Aluminum face for table saw fence?Ve

[Jonathan Freinkel]

I have spent a good bit of time looking for options to replace my fence face and for some reason I keep coming back to an aluminum extrusion.

does anyone have any feedback on them?
I was looking at buying and using a piece of 80/20.

http://www.amazon.com/80-20-Inc-T-Slotted-Extrusion/dp/B00BQLLT3E/ref=sr_1_80?m=A1H481IPHNMK5K&s=merchant-items&ie=UTF8&qid=1422587359&sr=1-80
If needed I might have to come up with some sort of a sled to remove any imperfections by traveling down the miter slot but wanted to see what the consensus was before trying!

thanks

[Mike Schuch]

I can see using a piece of aluminum extrusion as a backer for another board but not as a final surface. I know there are all kinds of jigs you can buy/make for a fence with an extrusion but I have never found a need for them. I have a regular fence surface board. A sacrificial fence surface board. The only jig I ever use is a tennoning jig. I rarely even use a miter since I do most (all) cut offs on my radial arm saw. I don't even have a cut off sled.

I have a Vega fence that I tapped a couple of holes in the surface of to bolt the wooden surface boards to. The holes already exsisted in the fence surface, I just tapped them. I did this because the Vega fence is too thick to use screws through the fence. On my old Powermatic two tube fence system the fence was thin enough to just screw through the fence from the back side.

Everyone works differently and has their own needs. What works great for me might not be the best approach for you!

My router table fence is made out of much thicker pieces of aluminum extrusion. But it is faced with sacrificial MDF.

[Ted Calver]

Jonathan,
Check out vsctools. I just put together a router planer sled with extrusions and found their 'where to buy extrusions' page very helpful. They even have a machined face extrusion you might want to look at.
http://vsctools.com/

[glenn bradley]

As Ted pointed out, if your current face is not flat, extrusions aren't either; milled extrusions are (and yes, there are varying opinions about what "flat" is :)). If you are replacing a damaged face then the same info still applies. When using aluminum, laminate faced ply or whatever, be sure to take a moment and check that what you are fastening to is flat to start with. Most materials will conform to small irregularities once screwed down ;-)

[Rod Sheridan]

I have spent a good bit of time looking for options to replace my fence face and for some reason I keep coming back to an aluminum extrusion.

does anyone have any feedback on them?
I was looking at buying and using a piece of 80/20.

http://www.amazon.com/80-20-Inc-T-Slotted-Extrusion/dp/B00BQLLT3E/ref=sr_1_80?m=A1H481IPHNMK5K&s=merchant-items&ie=UTF8&qid=1422587359&sr=1-80
If needed I might have to come up with some sort of a sled to remove any imperfections by traveling down the miter slot but wanted to see what the consensus was before trying!

thanks

Many saws come with fences made from aluminum extrusions, mine for example. They're just fine for a tablesaw fence.

If you think about all the fences out there, except for ground cast iron fences, almost no fence is flattened after manufacturing.

There are milled aluminum extrusions available which would be great, just make sure any aluminum surface you select is hard anodised...........Regards, Rod.