Poll and thoughts... Offset table saw fence?

[Drew Sanderson]

Do you offset the blade 1/32 away from the blade at the end to prevent kickback or do you keep the fence parallel? What are your thoughts?

[glenn bradley]

1/32" is a HUGE amount to me. .003" would be generous enough. I try for dead on but, if I have to give a thou, I will as long as it is away from the trailing edge of the blade.

[Drew Sanderson]

Wrong measurement.... I meant 1/64. I would change the poll but I don't know how.

The reason I was asking is that I was watching the video Mastering Your Table saw by Kelly Mehler and it is mentioned several times. I was then watching NYW Table Saw 101 and Norm sets it parallel.

[Dino Makropoulos]

1/32" at the far end is only 1/64" at the blade.
If you like to offset the fence, 1/32" is fine.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Ah, I was thinking 1/32 was big, but put my vote there anyways..... I try to shoot for just a couple thou, dividing 1/32 would have taken too much effort..... But I see more people go for no gap.... Interesting.

[johnny means]

I think optimal set up is parallel, but frustrated wood workers decided that it's better to err away from the blade than to bind trying close that final little bit of space.

I like to ride my waste piece on the fence sometimes and it would marr my keeper if my fence weren't parallel.

[Bruce Page]

I keep my Biesemeyer set at a hair less than 1/64".

[Matt Hutchinson]

Well, I have had no problems on a Delta contractor with a Unifence set parallel. If I were to splay the fence, I would try to keep it as close to .001" as possible. But honestly, with a splitter in place (properly sized/located) I don't think it's necessary to kick out the fence, especially if it's a high quality fence.

Hutch

[Steve Clardy]

Always offset. Wood is already cut by the time it makes it to there anyway.

[Cliff Furman]

Just wondering what you that set the fence away from the blade, do, when you need to put the fence on the other side of the blade?

[Jason Hallowell]

Just wondering what you that set the fence away from the blade, do, when you need to put the fence on the other side of the blade?

Exactly. I use both sides of my tablesaw, and both sides of my fence, which is one of the main reasons I set it as close to parallel as possible.

[glenn bradley]

Exactly. I use both sides of my tablesaw, and both sides of my fence, which is one of the main reasons I set it as close to parallel as possible.

Bingo.

As in most things we do, it depends on what you do and how you work. Some folks like the short fence where it doesn't extend much past the leading edge of the blade; this works for them, a full and parallel fence works for me.

All that being said, I won't hesitate to modify a setup to meet my needs for a certain procedure. When I'm done, I just put it back. Its like changing blades; some folks think its a big deal, I do it all the time.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,

Parallel.

Offset messed with rabbets and dados whenever I ran a dado blade, so I went back to parallel.

[Rod Sheridan]

Parallel for the reason Jason stated.........Rod.

[Lee Schierer]

I try for parallel or tapered away .005" set up is done with a dial indicator attached to the miter gauge.

[Alan Schwabacher]

Parallel. Offset was for fences that were not very accurate. They should be set out just enough so they never wind up pointing in.