# Magswitch Question



## hackery (Jun 14, 2016)

Hi

I am looking for anyone that can help shed led on two different Magswitch products because as far as I can tell they both do exactly the same thing expect one is double of the other..

Magswitch Resaw Guide (single roller): Amazon link

Magswitch Dual Roller Guide: Amazon Link

I am primarily looking for something to help my resawing on both the band saw and table saw and this Magswitch stuff seems perfect as my band saw table doesn't have a mitre slot (it's not a great saw). Common sense would tell me that the double roller guide would be better than the single but I am happy to be corrected by someone that knows these products.

Also this probably is a really stupid question but I am guessing both of the above products are only addons to some sort of base rather than full products in their own right. I tried looking on Magswitch's website but it's not consumer based and therefore offers precious little information as do or does not as the case is on the Amazon listings themselves.

If you are into this Magswitch stuff can you make any other suggestions about what I might buy in the range apart from fetherboards already have plenty of those.

Thanks in advance for any advice offered.

Hackery


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## JBrow (Nov 18, 2015)

hackery,

I do not own nor have any experience with Magswitch products, but I have some thoughts.

I would think that if resawing on the bandsaw, the single roller guide would be the way to go. It looks like a product designed for resawing when otherwise using the bandsaw fence fails to produce a straight cut. Therefore a pivot point mounted to the fence would allow the workpiece to be pivoted during the cut thereby producing a consistent thickness.

Other than making the workpiece a little easier to feed, I fail to see the advantage of the dual roller system on the bandsaw. The design of the dual roller system seems to anticipate the workpiece being held in contact with both roller guides throughout the cut. If a straight cut can be made using the bandsaw fence, then the dual roller guide system should also work, but to what advantage over the fence.

With a bandsaw in the shop, I am not sure why timber would be re-sawn at the table saw. Before I acquired a bandsaw I used the table saw for resawing and it always made me a little nervous. Now I only use the bandsaw for re-sawing. Nonetheless, if resawing on the table saw, the dual roller system would be the way to go, if attached to the fence. However, I am not sure that it offers an advantage to using the table saw's fence, perhaps outfitted with a tall auxiliary fence.

The dual roller guide system could be used as out feed support at either the bandsaw or table saw, but it has limited bearing surface and I am not sure how it would be mounted as outfeed support.

It appears that both products require a separate mounting base that is sold separately. It is my impression that these products rely on magnetic attraction to hold them in place. If there is no ferrous metal surface onto which to mount the base, a mechanic attaching system, I suppose, could be designed and built - just not sure. I found the Universal Base on Amazon by searching Magswitch Universal Base Universal Base Magswitch. I did not post the link since my search produced a result for USA consumers.

It may be worthwhile to check the Magswitch web site in an effort to find a local retailer where you could go to look at their products first hand. If lucky and a local vendor is found and you can handle the product, most of your questions will probably melt away.


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## hackery (Jun 14, 2016)

Hi Jbrow

Thanks for your reply.

We have one big box hardware store chain (like Home Depot but far far far worse) that doesn't even sell bandsaws or table saws let along jigs for them so sadly there is no chance to look at Magswitch stuff locally… ultimately I could just buy both from Amazon UK and return the one I don't need just don't like wasting resources even if they are Amazon's.

My bandsaw is only 8 inches due primarily to budget and secondly to lack of room in the workshop so I have not tried resawing on the table saw as it doesn't look very safe so was thinking the Magswitch stuff along with other bits like holddowns, tall auxiliary fence and featherboards would help to make the task safer.


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