Excaliber TS Fence users

[Jim Hinze]

I recently aquired a cabinet saw (upgraded from a hybrid) that came with an Excaliber fence. I spent yesterday aligning everything and it seems to cut very well...

The fence rails do not have a tape measure on them and the fence itself seems to be missing the cursor. For those who use this fence, do you use the rail tape measure and cursor or set the fence using other means???

As I understand it now, General bought sommerville??? So they would have the parts right?

Thanks in advance.

[Phil Ordway]

If I remember correctly, the Excalibur is a two rail system. If this is correct, you'll need to keep the fence unlocked when not in use. A neighbor (architectural woodworker) has one and he reports that the plastic wheel on the outfeed side will develop a flat spot if the fence is kept locked. The Excalibur website will not come up and the suppliers are out of stock - may be a problem there.

[Jim Hinze]

If I remember correctly, the Excalibur is a two rail system. If this is correct, you'll need to keep the fence unlocked when not in use. A neighbor (architectural woodworker) has one and he reports that the plastic wheel on the outfeed side will develop a flat spot if the fence is kept locked. The Excalibur website will not come up and the suppliers are out of stock - may be a problem there.

Yes it's a two rail system.. the outfeed side wheel is not plastic, but aluminum or steel...

I have an e-mail into General but no response yet.

[Jeffrey Makiel]

Jim,
I have an Excalibur fence for 15 years on my Delta Unisaw. It is a superb fence. When I bought it, I was much more impressed with it over the Biesemeyer fence in both ease of movement, and rigidity against being bumped by a large panel.

I recommend that you get a self-adhesive metal tape and stick it to the rails. These tapes are available from most woodworking mailorder houses and should read left to right.

I also recommend that you get or build a replacement cursor from a small piece of plexiglass. This fence is dead on parallel while being moved, and the cursor is how I set up everything. No measuring tapes here.

A couple of thoughts:

1. Make sure your side extension table is stable and square. I used double sheets of MDF laminated with formica. I choose MDF because it resists seasonal movement to which the fence is sensitive to.

2. The fence locks to the rails at both the front and back rails. Although this give me a solid lock, you must have a gap between the saw and the outfeed table. The Excalibur is not a T-square type fence.

3. After setting up the fence, the lock pressure on the lever should be adjusted so that there is enough pressure to clamp the fence to the rails. Over forcing (and I mean a lot of pressure) can distort the bearing plate attached to the lever over time.

4. I keep my fence stored locked or unlocked, it does not make a difference. All parts are either aluminum or steel.

5. I lubricated the bearings for the 1st time in 15 years. Some light oil is all that is needed and some beeswax between the plate and cam lever also.

6. It has T-slots along the top of the fence to attach hold down devices like Shophelpers. Very convenient.

Enjoy the fence. I think it's a pretty good fence. I'm not sure why it never became as popular as the Excalibur sliding tables or overarm blade guards.

Below is pic of it.

cheers, Jeff

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y84/Beff2/MyGuard1.jpg

[Jim Hinze]

I recommend that you get a self-adhesive metal tape and stick it to the rails. These tapes are available from most woodworking mailorder houses and should read left to right.

I also recommend that you get or build a replacement cursor from a small piece of plexiglass. This fence is dead on parallel while being moved, and the cursor is how I set up everything. No measuring tapes here.


Jeff, thanks a ton. I found General int. phone number and will call their CS department on teh way home tonight... hopefully to order a cursor... worst case, I'll construct one as you suggested... I have some thin lexan in my scrap pile.



1. Make sure your side extension table is stable and square. I used double sheets of MDF laminated with formica. I choose MDF because it resists seasonal movement to which the fence is sensitive to.


Thanks. It still has the extension table that came with the fence, it's in reasonable shape and has the oversized router plate insert + hinges installed. Everything seems to be very square.



3. After setting up the fence, the lock pressure on the lever should be adjusted so that there is enough pressure to clamp the fence to the rails. Over forcing (and I mean a lot of pressure) can distort the bearing plate attached to the lever over time.


I adjusted the clamp pressure last night... prior, when clamped (from the orig owner) I could slide the fence left or right with hand pressure... now it takes a bit of force to lock... perhaps I'll adjust for a happy medium.



6. It has T-slots along the top of the fence to attach hold down devices like Shophelpers. Very convenient.


I like that part... on my old hybrid, I had the Unifence with the Uni-T-Fence extrusion... loved the utility of the t-slots.

BTW -- thanks for the picture. Do you by chance have one of the cursor??? In case I decide to construct one?