect for attachment of just about anything. Speaking of attachment, the bolt/wedge-nuts can be bought from VSCT, but can be had for far cheaper from other online retailers. Save some cash and go shopping!
Clamping action feels a bit "squishier" than the Bessy. I find it best to slide to position, push down on the lock until it contacts, then just tap the fence to the final mark (and fully lock).
I'm a happy camper, have a fence that is straight and square to the table plus a solid way to attach stuff (cup holder anyone?)
It was a close call on if the cost was worth it, but after a few years, I think so!
Cool writeup Splinter... I'm sure people within "shipping cost" distance will have something to consider. I've always had the hots for those multi-tracked extrusions, but availability and shipping cost have always role played a cold spoon and dampened my desire.
I'm content with my Biesmeyer style fence if only cause I have some tracks in it for mounting accoutrements for tablesaw on one side, and router table on the other, though I had to pimp it out with a Wixey to make it useful/accurate.
If your first cut is too short... Take the second cut from the longer end... LBD
Yeah, if you already have a good straight fence beam, it's easy enough to accessorize it with useful stuff. Warps are a bummer but can be shimmed.
No fears, I still have my original fence and sometimes use it when I need a dual fence setup. I've thought about a Wixey, currently I'll just set the fence wide, cut, measure, then with a mag based dial indicator I'll move the fence to compensate. Nice thing is the method works with any blade.
I have several Wixey DROs too. Let’s see…router table, lunchbox planer, tail stock on my metal lathe, plus about a half dozen different calipers and tool setup devices. They’re economical and work as advertised!
I don’t have one on either of the drill presses, which seems like a really good thing to change!
Ryan/// ~sigh~ I blew up another bowl. Moke told me "I made the inside bigger than the outside".
I'd call LBD's fence a "tactical fence". It has all the latest doodads attached to the hard points and plenty of room to spare. Wonder where the holster and laser are mounted?
I’ve dreamed about this fence system for several years now. Got the General T (good) and the Sawstop (fair) fences already. A third fence would be kinda extravagant, so it hasn’t happened. Perhaps I just need to drink more late at night while I’m perusing the interweb.
Seriously…It’s an excellent fence system with lots of flexibility and from all I’ve heard, excellent build quality. I really like the sliding fence feature. Getting more fence support for sheet goods before they contact the blade makes a huge difference. Envy is mine!
