replacement fence faces for sawstop

[joe milana]

I know this has been discussed in the past, but I couldn't find anything via search. I consider the fence faces on the sawstop to be worst feature of the saw, and I have constantly struggled trying to get them flat. The rubber edging they use causess the edge to "bugle". The t-slots they cut for the attachment screws causes "waviness" as well. My fence got dropped during a recent move and one of the fence faces was damaged, so it's time to consider a replacement for them once again. Looking for ideas...

[Bud hill]

I hope you find one. I will be watching. Mine just started coming unglued.

[Erik Loza]

Joe, what about just making something out of phenolic or that white plastic stuff?

Erik

[Peter Aeschliman]

I've been wanting to do this for some time and haven't gotten around to it:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?199079-Perfect-Sawstop-fence-faces-finally

[joe milana]

Eric, I was looking at some phenolic earlier, and what I found was $$$$$ and it stated "flat within .029". Thats not very flat. The UHMW fence (newer powermatic saw) I looked at wasn't any better than the sawstop fence. I may end up just using some good baltic birch ply.

[glenn bradley]

I have used 3/4" MDF, shimmed with tape to assure a true face. A coat of shellac and a paste wax and it has lasted years. so long that the tablesaw it is on is has a different owner. I saw it a few days agoa dn it is still fine.

Are you sure about that .029"? That's not flat at all. If you want something flat like a machined surface, that is what you will have to get. All plastics will flex to the surface they are mounted to and the stress of the fastener so they are pretty much out unless backed.

Aluminum extrusions will also flex to the surface and so must also be shimmed if the fence tube is not up to the accuracy level you are after. The MDF is pretty flexible too and certainly not machine-shop accurate. However, in practice it works quite well if fully supported (shimmed).

[joe milana]

Yeah, just about anything will need to be shimmed. Im OK with that. I was wondering if MDF would hold up. Sounds like it might be an option.

[Martin Wasner]

I don't care for the uhmw fence face on one of my powermatic saws. Counter intuitive, but it always seems sticky. I much prefer the plastic laminate face.


I was thinking about this the other day. Why wouldn't a ½" slab of aluminum bolted on work? Just have a machinist make it. Should last an eternity, and it could be polished smooth, or anodized if you were concerned about oxidation rubbing off on whatever you're cutting.


Or polished stainless. Spendy I bet though.

[joe milana]

I like the aluminum idea, but i no longer have access to a machinist that is willing to do stuff like that.

Edit: wow, just found this in an older thread. Nice, but I would want a flat fence surface for a variety of reasons. Sure you can attach a board to the face of these extrusions, but thats just more layers, and potential for errors. The measuring rule for the fence wouldn't work either.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=254411&d=1360971623

[Peter Aeschliman]

You must not have read post #4. :-)

[Greg Hines, MD]

I don't have a saw stop yet, but will do that extrusion when I do.

Doc