What to replace fence pads with?

[Bruce Lowekamp]

I was checking the adjustment on my saw's fence and realized that the pads that used to be on the ends of the T went away at some point. (I have no recollection of that happening. Must have been some time ago.) IIRC these were some sort of UHMW pads. Poking around a bit I can find 1/8" UHMW sheets and between 0.01" and 0.02" thick tape for drawers, but neither of these seems exactly right. Any suggestion on what the right repair would be? (honestly the saw seems to keep decent alignment with just the adhesive there, but it seems like it would be better to have wear strips replaced.

Bruce
431636

[Bill Dufour]

I glued a piece of store gift card on. I got the blank ones at the register with no embossing so it was just flat. Of course that was wehn you could go into a store and touch things.
Bil lD

[Robert Hazelwood]

I think the originals were some kind of teflon about 1/8" thick, mine were heavily worn on my early 80s Biesemeyer and I decided to replace them. I removed all of the old adhesive with a heat gun. I wanted to replace with some 1/8" UHMW but you can't glue the stuff to anything and 1/8" is too thin to use fasteners. I tried several of the commonly suggested tricks to glue UHMW, like passing a torch flame over the surface of the plastic just before gluing, but nothing worked very long, it would always creep and end up exposing adhesive and create a sticky mess.

Then I tried gluing on a bit of hardwood 1/8" thick and then applying a bit of UHMW tape over that. The wood stayed put but the tape would always end up sliding off the wood, exposing adhesive and, again, creating a sticky mess. So I ended up scraping the tape and adhesive off of the wooden pads, then waxing the wood and just running on those. It actually works quite well, so I've stuck with that. I think I used E6000 glue to glue the wood onto the metal. It was recommended for UHMW to metal. but didn't work well enough for me.

[Bill Dufour]

The old windmill where I grew up used maple for the main beaqings soaked in oil. It also used maple For the brake shoes. San Francisco street cars and cable cars still use douglas fir for track brakes.
Bil lD.

[Lisa Starr]

Your can purchase short strips of UHMW in the thickness and width you need from McMaster-Carr. I keep a piece around and just cut it to length, drill and countersink for the screw when I want a replacement.

[Lee Schierer]

I have several rolls of UHMW tape that was tossed where I use to work. The adhesive backing works very well, so someone makes an adhesive that will stick to it. I would suspect that some of the acrylic double sided tapes would work or the 3M™ VHB™ Tapes (https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/vhb-tapes-us/). I did find this link on bonding UHMW to a surface (https://www.usplastic.com/knowledgebase/article.aspx?contentkey=693).

[roger wiegand]

My Biesemeyer came with a piece of formica. It's about due for replacement after ~30 years of service. They don't have formica samples at the stores I usually go to any more, I've discovered.

[Bruce Lowekamp]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I found that McMaster-Carr has 1' strips of 1"x1/16" UHMW with "high bond" adhesive that they say bonds to powder-coated metal. Ordered a strip of that and will try it first. If not that, then will go to trying to attach a piece of 1/8".

Bruce

[Wayne Cannon]

My Biesemeyer came with a piece of formica. It's about due for replacement after ~30 years of service. They don't have formica samples at the stores I usually go to any more, I've discovered.

Another vote for formica -- gluable & durable

[Bruce Wrenn]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I found that McMaster-Carr has 1' strips of 1"x1/16" UHMW with "high bond" adhesive that they say bonds to powder-coated metal. Ordered a strip of that and will try it first. If not that, then will go to trying to attach a piece of 1/8".

Bruce


If your fence is a Biesemeyer ( and most likely clones too), the pads are held in place by two pins made as part of the UHMW. These can be ordered from Biesmeyer as a replacement part.

[Lee Schierer]

(honestly the saw seems to keep decent alignment with just the adhesive there, but it seems like it would be better to have wear strips replaced.

Bruce
431636

Is the pad on the other side missing as well? Those pads work with the flexible arms they are attached to and the set screws mounted in the angle to to allow you to adjust the fence so it is parallel to the miter slot. If one pad is missing the fence would no longer be adjusted properly. The pads on my Beismeyer fence appear to be nylon not UHMW.
431746

[Bruce Lowekamp]

The UHMW strip came in yesterday, so I spent a few minutes this morning getting them set up. Heat gun made quick work of the old adhesive, then I cleaned with some goof off and then acetone. The adhesive (3M VHB) seemed to stick really well. I popped off the 3rd pad on the handle as well so I could do all 3 (it came off really easy). A few minutes aligning and it seems to work well (and probably slides better). And unlike other projects, this was extremely easy to clamp :)

Thanks for the advice and suggestions.

Bruce

431835

[Ron Selzer]

My Biesemeyer came with a piece of formica. It's about due for replacement after ~30 years of service. They don't have formica samples at the stores I usually go to any more, I've discovered.

Pm me your address along with how big a piece(s) of laminate you want, I have plenty of small pieces to cut out what you need
Ron

[Doug Garson]

Realize this is an old thread but just picked up a used Beisemeyer with missing pads. The previous owner drilled and tapped a pair of holes and installed a pair of bolts with rounded heads so you have steel on painted steel. Allows for adjustment to get the fence faces square to the table but I don't like the idea of steel on paint. My old saw has a Delta T2 fence which uses nylon bolts rather than steel so you have the best of both worlds adjustment and nylon on paint for glide. Seems the Delta T2 which is a Bessy clone has some improvements over the original. It also has a UHMW pad which rides on the rear rail rather than the table top which the Bessy doesn't have instead it has glides riding on the table itself. Nylon toilet seat bolts are cheap and easy to find, should do the job.
Edit: Just reread the earlier posts and realize the pads they were talking about were on the side not the same ones I was replacing which are on the bottom.

[Bill Dufour]

Look into the electrical department for plastic bolts and nuts. That is what I used to mount a ground bar in an electrical panel.
Bill D

[Doug Garson]

Good idea Bill, I already have a bunch of nylon toilet seat bolts. The ones I have are 1/2" and I have a matching tap and drill bit. I tested in some scrap wood and the threaded hole accepts the nylon bolt so tomorrow I'll test on some scrap steel and if it works, drill out the existing 1/4" bolt holes and tap them for the nylon bolts.

[Bill Dufour]

Hoe Depot has 1/4 nylon bolts on their unsearchable website. So they may be on the shelf in stores other then Atlanta? I prefer not to modify the original casting, just in case.
Bill D

[Doug Garson]

Mine has already been modified, the bolts are in new holes drilled by a previous owner and it's not a casting, just angle iron. The original holes for the pads are intact so I'm just drilling out the new holes added by the previous owner to match the bolts I have. The nylon bolts in my Delta T2 fence appear to be just under 1/2" so bigger is probably better, at least in this case. If it doesn't work out I still have the option to replace the pads but they're about $10 each and don't give any easy adjustment to square the fence to the table. So, free better solution or $20 inferior solution?

Note, the existing original holes for the pads are not threaded, I believe the pads are just held in place by friction.

[Doug Garson]

Glad I did a test in some scraps, turns out the bolts are 7/16" not 1/2". I first tested by drilling and tapping a piece of scrap wood and it appeared to fit. Before I drilled out the 1/4" holes in the fence, I drilled and tapped a piece of scrap steel and discovered the tapped hole was too big for the nylon toilet seat bolts (which were packaged as 1/2"). Next was a lucky coincidence, a while back I picked up a 7/16" tap and matching drill bit at Lowes on a clearance table, didn't need it but too good a deal to pass up. Somehow five years ago I knew this day would come:cool:. So I drilled and tapped the existing 1/4" holes (which the previous owner had drilled) out to 7/16" and installed the bolts, perfect fit, longer than needed but I'll wait until the fence is installed and adjusted and trim them if they're in the way of anything. I think my fix (applying the design from the Delta T2 fence) is better than the original Bessy design, I'll know for sure once I complete the fence install.
Here's a picture of the Bessy with the nylon bolts and the Delta.
464805464806

[Matteo Lorenzo]

Pm me your address along with how big a piece(s) of laminate you want, I have plenty of small pieces to cut out what you need
Ron


Ron - sorry to dig up an old post like this, but I am currently looking for small amounts of formica for this exact purpose, replacing old busted pads on a biesmeyer resto.
do you have any scraps leftover for the needy? I attempted to PM, but I guess I dont have those privs anymore. Its been years since Ive posted on SMC - so im sure things have changed.
thanks!

[Ron Selzer]

Matteo you need to be a contributor to see pictures and pm
cost $6 a year
yes I have scrap laminate need your address and what size pieces you want
Ron

[Jim Becker]

Box stores also generally sell 2'x4' sheets of plastic laminate that's not all that expensive and good for small projects like this.

[William Hodge]

Kitchen counters are a good source of laminate. Just grab it from somewhere where other people who use the counter won't notice it gone. Or maybe glue the toaster down over the missing piece. Yeah, there might be fireworks, but I have done worse.

[johnny means]

Most places that sell countertops will have sample chips for free.

[Matteo Lorenzo]

Matteo you need to be a contributor to see pictures and pm
cost $6 a year
yes I have scrap laminate need your address and what size pieces you want
Ron

thanks ron
all signed up
i sent you a couple PMs
let me know here if you did not receive them (i dont see them in my sent items folder)

[Matteo Lorenzo]

Thanks for the tips everyone. Very helpful

[John K Jordan]

...
i sent you a couple PMs
... (i dont see them in my sent items folder)

You might have to turn that on.
Click on Settings at the top of the screen near the right.
In the panel at the left click on General Settings
Under Messaging & Notification, Sent Private Messages turn on "Save a copy of sent messages in my Sent Items folder by default"

JKJ

[Warren Lake]

long gone and never replaced. Substitute for going to the gym.

[Matteo Lorenzo]

Bingo.
Thanks John!