As close to a perfect fence as I’ve found so far

[Cliff Polubinsky]

I was becoming more dissatisfied with the fence that came with the Sawstop and replaced it with a fence from Very Super Cool Tools. This fence is made from an aluminum extrusion from 8020 that is then CNC machined so it is flat on all 4 sides.

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One of the things that appealed to me besides the flatness is the versatility. The extrusion can be slid forward and back on the clamp depending on where you want the extra support. With the channels in the extrusion, you can make all kinds of auxiliary fences from melamine shelf boards. The boards are found in all the box stores, are cheap, and flat. They are fastened to the extrusion with screws and nuts that fit in the channel. You can get the fasteners from Very Super Cools, eBay or 8020.

You’re not restricted to just one auxiliary fence. Loosen the fasteners, slide off one fence and slide on a new one. Some of the fences you can make are:

Short fence. Add a retrofit kit from VSCT to your Jessem Clear Cut Stock guides and they slide on without having to mount a T track to your fence.

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Tall fence. Useful for cutting taller boards.

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Add another tall fence on the other side of the extrusion and you have a track for a shop made tenon jig.

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Dado fence.

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L fence: Can be used for template cutting or instead of a dado fence.

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And to finish it off I made a tray that slides onto the far side of the fence for pencils, DC remote, caliper, rulers, small combo square, etc.

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Cliff

[Robert Hayward]

I agree, it is a nice fence. I use only the extrusion attached to my PM2000 fence. Dead flat to a couple thousandths after a couple years use.

[Tom M King]

I remember looking at them a few years back, and that would have been my choice if I needed a new fence. Do they have a good fine adjuster yet? They didn't back when I first saw them.

[Cliff Polubinsky]

Tom,

Look at Woodpecker's Rip Flip. You can use it to set a measurement you want to come back to or as a micro adjuster. Mine comes in handy all the time.

Cliff

[Tony Leonard]

I have the same saw (PM2000). Right now, I am using some melamine that I attached to the steel (replaced the plastic). How did you attach the extrusion?

Thanks,
Tony

[Michael Burnside]

Tom,

Look at Woodpecker's Rip Flip. You can use it to set a measurement you want to come back to or as a micro adjuster. Mine comes in handy all the time.

Cliff

Huge fan of the WP rip-flip system. I just attached extrusion to my SS fence, but will have to check these out.

[Tom M King]

I still don't like that thing as much as the old Powermatic fine adjuster that was built into the fence. There was a spring loaded knob with pinion gear on the end. A rack that meshed with the pinion was built into the bottom of the front rail. If you wanted to move the fence a hair, you push the knob in to engage the pinion in the rack and go either way you wanted to. Once in position, you lock the fence. The fine adjuster knob just disengages by the spring when you aren't using it.

I'd still be using that fence but it had round rails with a lock on the front and back rails. If you use an outfeed table you have to leave a sizeable gap between the back of the top and the outfeed table, which was aggravating for all sorts of reasons.

I don't see any good reason not to use the same sort of system with any fence like a Biesmyer type or even the VCST fence. I think the people that designed them just never had any experience with the old Powermatic system.

[Cliff Polubinsky]

I have the same saw (PM2000). Right now, I am using some melamine that I attached to the steel (replaced the plastic). How did you attach the extrusion?

Thanks,
Tony

The extrusion comes as a complete fence that goes right on to the Sawstop rails. The extrusion part has a channel on the bottom and the clamp part of the fence has 2 bolts that slide into the channel. You can slide the fence forward or backward as you want then tighten the bolts.

Cliff

[Cliff Polubinsky]

Huge fan of the WP rip-flip system. I just attached extrusion to my SS fence, but will have to check these out.

Michael,

The clamp on the VSCT fence hangs lower that the Bies fence. You'll need to put spacers between the square rail and the Rip Flip mounting brackets. I just cut some out of oak. You'll need to buy longer bolts to account for the spacers but they're standard metric bolts.

Cliff

[Michael Burnside]

Cliff, did you get the standard t-square fence or the adjustable throat?

[Cliff Polubinsky]

The standard. I was replacing the Sawstop fence which uses the standard Biesmeyer 2" x 3" rail. The adjustable is for metric rails or rails that aren't 2" x 3".

Cliff

[Robert Hayward]

I have the same saw (PM2000). Right now, I am using some melamine that I attached to the steel (replaced the plastic). How did you attach the extrusion?

Thanks,
Tony

The VSCT extrusion attaches to the PM2000 fence with bolts that have heads that fit the extrusion slots. I used two, one near the front and one near the back. Using the same mounting holes that the OE plastic piece used. I had to ream the holes slightly. Turn you PM fence upside down and you will have holes that a wrench reaches through to loosen the originals and allow access to tighten the new ones from VSCT. I also spaced my VSCT extrusion away from the PM2000 fence using a 1/4 flat washer at each of the two new bolts. I did this so the new extrusion would remain dead flat.

Adding that VSCT sells the extrusion separate from the entire assembly if all you want is the extrusion.

Adding that I also moved the cursor and applied a new stick on tape measure to the rail so I would still have accurate measurements.

[Tony Leonard]

Thanks very much for the info. I had found that my stock PM2000 fence was real wavy (as we all know). After an attempt at shimming, I just replaced it with a piece of melamine. I just drilled countersunk holes through it to utilize the stock holes in the PM2000 fence metal. It works. The holes bother me but they haven't been a problem. I like the idea of the extrusion though. Not a bad price for a nice chunk of machined aluminum either! A little frustrated that I spend that much on a saw and had to replace the casters and the fence is not very flat. Other than that, it has been a great saw though.

To be honest, I can't say that the fence was ever really an issue, but it bugged me. The melamine works (and was cheap!), nice and slippery, but I just don't like it.


Thanks again. I may go ahead and 'draw one off. '

Tony

[Johnny Barr]

I was also unhappy with Sawstop's fence and was unsure of getting this or the more expensive Incra LSTS. Decided on the Incra which gives the same functionality and versatility as the extrusion but amazing repeatability and accuracy

[Robert Hayward]

A little frustrated that I spend that much on a saw and had to replace the casters and the fence is not very flat. Other than that, it has been a great saw though. Tony
Same here. I did not mess with replacing the casters. I built a steel frame with four total locking swivel casters to set my PM2000 on. No more 500 turns on the handle to raise and lower the machine. Just a toe kick on two of the casters and I can move the machine with one hand.

The wavy fence drove me nuts. Super smooth and straight now with the VSCT extrusion.