Excalibur Fence

[Mike Cutler]

I have an original Excalibur TT45/78 fence system that I've never used. I've had it for over a decade now, probably closer to 15 years.
I'd like to use this fence system but my shop isn't big enough for it, and never will be. To use it, I would need to cut it down, basically in half, and that seems such a waste to me.
Should I cut it down, or buy another fence system and sell this one to someone that can use the full length?

[glenn bradley]

If your shop is where it will stay I would not withhold the use of a nice fence just because I have to modify it to make it work for me. As I age I find I am doing smaller pieces, not larger so I would not hesitate to modify the fence. Aluminum is easy to cut. This is coming from a 52" fence owner but, if I moved I would cut-to-suit in a heartbeat.

[Mike Kees]

Mike I agree with Glen. I recently bought a 32'' rail for my Unisaw because I did not want to cut down the 52''. I found after about 20 years that I never used more than about 30'' of the capacity. So yeah cut it down and enjoy it. Mike.

[Brian Backner]

I have that exact fence and used it for many years. Several years ago I removed it from the table saw and put it on a very large band saw. I too did not want to cut the rails and found a very simple solution.

If you look at the stock Excalibur rails, you will see they are not made entirely of aluminum. The main body is an aluminum extrusion and on top is a strip of steel held in place with socket head screws. It is the edge of this that the bearings on the fence actually ride - makes sense since aluminum would wear away far too quickly.

So, I installed a length of 1" x 1" x 1/8" angle iron to the front and back of the band saw table for the fence bearings to ride on. The distance between the pair at the operator end and the single one at the far end is easily adjustable with a wrench so getting it to fit/grip the new "rails" is trivial.

Before I removed the fence from the table saw, I made sure to measure how far below the table top the mid line of the steel strip was so I could at least get close with the angle irons. Good luck, they are great fences.

[Mike Cutler]

Brian

Thank you! I'll have to pull it down from the loft and measure it. I know the directions are clear about how low that edge is below the table top. I could probably find a way to affix a tape measure to it somehow for gross fence positioning. I never use the OEM tape anyway.
I really want the use of the T-Slots in the fence.