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I NEED a replacement fence......Craftsman table saw

Blog entry by Al posted 279 days ago 1565 reads 1 time favorited 8 comments Add to Favorites Watch

Although my saw is fine, my fence always left a lot to be desired and now it’s just awful. While seraching for a replacement I found that most fences are worth almost as much as the saw or more. As a hobbyist, I’m hoping to resolve my fence issue within reason (under $200 if possible). You have always come up with a solution so….... I will go to the well once again. Thanks, Al

-- Al Meriden, Connecticut


8 comments so far

View Scott Bryan's profile

Scott Bryan

20735 posts in 719 days


posted 279 days ago

You might want to take a look at Delta’s T2 fence. I have seen it available at Lowe’s for $150.00 but in checking their web site it is no longer listed. It is available at Amazon.com for $183.00 and has free shipping. If you do a search here you will see several upgrades posted for this fence.

I tried it on my Craftsman saw but when I got it installed the fence sat proud of the table by about 3/8”. My saw has stamped aluminum wings. I thought about drilling new mounting holes in the cast iron top and wings for the fence but by the time I redrilled new holes I would have had less than an 1/8” of metal to support the mounting screws in the wings so I opted to return the fence to Lowes. Other LJs have upgraded their fence by drilling out the angle iron of the fence itself to accomodate the existing holes in their Craftsman saws. But then of course if anything went awry then the fence could not be returned. Here is a blog by Jamie outlining the process he used to install the T2 on his Craftsman saw.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

View NedB's profile

NedB

257 posts in 463 days


posted 279 days ago

check over on woodnet, there’s a guy selling a Ridgid fence $100 and he’s on long island.

-- Ned - 2B1ASK1 http://nedswoodshop.blogspot.com

View Mike Lingenfelter's profile

Mike Lingenfelter

458 posts in 1011 days


posted 279 days ago

You can make your own if you want. Checkout Hutch's blog about making a TS fence.

-- http://theinquisitivewoodworker.com/

View EEngineer's profile

EEngineer

275 posts in 510 days


posted 279 days ago

Check out brianinpa’s workshop

He built the fence on his saw from an article in “Shop Tested Woodworking Tools You Can Make” – a book from the editors of Wood Magazine. I bought a copy and started making the fence to replace one on my old Craftsman 8” table saw. If it ever gets warm again (my shop is in an unheated detached garage), I am going to finish it and blog about it. Total cost was $0 – I had all the stuff laying around the shop.

For my 10” Craftsman, I bought a second-hand Ridgid AC1036 from CL. This is an excellent fence but it is made for 27” tables. The 8” saw only had a 20” table and I despaired of ever finding a fence for it until I ran into brian’s solution.

-- "Find out what you cannot do and then go do it!"

View JuniorJoiner's profile

JuniorJoiner

166 posts in 337 days


posted 279 days ago

I too suggest making your own. atleast it will cost less and you don’t have to stop until you are happy with the results. the only manufactured fences i would truly recommend are the inca systems, and they are much more than 200. a shop made fence will be more than accurate and acceptable for 95% of tablesaw uses.

-- Junior -Quality is never an accident-it is the reward for the effort involved.

View jond's profile

jond

4 posts in 345 days


posted 279 days ago

I bought a Mule Accusquare fence. It’s the cheapest way to get past the 25-30” capacity fences that most companies offer. It’s a smart design, but not overly complex, and the t-tracks built in mean that most accessories that independent companies make can work out of the box. It is very similar in design to the EZ square fence offered by Peachtree Woodworking (at least from reading the manual of the EZ square).

Installation of the Accusquare on my 113-series Craftsman was straightforward; however you do drill holes in the fence rail, and the accuracy of the fence depends on the straightness of the rail, which can only be checked against a straight edge. I bought one of the cheap Empire ones, and it was difficult to match the straightness of even this cheap straight edge with the rail (using pieces of metal straps as shims for the fence rail). I would encourage you to read other reviews of the Accusquare fence.

View prez's profile

prez

111 posts in 308 days


posted 279 days ago

Yea, go for the mule accusquare system. That’s what I bought for my rockwell/beaver TS and have never looked back!!! I love it… see my tablesaw/router reno project.

-- George..." I love the smell of a workshop in the morning!"

View roundabout22's profile

roundabout22

78 posts in 983 days


posted 279 days ago

Thanks for asking this question Al. I inherited an old Rockwell saw. While it’s better than my benchtop Ryobi, I haven’t been happy wth the fence, and have been wondering what to replace it with. Thanks to your question and jond’s response I know what to go with now.

-- remember always measure once and cut twice

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