Moving rails on a TS to get a longer cut..................

[Mark Rios]

I got my new, shorter Biese rails for my Unisaw. They are 12" left and 30" right. I'd like to slide them to the right to give me a couple/few more inches on that side.

Aside from taking out a little metal to leave room for the miter slots, which method below would you use and why?

Drill new holes in the rails to fit the table or drill new holes in the table edge?


Thanks very much for your opinions and advice.

[Greg Koch]

Mark,

If it were me, I'd drill the rail...would never touch to saw top! :eek: You can always replace the rail with angle iron, but your top....

My thoughts, anyway.

[Norman Hitt]

Mark, I have done it both ways, depending on what looked most appropriate. By appropriate, I mean taking care to NOT drill into a casting web on the table top, or to drill another hole in the table top that is too close to a pre existing hole, (like not less than 1"). Sometimes when you get the rail aligned where you want it, one or more of the rail holes will align part way over an existing hole in the TS top and then it's best to just drill another hole through both the rail AND the TS top and countersink the rail hole.

In most cases, it seems easier to me to get a perfect alignment by aligning the rail and clamping it in place and then drilling the table through the existing rail holes that are already countersunk. If you haven't drilled CI before, it drills real easy, BUT, ease up on the pressure as the bit gets nearly through the CI, as it will want to grab the metal, and break a small chunk out on one edge of the hole. It's not difficult as long as you are prepared for this.

[Mike Cutler]

Mark.

If enough of the holes already in the top can be used than I would drill the rails only. However, I also needed to to reconfigure the fence on my General when I bought it to accomodate my limited space, and a Jess-Em Mast-R-Slide and had to drill both, afence and top. The saw was brand new.

Norman has some good advice about the webbing on the saw, and placement of the drill.

Cast Iron drills very easily, but... The drill bit likes to "wander" just a touch due to the granular nature of CI. Lightly mark the location with a punch, drill a pilot hole, and use some drill/tap solution, set your drill to slow, and you will have no problems. CI also takes a tap very easily if you want to thread the holes, and then back up the fastner with a double nut.

[Jim DeLaney]

I got my new, shorter Biese rails for my Unisaw. They are 12" left and 30" right. I'd like to slide them to the right to give me a couple/few more inches on that side.

Aside from taking out a little metal to leave room for the miter slots, which method below would you use and why?

Drill new holes in the rails to fit the table or drill new holes in the table edge?


Thanks very much for your opinions and advice.

Mark,
You don't need to move the angle iron portion of the rails at all. Just unbolt the square tube from the angle iron, and move it to the right by one set of holes and re-attach it. That'll give you about an extra ten inches of right cut, but none to the left (I've never needed to put my fence to the left, and have never missed the 'loss.'). Having 8~10 inches of the tube unsupported by the angle iron is not a problem. I've used this setup for about ten years.

You will, of course, need to buy a new stick-on tape. The one I used is adhesive-backed metal, made by Starrett. Cost about $10 for a 6 footer.

[Mark Rios]

Well.......bonk me on the head with a dead coyote.................of course that's the best way Jim. Thanks very much. Can you tell that I've never had a fence like this, sheesh. :rolleyes: I was just looking at my new shorter rails this morning and when I read your post the (dim) lightbulb went on.

Unless someone can post why this wouldn't be a good idea........seems like it would work to me. 'Course there are a lot more holes to line up. :eek:

Thanks again to all for your help and advice.

Thanks very much.

[Dick Brown]

Mark,
When I saw your reply about just moving the front rail one hole, I wondered if you understood his post.
'Course there are a lot more holes to line up. :eek:
The only lineup is to screw the bolts in. I have had this fence for years but got rid of the short rails and put on long ones that I built myself to fit my situation. Don't even remember what the rear rail was like. As far as the tube sticking past the angle iron on the front rail, I built this type fence for several Craftsman saws and only ran the 3" angle as far as the edge of the table both ends with 18" of tube sticking past on the right side and it is plenty strong enough on it's own to keep the fence true. If you stop and think about it, the fence it's self is the same tube and is 40" long from the "T" that rides the rail so it should flex long before the 8" to 18" or so of the rail past the end of the angle. Look for the post
"NEW OLD CRAFTSMAN" on this forum.
Hope this helps.
Dick

[Mark Rios]

Mark,
When I saw your reply about just moving the front rail one hole, I wondered if you understood his post.
'Course there are a lot more holes to line up. :eek:
The only lineup is to screw the bolts in. I have had this fence for years but got rid of the short rails and put on long ones that I built myself to fit my situation. Don't even remember what the rear rail was like. As far as the tube sticking past the angle iron on the front rail, I built this type fence for several Craftsman saws and only ran the 3" angle as far as the edge of the table both ends with 18" of tube sticking past on the right side and it is plenty strong enough on it's own to keep the fence true. If you stop and think about it, the fence it's self is the same tube and is 40" long from the "T" that rides the rail so it should flex long before the 8" to 18" or so of the rail past the end of the angle. Look for the post
"NEW OLD CRAFTSMAN" on this forum.
Hope this helps.
Dick


Well.....bonk me on the head with a dead coyote AND my ex-wife..........

You're right, I didnt read it correctly. Thanks very much. I also wasn't aware that the holes were spaced evenly on both the angle iron and the rail allowing for that kind of movement. I'll check out the spacing later on today.

Thanks again.

[Steve Clardy]

Well.......bonk me on the head with a dead coyote.................of course that's the best way Jim. Thanks very much. Can you tell that I've never had a fence like this, sheesh. :rolleyes: I was just looking at my new shorter rails this morning and when I read your post the (dim) lightbulb went on.

Unless someone can post why this wouldn't be a good idea........seems like it would work to me. 'Course there are a lot more holes to line up. :eek:

Thanks again to all for your help and advice.

Thanks very much.



Now the coyote thing was funny Mark, don't care who you are:D :D

Our Dairy barn neighbors across the road, have an abundance of coyotes hiding out on their 400 acres, that like to yelp and stir up our two dogs, who think they own the entire countryside:rolleyes: , and have to cross the road and bark back, keeping us awake at night sometimes.:(


Now as a favor, I'll go look for a dead one, drag it over here, and see if I can somehow bonk yer head through the phone line, as you requested.:D ;) :D