Carter Mag Fence II question

[Arnold Maguire]

Hi: question for owners of the Carter Mag Fence or Mag Fence II bandsaw fence; have you found that their F.A.S.T. (Fence Alignment System) is a necessary accessory? Seems like it would be. Looks like they made the price of the fence match the Kreg system, and then charge $50 for the alignment system, so total cost is $169.
Deciding between the Cater and Kreg. My delta saw is not on Kreg's comparability list, but looks like it will fit. But you never know 'til it's out of the box.
My other concern with Carter is needing to set the cut dimensions each time, whereas the Kreg has a scale on the rail, so once set should be consistent.
thanks

[Frederick Skelly]

I cant speak to the Carter fence, but I have the Kreg on one of my bandsaws. I really like it. It is solid, square and slides easily.

I didnt choose the Carter out of concern for what you already noted: needing to set it up square for each cut. I dont know anything about their FAST.

Fred

[Timothy Thorpe Allen]

I have the Carter Mag II Fence. I do not have the F.A.S.T. When I set my Mag II Fence on my bandsaw, I measure over from the miter gauge slot at both the front and at the back. On my 14" Delta, the inside edge of the miter slot is 3.5 inches from the blade, so for a 3" rip, I set the fence at 6.5 inches from the edge of the miter slot. I have been contemplating making some blocks for common settings... When the fence is not in use, I take it off the table and magnet it to the saw's base, out of the way. I have also used the fence on my Drill Press, as well. It works for me, but I recognize that it might not meet everybody's needs.

[ChrisA Edwards]

I have the carter mag fence and the FAST pieces. I use the FAST pieces to depth set all sorts of other things, so they go beyond just the bandsaw.

I struggled to get the drift out of my Laguna 14/12 until I got the Carter magfence. This really helped me fine tune the drift out to now I can use the Laguna fence and cut perfectly parallel. So to me the products paid for themselves.

[lowell holmes]

I have a Kreg fence on my Jet bandsaw. I really like it.

[Arnold Maguire]

thank you gents for the feedback. I am going to Woodcraft tomorrow to look at the Kreg in person. Both products look well made and have their pros and cons.

[ChrisA Edwards]

On a side note, I also use the Carter Magfence as a stop when I need to make repeated cuts. So it serves extra duty and is not just a rip fence.

For example, I can lock it down on my table saw and use it as a mini fence stop to the right of the blade. Yes I can do this with my table saw fence and a block on it, but the Magfence it often quicker to setup.

When making tenons, I was trimming the shoulders, on my bandsaw, and wanted to stop my cut at 2". So I just locked in the Magfence 2" past the front kerf of the bandsaw blade and it became bump stop. Perfect for making about 80 repeatable cuts quickly and accurately.

So it has many other uses that just an adjustable bandsaw rip fence.

[Tom M King]

The Grizzly fence is pretty nice too. I think I would choose it over the Kreg. I have a Magfence, just because I can use it on multiple bandsaws that didn't have fences, and I never really liked the fence on the Centauro.

[Randy Heinemann]

I have used the Magfence for about five years. It’s great for setting up resaw and rip cuts; easy and fast to set up. I cal so own the FAST set. I don’t use the FAST setup guides much. I have also found that measuring from the miter slot is a better way to define the width to be ripped or resawn. However the table must be reasonably square to the blade. The one problem I’ve had with the FAST bars are they really don’t settle in exactly square to the blade so it’s hard to set the fence up with them. If I had a do-over I wouldn’t buy the FAST set.

[Wayne Cannon]

From another happy Kreg user:

The Kreg fence is easily adjusted for drift, and then holds that drift angle setting through repeated uses; though I've found blade-tracking adjustment to be more satisfactory.

The Mag-Fence IS portable across machines, but at a cost in repeatability w/o resetting it. I have Kregs on both 14" & 18" bandsaws, but it did cost for two separate fences.