Extra long Beisemeyer fence

[Olaf Vogel]

about a month ago I picked up a "new" Unisaw, to replace my Contractor saw. The old one was never that stable and I hated the fence.
Unfortunately, the seller was very "helpful" and had the saw disassembled for easy transport. Since I had a trailer it wasn't much help.
Moreover, he apparently forgot to include all the bolts....sigh. It seems that 7/16 fine pitch is not commonly found at Home Depot. Lowes to the rescue.

Well a couple days ago I was at a machine wholesaler, looking through a pile v-belt pulleys and lo and behold - there's a Beisemeyer fence buried in there!
A bit of negotiating, 75 bux later, it was mine. I happily loaded it in the car and didn't look back.
Its lots a fair few paint chips, but nothing really wrong with it.

So when I got it home, I stood the rails on end and saw the ends at eye level. Huh??? I'm 6'3"
I thought 52" was the longest. I just measured these and they are honestly 72" long! Maybe custom made?

While I really like the idea of widening my saw table, I'm wonder if this isn't total overkill. I can't imagine sliding a 4x8 sheet sideways across the saw.
Are there good reasons to have them that long?

It also takes up a lot of valuable shop space. However cutting them down seems like a crime.

Any thoughts / suggestions?
thanks

Olaf

[Tom M King]

52" is to the right of the blade. The angles, and rectangular tube go from the left side of the top, and are long enough to allow 52" to the right of the blade. We crosscut plywood with ours all the time.

[glenn bradley]

My 52" Saw Stop fence tube is 85" long. ;-)

[John Bomment]

My Beisemeyer rails are 12' long,
this allows me to cross cut up to about 98"

[Bradley Gray]

Likewise with the length. You will be amazed how easy crosscutting plywood can be with a real fence on a real cabinet saw

[Olaf Vogel]

Ok. Shows my lack of experience with REAL table saws.
I look forward to doing some real cutting this weekend.

im mostly a wood turner, but do like creating other things once in a while.
short term, I need to build cabinets for my new shop - which is finally up and running

thanks

[Jesse Busenitz]

Same here, just picked up a 12' set of rails. Couldn't fit it in my shop and I refuse to cut it down so i bought some new ones and saved the long ones for my bigger shop that hopefully is coming soon. Nice find btw.

[Olaf Vogel]

for my bigger shop that hopefully is coming soon. Nice find btw.

Hmmm.... This is my "new" and "bigger" shop.
Not quite finished and already full. Now how did that happen?
:)