should a unifence have a back rail?

[mark kosse]

This is a early 80's uni with a unifence, square tube type. Should it have a rear rail or did it work off of the fence rail like a biesemeyer. The only other uni I've used had a round tube unifence and it has 2 rails.

Thanks, mark

[Rod Sheridan]

Mark, doesn't it just use the front rail and a sliding foot on the saw table?

Maybe I'm imagining the wrong machinery.

Regards, Rod.

[John Thompson]

If your fence does not have a bolt on the rear with a nylon pad that slides on the back rail.. it is not necesarry. The original Biesemeyer had that bolt so the rear of fence never touched the table. When Biesemeyer was bought out that feature was elinated. My Steel City Industrial fence has that bolt and the reason is slides so smoothly.

But.. you really need a rail on the rear to attach addition extension wings to if you add them which you most likely will. So...

[Ray Newman]

Mark Kosse: The original Uni-saw OEM fence was a 2 tube fence --the Delta “Jet Lock“ fence. That was what Delta originally installed on my 1986 Unisaw and earlier contractor's saws.

In a sense, I still miss the micro-adjust feature of the first 12” + on the Jet Lock fence system.

The Uni-fence -- original or current design -- does not have a rear tube or rail/guide bar.

There is only one rail/guide bar attached to the front (in feed side) of the saw. It is a unusual design.

For those Not-In-The-Know, Saw Parts is a good source for Delta and older Uni-saw parts, information, rebuilding instructions, etc:
www.sawcenter.com/index.html (http://www.sawcenter.com/index.html)

[mark kosse]

I honestly haven't seen the saw yet. I was just curious because I noticed it was lacking in the pics and thought it was strange. As I read Johns reply I realize I knew the answer already. It does need a rear rail. It's a 52" fence and can't go past the table without one. I imagine it won't be to hard to find something suitable. I rarely go past 24" anyway.

Thanks for the replies folks! m

[Mike Heidrick]

The unifence does NOT have a back rail and the table mouts to the extension table NOT the back rail. PM me your email address and I will email you the manual.

[Ray Newman]

Mark: as Mike H and I posted, there is NO rear back rail/guide bar for the Delta Uni-fence.

For the longer fence, the table is necessary as the “head” or fence body of the Uni-fence has an adjustable nylon pad that rides on the table. This keeps the fence itself slightly “off” the table to move it towards/away from the blade.

Here is the on-line manual for the newer style Uni-fence. The installation method and user operating instructions are basically the same as my 20 yr. old Uni-fence.

http://www.dewaltservicenet.com/documents/English/Instruction%20Manual/Delta/a25547,36-U30.pdf[/URL]

Parts schematic:
[URL]http://www.dewaltservicenet.com/Products/DocumentView.aspx?productid=43134&typeId=9954&documentId=29475 (http://www.dewaltservicenet.com/Products/DocumentView.aspx?productid=43134&typeId=9954&documentId=29475)

As an aside, my Uni-saw has both extension wings and the 52“ Uni-fence. A shop-made table holds the front fence rail in place. You don’t necessarily need to buy the Delta OEM table and legs if the saw doesn’t have it.

[Mike Heidrick]

Ray, when I had a unifence on my old delta saw I remade the extension table for a router plate due to the factory table warping with a 7518 in it. I did it al la Norm router table top style with the Dual MDF sheets and 2" Oak edging all laminated with laminate from Menards. The instructions like you posted were handy so I could modify my table to use the mounting instructions and hardware. I did reuse my extension table legs and the lower shelf but I feel that I shoudl have remade the unifence lower table as it was cheep. Anyway, What I am taking a long time to post is, I would remake the unifence extension tables from Day one to save any warping headache if you plan to add a router plate or lift.

[Harvey Pascoe]

My 1985 Unifence has the 84" angular extruded aluminum front rail only and it still works perfectly and I love the Unifence for its versatility, quick removability, high & low fences and switching to opposite side of blade, tho that operation is a bit slow. Of course, this fence is not right for everybody, but when you build a combo table, its great to be able to remove the fence quickly and easily. Since the extension table is combined with my router table, the ability to loosen the fence and slide it back a bit means I don't have to remove the fence all all.

The lack of a rear guide hasn't caused any problems with misaligning the fence or deflection, although I can see where it could be a problem with heavy sheet material if one is not careful.

[Ray Newman]

Harvey Rabbett: IMO, the high/low fence position capability of the Uni-fence is worth its weight in gold.

I now probably use the lower fence position for 95% of my cuts. One thing that I did learn -- the hard way :D though-- is that when using the low fence position it is best to cover up the indicator on the cursor for the high fence position using the tape.

Mike Heidrick: I can easily see how the table would warp as a result of supporting that PC7518 router. I have a 7518 in my router table and I made the compartment for it as small as possible to afford more support for it and the heavy top.

I always thought that the Uni-fence table system was a bit on the "flimsy" side and that a woodworker would be best better served by shop fabricating a table or cabinet with four adjustable legs for the extension table.

My shop-built extension table has a 2x4 frame and 1/2" plywood panels to fit in grooves between the legs and aprons, and 1/2" MDF with 1/4" tempered Masonite for the top. Legs were cut about 3/4" too short and installed lag screws for adjustment. It is rock solid. A 12" long 1" piece of aluminum channel was screwed to the bottom and near the end of the Uni-fence rail. First leveled the extension table to the saw, then leveled the rail to the extension table, finally screwed the channel to the exetension table.