Help with Fence decisions for Craftsman TS

[David Huston]

I am wanting to buy a new fence for my dad's Craftsman 10" belt drive TS. I have been looking at the Delta T2 but can't find it in stock anywhere. I found one website that says 10 days for shipping but other place I have looked say it hs been discontinued. I have been looking at the VEGA but I am not sure if I want to spend that much money. I did find a VEGA pro 50 at amazon for $260 but I dont need rails that long. So my questions are;

1) Money being the big factor should I keep looking for the T2?

2) If i buy the VEGA pro 50 can I just cut the rails down? Also, Anyone know how far the 42" fence is going to stick out over the back? I think the Utility model would be better for me/dad but they are 100 buck more than the pro model.

3) I found a Shop Fox Aluma-Classic for $220 with standard rails, is that a good fence or is the regular Shop fox classic better (it is $280)

Also, any thoughts on which of these might be easiest to install, the model number of the saw is 113.241.691

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated!

[George Bokros]

I upgraded my Craftsman saw with a Biesmeyer Home fence. Works great and stays parallel to the blade and with a table extension I can rip tot he center of a 4X8 sheet.

George

[Bob Turkovich]

Toolsandmore.us is showing the T2 in stock and is carrying it for $175. (I have no experience with them.) It is a great upgrade to the saw and I've installed two (mine and my FIL's). There is a lot of advice on how to do the mounting here on the Creek if you search the archives.

That being said, I have a friend that updated his old Rockwell saw with a Vega fence and was very happy as well. IIRC, when he replaced his saw with a new Unisaw last year he contemplated moving the Vega to the new saw.

[Jim Rimmer]

I put a T2 on an old Craftsman. Great fence and not difficult to install.

[Trevor Roeder]

Toolsandmore.us is showing the T2 in stock and is carrying it for $175. (I have no experience with them.) It is a great upgrade to the saw and I've installed two (mine and my FIL's). There is a lot of advice on how to do the mounting here on the Creek if you search the archives.

That being said, I have a friend that updated his old Rockwell saw with a Vega fence and was very happy as well. IIRC, when he replaced his saw with a new Unisaw last year he contemplated moving the Vega to the new saw.

Thanks for the post since I will want to upgrade my rigid R4512 fence soon.

What are the pros of the Delta T2 over the stock R4512 fence?

[Joseph Tarantino]

I am wanting to buy a new fence for my dad's Craftsman 10" belt drive TS. I have been looking at the Delta T2 but can't find it in stock anywhere. I found one website that says 10 days for shipping but other place I have looked say it hs been discontinued. I have been looking at the VEGA but I am not sure if I want to spend that much money. I did find a VEGA pro 50 at amazon for $260 but I dont need rails that long. So my questions are;

1) Money being the big factor should I keep looking for the T2?

2) If i buy the VEGA pro 50 can I just cut the rails down? Also, Anyone know how far the 42" fence is going to stick out over the back? I think the Utility model would be better for me/dad but they are 100 buck more than the pro model.

3) I found a Shop Fox Aluma-Classic for $220 with standard rails, is that a good fence or is the regular Shop fox classic better (it is $280)

Also, any thoughts on which of these might be easiest to install, the model number of the saw is 113.241.691

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated!


here's a few places that reportedly have t2s in stock. not rock bottom prices, but close:

http://www.google.com/shopping/product/5020088936247638784?q=delta%20t2%20fence&hl=en&sqi=2&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&bvm=bv.42965579,d.dmQ&biw=1440&bih=809&sa=X&ei=twctUfbPCcHD0QGprYDADA&ved=0CDsQxBUwAA


Thanks for the post since I will want to upgrade my rigid R4512 fence soon.

What are the pros of the Delta T2 over the stock R4512 fence?

the t2 is a tsquare fence with a single piece guide tube where the fence clamps solely to the front rail (guide tube). the 4512 has a two piece front rail (and 2 piece rear rail) with a fence that clamps top both the front and rear rails. i have a t2 on a 70s vintage c-man 10" ci contractor saw and an OEM fence on a ridgid 2412 (simiilar to the 4512 with front/rear fence clamping, but with one piece front and rear rails). both of my fences perform extremely well. as far as i'm concerned, if the 4512 works as it;s designed to work, there's no advantage to one over the other. in fact, with the way the OEm front rail mounts to the 4512, it can be slid to the right for additional rip capacity. this renders the tape on the front rail useless, but it's a cheap and easy way to pick up 6" to 12" of additional rip capacity with no added costs.

[David Huston]

Thanks for all the help so far! I did confirm that the T2 is available from toolsandmore. I can get the Vega pro 50 for less than one hundred bucks more than the T2. Is it worth the difference? I would have to cut the rails down. I just don't have room it for or need that big of rip . The only question that I have in the vega is that the fence is 42 inches and my table is only 27. Seems like it is going to stick out the back of the saw a good ways.

Thanks

[Dick Brown]

Buy the Vega, cut it down as needed and be forever glad you spent the extra bucks. Much nicer fence IMHO than the T2. Had a ShopFox Alumi. once and liked it also. Have a Biesemeyer on my big saw and like it very well but built a near clone for my C/man and like it even better. Wish I was a draftsman and I would post plans for it. Steel cost about $70.

[scott spencer]

Thanks for all the help so far! I did confirm that the T2 is available from toolsandmore. I can get the Vega pro 50 for less than one hundred bucks more than the T2. Is it worth the difference? ....

Thanks

It's a matter of opinion....IMHO, the Vega is a slightly nicer fence overall, but not as good of a value as a T2 @ $175, and not worth $100 more IMO....especially considering the issues that the Vega would cause for you.

The Shop Fox Classic is a good Biese clone. A step up from the Shop Fox Aluma Classic and the T2....possibly even the Vega, but it's subjective, and it's close....there are pros and cons with each.

[John Hays]

I've been doing a lot of research on aftermarket fences lately (since I wan't to upgrade my R4512) and for what you're willing to pay, the T2 is pretty much the best choice for your needs. Besides almost being the absolute cheapest solution, the T2 has a 30" rip to the right, where just about all of the other fences with standard rails have only 25" of rip capacity. And believe me, that extra 5" does make a difference.

I agree with you on the point that some fence bars are a little too long for small shops, so that can be an overall factor in choosing the right package. In fact, I'm very concerned that the fence bar on the fence I'm considering (Vega Pro 40) is going to be a pain to work around and that's causing me some hesitation of actually pulling the trigger on it.

With that said, the Shop Fox W1410 is an interesting alternative. The W1410's fence bar is only 30" which rides on two pieces of angle iron as it's fence rails (front and back respectively), so it's possible to make the rip capacity any length you want. The best price I've found on it so far is from toolsandmore.us (http://toolsandmore.us/shop-fox-w1410-original-fence-standard-rails.aspx?gclid=CLPxrOyY1bUCFQWFnQodpnoAJw) for $143.75. Unfortunately, not a whole lot of people have written reviews of it, so the jurry is still out on whether or not it's a worth while fence system. But all of those reviews have been favorable, so take that with a grain of salt. Also, from what I understand, the W1410 isn't being made anymore, so you'll have to act quickly if you want it.

Not sure I helped any, but there it is... good luck! ;)

[Andrew Kertesz]

I have a Sears hybrid "zipcode" saw and put a Vega fence on it. I went with the Pro 40". This is my second Vega fence, first one was on an aftermarket saw that I sold many years ago. You will be happy with this fence...

[Michael W. Clark]

I have the Shop Fox fence mentioned above by John. It has been a very good fence, stays set, and locks down very rigidly since it clamps on both ends. The rails are angle iron, so new longer ones would be easily made.

The only downsides to me versus a Bies style fence is that 1) you have to slide it all the way to one end to remove it and 2) an outfeed table requires more thought since part of the fence hangs over the back and clamps to the back rail

Mike

[Kelby Van Patten]

My recommendation would be "none of the above." I started with a Craftsman, and it certainly got me going in the hobby. But there's no way it was worth spending even $3 upgrading any aspect of that saw. You know, putting lipstick on a pig and all that. If you're going to put a couple hundred bucks or more into his woodworking, either call it partial payment toward a tablesaw upgrade or invest in some other aspect of his shop that warrants that kind of money.

[John Hays]

I had not thought about the outfeed table problem, Michael.

Funny thing is, I was already considering getting the W1410 instead of the Vega Pro 40 the more I thought about it, but now I don't know. I planned on having a fold-down outfeed table on the 'table saw workstation' I'm building, so I'll have to try to engineer a solution using SketchUp and see if it's possible. Thanks for posting that information.

And you make a very good point, Kelby... it would be better to use that money on something more worth while.

[johnny means]

My recommendation would be "none of the above." I started with a Craftsman, and it certainly got me going in the hobby. But there's no way it was worth spending even $3 upgrading any aspect of that saw. You know, putting lipstick on a pig and all that. If you're going to put a couple hundred bucks or more into his woodworking, either call it partial payment toward a tablesaw upgrade or invest in some other aspect of his shop that warrants that kind of money.

The table saws in my shop include names like Martin, Hammer, and Sawstop, but I reckon that with a good fence and proper setup the OPs Craftsman would make almost any cut that I could. I can't count the number of Craftsman contractor saws that I've seen plucking away year after year in commercial shops.

If the OPs saw is making the cuts he needs it to, a good fence is a great upgrade. Better repeatability and accuracy are always in order.

Personally, I like the simplicity and "bomb proofedness" of Biessys and all their clones.

[Dave Atkinson]

I upgraded an old Craftsman with the Vega Utility 50 about 10 years ago, and have been very happy with it. (Back then it was $120 cheaper - odd that it is now more than the Pro model) I cut the rails down by 6-8 inches, and incorporated a router station into my homemade extension. The rear rail and rear fence hold-down bracket will complicate matters if you want to attach an outfeed table. I have not solved that problem so far.