glenn bradley
05-21-2006, 1:18 PM
A current project calls for a few 22 x 24 inch panels. I run an older Craftsman with an Align-a-Rip fence. I see a few of these fences in others photos; these folks probably got it on sale like I did. $116 and it's not half bad.
To the point; this is probably my under-developed technique more than anything. While cutting the panels to size I would have difficulty maintaining control of the panel at the last 1/4 inch or so. No matter how much ooomf I put into holding the panel true it would wander to the right and leave a "NOT STRAIGHT" cut at the trailing corner.
Noticing the 'real' fences out there seem to extend well beyond the back of the blade as opposed to my paltry 5 inches I came up with a quick solution. A fence extension (my fence cursor even adjusts enough to read correctly). I added a T-slot for feather boards and whatever else. There's normally a table extension in place as well. No more wandering panels :D .
To the point; this is probably my under-developed technique more than anything. While cutting the panels to size I would have difficulty maintaining control of the panel at the last 1/4 inch or so. No matter how much ooomf I put into holding the panel true it would wander to the right and leave a "NOT STRAIGHT" cut at the trailing corner.
Noticing the 'real' fences out there seem to extend well beyond the back of the blade as opposed to my paltry 5 inches I came up with a quick solution. A fence extension (my fence cursor even adjusts enough to read correctly). I added a T-slot for feather boards and whatever else. There's normally a table extension in place as well. No more wandering panels :D .