Delta Unifence table saw fence

[richard poitras]

I have a chance to buy a used Delta Unifence. For those of you that have them or have had them what are your thoughts? Are they any good? I currently have a Biesemeyer on my jet cabinet saw and used to have a Vega Pro on a contractor saw I had a while back. I liked them both. But I recently picked up an old goose egg Unisaw for $25.00 and am looking to replace the fence. The fence is listed on GL but I am not sure if I want to drive 2 hours for a fence. (Here is a picture of the saw I just bought and the fence I am looking at.)
P.S. I think I got ripped off on the saw it is missing the goose egg motor cover! J

Thanks Richard


http://images.craigslist.org/3n93k13m05Q65W55P0ab1221b9014c5cd19c0.jpg


http://images.craigslist.org/3k73od3l45Q25W35X4ab670633a23d1c01a38.jpghttp://images.craigslist.org/3m03o13la5O55Y45P2ab66049518316d71513.jpg

[Jim Becker]

Personally, I always preferred the UniFence over the Biesemeyer style fence and was darn tickled to get back to that format when I move to my slider. The UniFence is very versatile and there are even some nice third party accessories for it to insure that you can easily "jig up" when you want/need to.

[Thomas Delpizzo]

I have one. It's very stable. The down side is that jigs, etc. that most woodworkers make or purchase are made for the normal type of fence. The unifence has the tapered section for use with thin woods. To use a dado fence you will need to purchase the u clamps available for fences. They run $10 - 20. You can get them on ebay, rockler, etc. However if you want board buddies you'll have to do something similar, but it defeats the purpose of that beautiful extruded aluminum fence. Peachtree woodworking has a replacement fence of extruded aluminum with all sorts of channels cut into it for a variety of clamping arrangements. It's about $100.
But I do know when I clamp it down, its dead on.

[Cliff Furman]

I have used a friends Unifence on his Unisaw quite a few times, before I got my old Unisaur. I put a Biesemeyer (Jet Exacta clone) and prefer it to the unifence.
My friend, would trade his for a Bies. He used Bies. fences, years ago, building cabinets, and wishes his saw had one.
The Unifence is a good fence.

[keith micinski]

It's the best fence ever. It is way more versatile then a Bies lighter, and has the higher and lower fence heights. Here is mine with the peachtree fence which I also love.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=148177

[Mike Cozad]

How long does it take to covert the fence over to use it on the other side of the blade?

[Mike Wilkins]

Nice find on the vintage Unisaw. I had one for about 10 years until I got a sliding tablesaw, and the Uni was upgraded to a Unifence. This is one really nice fence, with loads of features and super accurate (wish I still had the Unisaw). I believe the Unifence is being phased out by Delta, which is a shame. Only the Euro sliders are equipped with a similar fence.
Personally I think the fence is worth the drive. It will be a nice upgrade to an old workhorse of a saw.

[Charles Lent]

I have a Unifence on the 1982 Unisaw that I purchased 4 years ago that came with the saw. This is the first Unifence that I have ever used and I had originally considered replacing it with a Bies, but I quickly grew to love it and now prefer it over any of the other saw fences that I've ever used. At work we have a Bies on a Delta RT40 that I have used for many years. I've also used the earlier Delta Unisaw and Contractor saw (round rail) fences, as well as several other brands and styles. At first I found the Unifence to be a bit difficult when compared to the other saw fences, but I quickly grew to prefer it over all of them. I now wouldn't trade it for any other. It's easy to reverse for right or left of blade use and it's ability to become either a low or high fence makes it very versatile. Just loosen two wing nuts, slide the fence extrusion forward, rotate it, slide it back on, and tighten the wing nuts. Changing from left to right fence is almost as easy, but it requires removal of the wing nuts, removal and rotation of the 2 bolt fence attachment plate to the opposite side, rotation and replacement of the fence extrusion, and the installation and tightening of the wing nuts. It takes less than a minute to perform.

I have since purchased the Uni-T-Fence extrusion with the T Slots from Peachtree so I can easily add feather boards when I need them, but I usually just keep the original Unifence extrusion on the saw, because it works so well for most of my needs. I also have the 16" length Uni-T-Fence to use as a stop when making cross cuts or when doing shoulder cuts to make tenons, etc. and I prefer it over using a block of wood clamped to the fence as is required to do this operation with the Bies fence at work.

Charley

[Lance Norris]

How long does it take to covert the fence over to use it on the other side of the blade?

About 45 seconds...

By the way, I love my Unifence.

[Karl Brogger]

I hate the uni-fence. Tore it off of my Delta as soon as I could.

[richard poitras]

Thanks for all the input on the fence. One thing I didn’t think about was what Thomas said about jigs for the Unifence compared to the Biesemeyer. I currently have a Biesemeyer on my cabinet saw in which I have multiple jigs already made that I could use if I got another Biesemeyer compared to the Unifence. Not that big of a deal but something to think about in my decision.

Thanks Richard

[Chris Rosenberger]

Thanks for all the input on the fence. One thing I didn’t think about was what Thomas said about jigs for the Unifence compared to the Biesemeyer. I currently have a Biesemeyer on my cabinet saw in which I have multiple jigs already made that I could use if I got another Biesemeyer compared to the Unifence. Not that big of a deal but something to think about in my decision.

Thanks Richard

I prefer the Unifence.
The problem with jigs is solved by adding a Uni T Fence.
http://www.ptreeusa.com/uni_t_fence.htm

[Joe Shinall]

I prefer the Unifence.
The problem with jigs is solved by adding a Uni T Fence.
http://www.ptreeusa.com/uni_t_fence.htm

I was just going to post this and Chris beat me to it. After I got my Uni T fence, which I bought from a fellow Creeker, I absolutely love my Unifence. I have used the Bies and it is a nice fence, but with the T-tracks I have now in the fence, I won't switch.

[Larry Edgerton]

I have two Beismeyers and one Unifence. I use the unifence on my jobsite saw and it is as others have said, versatile. I like the ability to use the short fence on occasion, and the tall side is nice and tall for cutting pieces on edge. Its accurate, sturdy, and I would buy another one. The only problem I have is that the curser can be broken fairly easy, and as with all Delta parts it is too expensive for what it is.