Mule TS fence

Hi Neodogg … New member and I was browsing the home page and saw your question.

I bought a Mule Cabinetmaker fence system and router table for my old Craftsman TS in 2001 or 2002. It was the only aftermarket fence I could find for that saw since it had just a 23-inch deep top. Anyway, the fence system is pretty well made and when I first installed it, it seemed very good. Easy to adjust, solid, etc., etc. However, the front rail (aluminum) started to wear after 3-4 years. Still worked well but wasn’t as smooth. Not long before I sold that saw last fall I had a piece of 1/4 inch ply kick back and it broke the cursor. I emailed J. Withrow, company owner, to get a replacement. That was at the end of October. Reply said it was covered by warranty and he’d get it to me right away. Two weeks passed, no cursor, another email and he said the part had been out of stock but he had them again and would get it right out to me. I sold the saw at the end of November but told the buyer that I would forward the cursor when it arrived. Despite many emails to J. Withrow I never got the cursor and haven’t even had replies. I wasn’t nasty in my messages but was firm in letting him know that I wasn’t pleased and would appreciate a reply. In my last message I told him I assumed he had fallen of the face of the earth and was done with him.

Bottom line, for me, it was a decent product for the price but showed wear faster than it should have and there is absolutely no customer support. I wouldn’t buy Mule again and wouldn’t recommend them to anyone else.

John

-- John, co-owner Sawdust 'n Stitches

solid input, so that’s:

Good – 0
Bad – 1

-- If you can't fix it with a hammer, you've got an electrical problem!

Not much plastic on the T2, maybe part of the handle.

I recently purchased the Mule Cabinetmaker fence system from Rockler’s in Pittsburgh Pa. (it was on clearance for $60) so you might check with them, they may have another. When I put it on it was missing the stick on rule tape and Rockler’s promptly sent one. I also had an additional problem with the fence and needed replacement parts, I called Mule Cabinet (never an answer or call back) and emailed several times with no response. I again called Rockler’s to hopefully put some pressure on, which worked and I did get email response and finally received the replacement parts a month and a half later….
Overall I do like the fence better than what I had but can’t recommend Mule cabinet, due to the lack of support.
If I had to do it all again (which I may) I would consider what fellow LJ Hutch did.

http://lumberjocks.com/jocks/Hutch/blog/2740

-- Tim: Remember, if it doesn't say Binford, someone else made it.

Neodogg – I used both the Delta T2 and the Mulecab on a friend’s saw. The Mulecab was a big step up from the stock fence on his old CMan contractor saw, but compared to the T2, Vega, and Biese, it’s not as robust. There was a bit of deflection at the end, and you’ve got to roll it fully off the rails to remove it. It does have t-slots and some nice accessories for it, and a lot of people are really happy with it. My friend ended up with a Biese that he loves…the T2 is much more like a “Biese Lite” than the Mulecab.

AFAIK, the T2 is steel where it counts, and only the handle is not….it’s pretty stout for a $150 fence, but I don’t believe they offer a 50” rip version, though you could probably slide the rails to the right to gain more than the stock 30”.

The Mule fence is a great product. I bought mine a year ago and their small company service can be a little limited but it is not a big deal. The only “plastic” parts are two nylon rollers in the track that are in use only when it glides – they do not take any wear or cause any problem. I bought a used Unisaw and transferred my Mule instead of the Beis fence because I don’t want to give it up. Great product.

-- Regards, Steve2

I played around with a number of after market fences and decided that for twice the money there simply wasn’t a product that could out preform the T2. My old Craftsman contractors TS has been my work horse since I started and I decided to convert it to a hybred by building it into it’s own cabinet. Upgrading the fence was absolutely essential as the fence that came with the saw was virtually useless from day one. All in all the T2 has been a solid preforming tool. It has all of the necessary adjustments and there is actually very little to distinguish it from it’s Biesemyer conterparts. I think you’ll be very pleased with it although admittedly I’m sure I would like a Powermatic PM2k better … :)

-- JMP

I wanted to follow up on this as I actually took a little time to look over my T2, and even compare it to the Bies that I have.

1) Not counting the wear strips/glides that are UHMW the only plastic on the fence is the knob on the handle (handle stem and cam are both steel), the adjustable cursor, and the end caps on the aluminum faces. Magnets stick to everything else that matters except the aluminum faces

2) The T2 fence seems heavier than my Biesemeyer by a little bit. And the Bies is longer. I’m not sure what the Manufacturing process on the Bies is, it might have a better grade of steel, but they tried to make up for that by beefing the T2 up in other ways then.

I make my own fence, based in Biesemeyer design. Visit this link:

http://home.comcast.net/~jaswensen/machines/fence/fence.html

Before I build it, I change impressions with other people that help me a lot realizing how to do that. Is good for ego, and works great.

-- Tempus fugit...better work wood!!!