Let's Talk Bandsaw Fences

[Jared McMahon]

This is probably very trivial to ask but it's been sorta sticking in my brain for a while now. Almost all the bandsaw fences I see, low-end to high-end, factory or after-market, are fixed on the infeed side and merely rest on the outfeed side. They're not secured, they don't run in a track, they just slide. It seems like it would be fairly simple to have something on the outfeed side a bit more secure or precise. Is it just a matter of the structure of the fence itself being relied upon to have effectively no flex? I imagine it wouldn't be an issue unless you were wrestling very large and/or heavy pieces.

Or maybe I'm just not looking at good fences...

[David Kumm]

Jared, I suspect the fact that fences are adjusted for drift and out of square makes the rear lockdown more problematic although it can be done. I have a biesemeyer on my bigger saw and like on a tablesaw it doesn't lock in the rear. If the front is hefty enough it shouldn't be necessary. For resawing you don't really want to push too hard against the fence anyway. Most are just made cheap to fit on a saw at a price point. Dave

[John Coloccia]

No reason to lock on the rear. You really shouldn't have to push so hard that you knock it out of square, though a decent fence will take quite a bit of punishment before it starts to knock you out of true.

What's more, have multiple points of alignment just cause headaches. Having two points of alignment at the front fence is very easy to line up whereas 3 or more points of alignment will drive you to drink if you're going for accuracy. It is incredibly difficult to get more than the two points on the back of the fence to line up nice and tight, and ultimately having a nice, tight alignment is the key to accuracy. A mushy 3 or 4 point alignment will drive you batty.

[johnny means]

I don't think this is an issue with better saws or at least better fences. I think what you may be seeing is the lower end of the spectrum. What models are you seeing? IMO a good fence assembly should look and feel like a couple of truck parts to the unknowing. Have you looked here? http://www.lagunatools.com/accessories/bandsaw-fences/Heavy-Duty-Rip-Fence-Assembly

[John McClanahan]

I think fences that lock in the rear are compensating for weak construction materials. I bought a Jet bandsaw fence off of ebay that's built like a good table saw fence.

John

[Chris Fournier]

Drift adjustment means front locking only. Of course a sytem could be put together to have front and rear locking as well as drift adjustment but it would mean more money! As John pointed out side pressure is not that great.

[Harvey Pascoe]

If you have "drift" then your saw isn't set up right. When properly set up with a sharp blade, there should be zero drift. It took me years to figure that out after so many people explaining how to adjust for drift. The only time I get drift now is when blades get dull.

Both my table and band saw are front locking only and both 100% accurate.

[Steve Baumgartner]

An easy fix for any fence that rides on a cast iron table is to add a magswitch near the back end. Fasten it to the fence in whatever way is simplest. Turn the switch, and voila - locked in place.

[Terry Beadle]

I've seen band saw fences do a great job on ripping thin stock....however I've found that seldom two pieces of wood cut the same due to grain and wood density differences. Therefore I have adopted using a hand held fence to control square and practiced sense-ing the rate of cutting very carefully. Slowing the cut to match the clearance of the gullets.

I don't recommend a band saw fence for these reasons. I'm probably alone in this due to my band saw being a Craftsman 12 inch and about 20 years old.

So I'd be interested in knowing if I bought a $1000 band saw, would it reliably cut thin stock via a fence system. Mark Duginske feel free to speak up...hoot!

[bob hertle]

No reason to lock on the rear. You really shouldn't have to push so hard that you knock it out of square, though a decent fence will take quite a bit of punishment before it starts to knock you out of true.

What's more, have multiple points of alignment just cause headaches. Having two points of alignment at the front fence is very easy to line up whereas 3 or more points of alignment will drive you to drink if you're going for accuracy. It is incredibly difficult to get more than the two points on the back of the fence to line up nice and tight, and ultimately having a nice, tight alignment is the key to accuracy. A mushy 3 or 4 point alignment will drive you batty.

I cut down a Jetlock fence from a Unisaw to fit the 18" x 19 1/2" table of my bandsaw. There is absolutely no problem with the rear lockup. Jetlocks require attention to the "timing" of the locking sequence: First part of the stroke of the locking lever squares up and locks the main casting to the front rail. Rest of the stroke will lock the rear of the fence to the rear rail, only after complete locking of the front. The additional lever stroke is possible because of a compliant bushing. This fence makes a great bandsaw fence, it's OK on a tablesaw, but I much prefer my Vega, or a Beismeyer. The jetlock has some Drift adjustment, but once I set it square to the table, I've never touched it since I've never experienced drift on my saw. I've seen these fences, and the grizzly "equivalent" for sale for "cheap". If you've ever tested bandsaw fence deflection with an indicator, you would appreciate the rear lock. Two or three thou deflection gets doubled when cutting tenons and holding the stock fairly tighly against the fence.

Regards
Bob

[glenn bradley]

+1 on the pressure not being that great; if it is, fix that. Same for heavy items that might overpower the fence; wrong tool for the job, remove the fence and use a carrier. Same for drift; I align the saw to cut straight and just keep doing that. Changes in blades and tension do not seem to alter a good alignment in my humble experience. I haven't altered the fence setup on since day one (OK maybe it was day two . . . I'm slow) ;-)

[Jeff Duncan]

So I'd be interested in knowing if I bought a $1000 band saw, would it reliably cut thin stock via a fence system. Mark Duginske feel free to speak up...hoot!

I'm using a 20" Delta, not even sure what they run new these days, but certainly in the 'decent' quality category. The fence, which I use all the time, is a front locking only version. With a good blade I can re-saw veneer thin enough for light to pass through pretty consistently. I like the ability to adjust my fence as although my saw is tuned fairly well, every once in a while you'll get a blade that has drift to it. When the blade is razor sharp it will still track well, but as soon as it gets a bit of wear it'll start wandering.

good luck,
JeffD

[John Lanciani]

I've seen band saw fences do a great job on ripping thin stock....however I've found that seldom two pieces of wood cut the same due to grain and wood density differences. Therefore I have adopted using a hand held fence to control square and practiced sense-ing the rate of cutting very carefully. Slowing the cut to match the clearance of the gullets.

I don't recommend a band saw fence for these reasons. I'm probably alone in this due to my band saw being a Craftsman 12 inch and about 20 years old.

So I'd be interested in knowing if I bought a $1000 band saw, would it reliably cut thin stock via a fence system. Mark Duginske feel free to speak up...hoot!

In a word, yes. I use a Mini-Max MM20, Lenox Tri-master 1" 2/3 tpi blade, and a Laguna driftmaster fence and I can cut 12"+ wide veneer all day long with tolerances less than .005" (all right, I will concede that I spent a little bit more than $1000). The cut quality and consistency of thickness are so good that I routinely vacuum press bookmatched panels right off of the saw, no sanding of the backs is required before glue-up.

[Jared McMahon]

Very good points made; getting multiple points locked in with any real precision does seem like it would be a small-time nightmare. On the drift question, I've actually never had any trouble with drift until last night, and that's with a blade that I need to inspect and a saw that I need to re-tune, so no surprises there.

Due to a handful of reasons (power, space, safety, versatility) I'm not going to get a tablesaw anytime soon, possibly ever. I'm looking at revamping my bandsaw set-up (I promise, I won't start a new Agazzani/Laguna/MM/??? thread!) and trying to figure out how much utility I can reasonably get out of a single really good machine. Pretty high on that to-do list is evaluating fences.

Thanks yet again, all.