table saw fence faces

[Ryan Welch]

Looking to replace the stupid plastic faces on my G0691 rip fence. I currently have replaced them with white laminated birch plywood but, I am not totally happy. I came across some corian and I was wondering whats everybody's thoughts for using it as a rip fence face.

[Andrew Minear]

Looking to replace the stupid plastic faces on my G0691 rip fence. I currently have replaced them with white laminated birch plywood but, I am not totally happy. I came across some corian and I was wondering whats everybody's thoughts for using it as a rip fence face.

The Corian should work well. It is shaped with woodworking tools, so, if you happen to hit it with the TS blade, no big deal. It is fairly slick, which would help with feeding. It is somewhat flexible at 1/2' so you could shim it straight as a fence face.

Andrew

[Charles Wiggins]

I'm cheap, so I just laminated a piece of hardboard to a piece of plywood. That was "slick" enough for me, and cheap to replace when necessary.

[Jim O'Dell]

Ryan, what is it about the HDPE fence material that you don't like? I find it's pretty slick stuff. Is it just not flat? If so, you can shim it to get it that way.
otherwise, use some laminate on MDF. You may still need to shim the MDF as torquing the screws down will tend to change it's shape also. Or get longer screws and put some MDF behind the HDPE to stiffen it up. Lots of possibilities. Jim.

[Ryan Welch]

Ryan, what is it about the HDPE fence material that you don't like? I find it's pretty slick stuff. Is it just not flat? If so, you can shim it to get it that way.
otherwise, use some laminate on MDF. You may still need to shim the MDF as torquing the screws down will tend to change it's shape also. Or get longer screws and put some MDF behind the HDPE to stiffen it up. Lots of possibilities. Jim.

the HDPE faces were not milled flat and require multiple shims to get them close and really not close enough for me. In addition, every time I turned around I was nicking the soft plastic surface. The laminated plywood I have on there now is pretty good but, I figured since I have some dead flat corian I could use it without the need for shims. Haven't really heard of anyone doing this before and it seems like it would be the ultimate fence face. Plus, it looks cool.

[glenn bradley]

I was going to suggest a substrate with some UHMW tape facing but, if nicking the plastic surface is already an issue, how about phenolic faced ply?

[David G Baker]

My Delta planer has Corian as at the entrance and exit. It has worked out great. I never thought of using it on my TS fence face, thanks for the idea.

[Tom Henderson2]

the HDPE faces were not milled flat and require multiple shims to get them close and really not close enough for me. In addition, every time I turned around I was nicking the soft plastic surface. The laminated plywood I have on there now is pretty good but, I figured since I have some dead flat corian I could use it without the need for shims. Haven't really heard of anyone doing this before and it seems like it would be the ultimate fence face. Plus, it looks cool.

The Corian is somewhat flexible, so while it may be smooth, it will only be as flat as the substrate. It is better in that regard than the HDPE, but it is still may need shims, etc.

[Lewis Cobb]

I have thought about the corian approach for the accufence on my PM2000. When I first set the saw up and ran the dial indicator down it to get the alignment set up, I was horrified to see the needle "wagging" back and forth by 5-10 thou. I set it up so the "average wag" was parallel with the miter slot and have been using it that way ever since. The wags corresponded to the 5 mounting points of the face.

When talking with the tech service guy at WMH, he was willing to send out another UHMW fence, but he told me to try it for a while as he suspected it was not going to be a problem. I agreed as I figured the UHMW replacement would be no better than the first one - snugging the mounting bolts just distorts the material before you get them snug enough not to shift.

That was several months back and I have been using the saw without problems (i.e. the cuts I am making are fine). However, when I get the chance I am going to make some alternate faces and corian was one option. The other option was to go high tech and have a machinist here in town mill me some flat aluminum faces for the fence tube and then attach some of the UHMW tape to them. That would fix it. I don't tend to nick the face of the fence with the blade so it would not be a problem. Even if I did, the aluminum is softer than the carbide.

Will keep my eyes on this thread for your results - please post 'em up when you have some.

Thanks,
Lewis

[Jason White]

How about some nice-looking, tight-grained hardwood with a slick finish on it like polyurethane or wax?

Whenever I make projects for the shop, I use it as an opportunity to practice joinery and finishing techniques that I haven't done before. Plus it just makes your shop furniture and fixtures/jigs nicer to look at. :D

Jason


Looking to replace the stupid plastic faces on my G0691 rip fence. I currently have replaced them with white laminated birch plywood but, I am not totally happy. I came across some corian and I was wondering whats everybody's thoughts for using it as a rip fence face.

[James Combs]

I agree with Jason, I am getting ready to pull the trigger on the GO690 version of that saw and if I have to replace the fence faces it will be with a high quality piece(s) of maple with a nice slick finish.:)


How about some nice-looking, tight-grained hardwood with a slick finish on it like polyurethane or wax?

Whenever I make projects for the shop, I use it as an opportunity to practice joinery and finishing techniques that I haven't done before. Plus it just makes your shop furniture and fixtures/jigs nicer to look at. :D

Jason

[Russ Anderson]

Jason, Poly is typically a soft finish. If you are going to use hardwood and a finish I would select something that is harder like lacquer. There are harder poly finishes available though. One that I've used is called "Diamond Hard" which I used to refinish my kitchen table 10 years ago.


How about some nice-looking, tight-grained hardwood with a slick finish on it like polyurethane or wax?

Whenever I make projects for the shop, I use it as an opportunity to practice joinery and finishing techniques that I haven't done before. Plus it just makes your shop furniture and fixtures/jigs nicer to look at. :D

Jason

[Jeff Miller]

I did mine:)

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?135278-Grizzly-GO690-I-Replaced-The-Fence-Faces-With-Corian....Nice&highlight=


JEFF

[Mike Harrison]

When I made my Bies clone fence years ago, I just used White Oak for the faces, and they have never needed replacing.

[Mike Harrison]

When I made my Bies clone fence years ago, I just used White Oak for the faces, and they have never needed replacing.

http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv62/mikeinkcmo/WW%20tools/Shop%20tools%20and%20Jigs/Fence/fencefaces2.jpg