Euro Bandsaw Auxiliary Fence Attachment - Sacrilege to Use UNC?

[Bill Adamsen]

My old Centauro 800mm bandsaw has a simple cast iron fence (see photo) to which I've "screwed" a piece of baltic birch for resaw. Well, actually for anything for which I use a fence, because it is too involved to remove. This approach has a flaw in that slicing anything thin (between fence and blade) means the upper blade guide is higher than the top of the auxiliary fence (see photo). Fact is, with a properly tensioned 1 inch carbide-tipped blade, it doesn't much matter, it cuts quite straight. But with the horiz/vert fences on several of my machines (and a nice one to spare) I thought it would make sense to add that to the bandsaw which would allow lowering the guide, and still provide better access between fence and blade. I'd need an adjustable handle to tension and release so I'd be able to change the fence from horiz to vert and back. I've bought a number of Kipp adjustable handles in the past, they're reasonably cheap (less than $10) and they work (and look) great. Figured I'd keep this metric (M10-1.5) , which then creates two problems. First, metric threaded rod stock is just a little less available ... what kind do I want to be able to mig weld, is there a specific hardness? Secondly, and I just realized this, I have no metric taps - I guess I could just drill and weld the plate which slides in the fence track. Or, would it be sacrilege to use UNC? Can I get away with just one point of attachment (like the table-saw)?

The handle shown is attached to the track retainer for my table-saw. It would look and work basically the same.

[David Kumm]

I'd go with what I have. Generally I stay with what is on the machine so I can use whatever wrench set for the whole machine but really doesn't matter. For that type of fence I built an auxiliary that straddles the cast iron and fits tight enough to slip on and off with no fasteners. Much more fun than even Kip levers. Dave

[Bill Adamsen]

Add a few rare earth magnets for the premium version. I had thought about exactly the same approach Dave, but I have this lovely extrusion, and darn it, I'm going to use it. So Kipp lever in UNC it looks like it is! I'll got plenty of threaded rod around, and that will be a solution that's a nice balance of cheap, swank, and versatile.

[Mike Wilkins]

Here is an option to consider that I will be using soon to fabricate a similar clamping bar. Flat bar to fit the slot; then get the proper size bolts, cut off the heads and weld them to the bar stock. This will get me a clamp that can be secured with either a proper size nut or a kip lever.

[Bill Adamsen]

Located stud holes, and drilled a carbon steel (mild) flat 1/4" bar stock and welded M10 studs (bolts with head cut off) from the back. Getting them vertical was challenging - used magnet squares - and a few taps from a hammer. Located and drilled the "matching" holes through my cast iron fence to correctly position the fence. That caused me pause - layout especially - but all worked out. It took very little time and came out really better than expected (or better than usual as my wife might say). The fence extrusion is the Laguna tall driftmaster which is sold separately. I had no need for all the other "drift master" fence stuff since my OEM fence had basically the same adjustments. As mentioned previously, I was just looking for a flexible hi/lo arrangement. Passed the studs through the holes in the fence casting, and added the two M10 Kipp levers to the welded-in studs. Slid on the extrusion, and the system is complete. Reasonably pleased with the result.

I will say, and I just know I'm going to get all kinds of flak for this, that the extrusion is somewhat of a disappointment. It isn't perfectly flat (no apparent shipping damage) with a very slight (almost imperceptible) twist, perhaps 25/1000th over the length (diagonal) of the face. And the finish looks like something I would have applied with a spray can. It is anodized but I still want to wet sand to get a finish more like the other fences in my quiver, and I'm not sure how effective it is to wet-sand anodization. Not sure if this is typical of the Laguna product, or something that passed through inspection unnoticed. I'm sure the fence will work pretty much ok for what I need, too much trouble to return.

This morning I used the fence to rip through a couple thousand linear feet of EWP, and it worked like a fence should. Can't really tell if the drift is correct yet, but it is square to the top accounting for that .025" twist.