Will Just Any Biesemeyer Fence Fit my Biesemeyer Rails?

[Steve H Graham]

My old Powermatic 66 has a Biesemeyer fence 48" long. I think that's overkill. It's heavy and in the way. I'm not totally sure why it's that long, but I'm sure there is a reason. I would like to set it aside and get a shorter fence which will cover 99% of the things I do.

I saw a 30" fence on Ebay. I notice that Mike's Tools distinguishes between regular and commercial Biesemeyer products. My best guess is that I have the commercial version. The rails are 96" long, and it came from a shop where they made long Corian counters.

Question: will just any Biesemeyer table saw fence work with my rails, or does it have to be commercial? They look the same to me.

Also, the plastic doodads under the fence are grinding into the table at the far end. I think the fence is too heavy to have so few of them. Is there any reason why I shouldn't drill the fence and install more of them?

Thanks.

Edit: well, now I'm bummed out. It looks like the 30" figure was not the length of the fence. It's 42", and it appears to be a lower-grade product.

[glenn bradley]

The commercial products are interchangeable regardless of fence length. It is the tube they ride on that differs. AFAIK the consumer versions of the Beisemeyer fence and rails were discontinued. Do you have a link to what you are looking at? The longer fence is for greater control over large materials like sheet goods. If you want the fence shorter I would be tempted to just cut it off or better yet, offer to trade with someone here who can benefit from the longer fence.

[Mark Carlson]

I replaced my b-meyer style fence with a vsctools.com fence. You can buy the t-square locking mechanism and use any length of 80/20 extrusion you want. Just throwing that out as an option.

~mark

[Steve H Graham]

I don't want to get rid of it. I just want to store it and use a shorter fence.

[Bruce Page]

I think the determining factor would be the size of the front tube. My 1998 Unisaw has a 2”X3” tube. If your 66 is the same, they should be interchangeable.

[Mark Carlson]

A 2x3 rail is all you need for the vsctools fence. I also kept my b-meyer fence and sometimes use it.

[Steve H Graham]

I looked at the Steel City Industrial II fence. It looks good, but they say the guide tube is 4" wide, so I would not be able to use my rails. That's hard to believe. I don't know why the rails are so wide.

[Steve H Graham]

I just checked out VSC. Thanks for that info. That looks like a tremendous product. I guess my only question is this: is there any reason (safety or otherwise) that a fence needs to be 42" long? That's the shortest extrusion VSC sells. I would think that as long as the fence is as long as the table is wide, everything would be fine.

I read a thread where some people complained about the extrusions not being precision surfaces, but VSC guarantees them, and anyway, I have a mill. For that matter, I'm pretty sure my table saw would cut one to within an acceptable level of flatness.

It would be nice to have steel or cast iron instead of aluminum, so I could use magnetic accessories. I guess there's a way to do it.

[glenn bradley]

I don't want to get rid of it. I just want to store it and use a shorter fence.

In that case a shorter Commercial Bies or Commercial Bies clone will do the trick. My Saw Stop front rail is the same 2" x 3" as my Bies was. I am still not used to how short the Saw Stop fence is ;-) I would imagine the Powermatic and Jet clones use the same size front rail(?). I just toss that out there in case you come across a used fence-only that may meet your needs. Maybe some PM or Jet folks could chime in with dimensions.

[Larry Edgerton]

The longer fence is safer in my opinion. I have a Biesy 42" and and two 48"s and much prefer the 48". For sheet goods it is almost manditory, that little extra on the infeed side really helps get the sheet started right.

The 30" that you see advertized is for a set of short rails. I need another Biesmeyer for a Uni I just picked up so if you go another direction all together, let me know.

Me, I would take the time to get used to it and have a better tool at your disposal.........

Larry

[Steve H Graham]

I wouldn't use a short fence for sheet goods, but I don't use the saw for that very often. I just need to know whether a shorter fence is unsafe for smaller work.

[John McClanahan]

Not all clones are alike. I have an Jet X-acta fence that has a smaller (1-1/2x2-1/2) front tube. The t square only fits the smaller tube.

John

[Mark Carlson]

I dont know what the minimum safe size is but you can buy 80/20 extrusion in any length, and you can also cut it. I opted for the 48in fence.


I just checked out VSC. Thanks for that info. That looks like a tremendous product. I guess my only question is this: is there any reason (safety or otherwise) that a fence needs to be 42" long? That's the shortest extrusion VSC sells. I would think that as long as the fence is as long as the table is wide, everything would be fine.

I read a thread where some people complained about the extrusions not being precision surfaces, but VSC guarantees them, and anyway, I have a mill. For that matter, I'm pretty sure my table saw would cut one to within an acceptable level of flatness.

It would be nice to have steel or cast iron instead of aluminum, so I could use magnetic accessories. I guess there's a way to do it.

[Larry Edgerton]

I wouldn't use a short fence for sheet goods, but I don't use the saw for that very often. I just need to know whether a shorter fence is unsafe for smaller work.

The thing is there really are no negatives to the longer fence, take some time to get used to it. It is much safer in my opinion. I have to use a shorter Unifence on my site saw and I always miss my shop setup when I am using that saw. Once you get used to using it anything else seems too small.

Larry

[Steve H Graham]

The thing is there really are no negatives to the longer fence, take some time to get used to it. It is much safer in my opinion. I have to use a shorter Unifence on my site saw and I always miss my shop setup when I am using that saw. Once you get used to using it anything else seems too small.

The negative is that it's in the way, and I have to pull the saw away from the wall to use it. I don't mind doing that with larger work, but when I'm cutting something short (most of what I do) it's annoying.

Today I cut a 9 3/4" by 2" piece of circuit board, and I had to pull the saw out and then push it back.

[Jason White]

You're overthinking this.

The fence is just square steel tubing with plywood or plastic faces screwed onto it, so just cut a bit off the end! You can rent a metal-cutting chop saw (or buy one cheap at Harbor Freight like I did) or use a hack saw. Just remove the faces first and cut those down to size with a regular wood-cutting miter saw. You might have to do a bit of cleanup with a file or sandpaper after you've made your cuts.



My old Powermatic 66 has a Biesemeyer fence 48" long. I think that's overkill. It's heavy and in the way. I'm not totally sure why it's that long, but I'm sure there is a reason. I would like to set it aside and get a shorter fence which will cover 99% of the things I do.

I saw a 30" fence on Ebay. I notice that Mike's Tools distinguishes between regular and commercial Biesemeyer products. My best guess is that I have the commercial version. The rails are 96" long, and it came from a shop where they made long Corian counters.

Question: will just any Biesemeyer table saw fence work with my rails, or does it have to be commercial? They look the same to me.

Also, the plastic doodads under the fence are grinding into the table at the far end. I think the fence is too heavy to have so few of them. Is there any reason why I shouldn't drill the fence and install more of them?

Thanks.

Edit: well, now I'm bummed out. It looks like the 30" figure was not the length of the fence. It's 42", and it appears to be a lower-grade product.

[Steve H Graham]

Again, I do NOT want to get rid of the long fence. I want an ADDITIONAL short fence.

[Lornie McCullough]

There are at least two sizes of Biesmeyer fences and Biesmeyer rails..... I have one of each. The 30 inch fence likely requires the smaller rail size. (The smaller rail is 2.5 x 1.5, and not 3 x 2 )

I have no idea if Biesmeyer still makes both sizes, but they used to.

Lornie

[Steve H Graham]

I'm giving VSC a try.