Delta Unifence Upgrade without replacing the rails?

[John Pond]

Hey All - I assume most have upgraded from your Unifence systems, and thats why I couldn't find the pertinent info I was searching for, hence the new thread.
My situation is that I have the Unisaw 10'' with Unifence system, which I am happy with, but am limited by its the shape of it's back side. I would like one with a rectangular body ( for running jigs along), and so I was wondering if could upgrade to a T-2/T-3(or other suggestions) without replacing the rail system ? Money is certainly a concern, and also the hassle of removing and installing another rail system. So there it is - thanks in advance for the advice.

[Frankie Hunt]

How about one of these?

http://www.ttrackusa.com/unifence.htm

http://www.ttrackusa.com/Assets/uni_t_fence_01.jpg

[Chris Hachet]

That looks fantastic, I may have to consider that for the old Unsiaw I just bought.

[John Pond]

Looks like a good solution - but I am in Ontario and cross border shipping may not be worth it.

[Chris Schoenthal]

I bought one of those years ago at a show and love it.
I use the tracks for all sorts of jigs instead of having to build boxes that are required for the Bessy type fences.

[John Gornall]

Just drill a couple of holes in the Unifence and screw a board on the back. Add a Tee track or 2 if you want. The Unifence rail is simple to modify as was suggested in the fence manual that came with mine 35 years ago.

[Bill McNiel]

Thanks Frankie, I was looking for a reason to spend another $100. John, I've had the same issues and have wanted to upgrade my fence for years and this appears to be just the ticket.

[keith micinski]

I also have the peach tree fence and love it. I don't use as many jigs and fixtures as I thought I would with it but that's more because I'm lazy and always in a hurry.

[Frankie Hunt]

Thanks Frankie, I was looking for a reason to spend another $100.

Glad to be of assistance! :)

[Jim Becker]

It also wouldn't be terribly difficult to construct your own alternative fence for times when you want to use jigs...you just need to construct it such that it can slip onto the mount in the same way that the OEM high-low fence does.

Personally, I'm thankful to be back to a high-low fence like the UniFence with my slider...I missed that from the UniFence I had on the Delta contractor's style saw I ran before a Jet cabinet saw that had a tee-square type fence. I run my fence in the low position most of the time.

[Rick Potter]

Like John, I merely drilled 3 quarter inch holes in the upper face of the fence, and use small wing nuts to attach a 6 or7" high melamine sacrificial fence for dado's, and other jigs that can hook over it. No big deal....and it comes off most of the time with the wing nuts making it quick and easy. It has worked for me for at least 15 years. I also have the peachtree fence, but rarely use it. I have Jessem fence rollers on it and use it mostly when I do a lot of ripping.

[Mike Manning]

... I run my fence in the low position most of the time.

I just ran my Unifence in the low position for the first time since I got it over a decade ago. That's more ignorance on my part than anything. I'm curious why you use it in the low position most of the time?

[Mike Circo]

I just ran my Unifence in the low position for the first time since I got it over a decade ago. That's more ignorance on my part than anything. I'm curious why you use it in the low position most of the time?

I can't reply for Jim, but I use mine in the "low" position when ripping narrow pieces. Anything down around two inches is much easier in the low position as you can get a push stick in there easier and see what's going on. I even made a push block that rides over the low fence just for pushing narrow stock. The Unifence low position was one of the least advertised and most useful and unique parts of that fence.

[Michael Walton]

I looked at replacing my stock rail w/ the Peachtree Uni-T Fence, but it seems like Delta made a change somewhere along the line and changed the clamp assembly from 3/4" to what looks like >1". I have the older Unifence, so I don't think the Peachtree fence works with it. Anyone else experience this?

[Michael Walton]

I talked to Peachtree, I guess you can just use standard bolts instead of the older-style clamp (as it works for multiple fence brands). Might be the next upgrade.

[keith micinski]

I have the peach tree with the older style unifence and had no problem using the stock clamping piece that came with the unifence

[Rick Potter]

My older one also fits the peachtree fence. Maybe they changed the fence casting since I got it?

Another plus for using the fence in the low position...When you put formica on sheet goods, and it overhangs a bit, you can still use the fence to trim the piece, since the formica will hang over the fence.

I also have 1/3 of a Unifence casting which I use for ripping, as a short fence. It works, but I wish it was 1/2 of the casting so it would be a bit longer.

Rick

PS: Dang it, how can I be so dumb. I have had a sacrificial fence to use on the regular casting for years and never thought of adding a sacrificial face to the short fence casting to make it a few inches longer (see above). This calls for an emoji :confused:.

[Charles Lent]

I have both the long Uni-T-fence as well as the 16" length. The short one works well if using it as a stop while cross cutting multiple piece using the miter gauge. Don't get rid of the original Unifence extrusion. I frequently switch back to mine when wanting to use the low fence capability of the original Unifence. Having both is very convenient.

Charley

[Bruce Wrenn]

Google "bigafence" for the answer to your problems. Amazingly I remembered this from almost ten years back.

[Jim Becker]

I just ran my Unifence in the low position for the first time since I got it over a decade ago. That's more ignorance on my part than anything. I'm curious why you use it in the low position most of the time?
Hand and push-stick/block clearance as well as visibility is much improved running the fence at the lower position. This is particularly valuable when doing narrow rips...which for me is generally the only time I use the fence for ripping given I have a slider and use a parallel ripping jig for wider stock. I only use it "high" when I actually need the additional stability of the taller fence, such as when cutting rabbits for beekeeping woodenware and other similar tasks.

[andy bessette]

I always use the Unifence in the high position because it provides a very safe place to grip while pushing narrow stock through without the use of a push stick.

[Charles Lent]

I looked at replacing my stock rail w/ the Peachtree Uni-T Fence, but it seems like Delta made a change somewhere along the line and changed the clamp assembly from 3/4" to what looks like >1". I have the older Unifence, so I don't think the Peachtree fence works with it. Anyone else experience this?

I haven't tried this, so it's just a suggestion of something to look into. There are special very flat head bolts are available called "Elevator Bolts" that have very large diameter and very thin heads. A couple of these in place of the plate and bolts that holds the old Style Unifence Extrusion to the Unifence casting, might let you fit one of these Uni-T-Fences to your old style Unifence. The Lowes special bolt drawers is where I've most recently seen some of these bolts.

My Unifence was built in the mid 1980's so the Uni-T-Fences slide on in place of the original Unifence extrusion with no adaptation required. It's a simple job to switch my unifence for use on either side of the saw blade or to switch the original fence out for one of these Uni-T-Fences, but if your older Unifence is made differently then these bolts might help you adapt the Uni-Y- Fences to it. I use a Biesmeyer Fence at work on a 12-14" 34-395 Delta table saw, but far prefer my Unifence on my home shop Unisaw over it.

Charley

[Michael Dye]

Charles commented about not getting rid of the old fence extrusion. I agree. I have Unifences on both a PM66 and a Unisaw. When necessary, I pull the extrusion off of one and use it on my bandsaws for resawing. The extrusions are arrow straight and have perfect clamping surfaces to use on the bandsaw.

[lowell holmes]

I clamp a board to the unifence using Destaco toggle clamps to provide an extra tall fence. Try it, it works.

[John Pond]

Google "bigafence" for the answer to your problems. Amazingly I remembered this from almost ten years back.

Bigafence - that may be the way to go. Nice one, Thanks for the replys.