Craftsman Table Saw Fence Upgrade?

[Eric Williams]

I need to upgrade my Craftsman contractor style table saw fence it is old from the 80's with cast iron wings that are not solid but open.

I have seen different fences but they are confusing and I can not find a direct replacement do not know what to order and from where. Can anyone help would like to find a direct bolt on replacement.

[Mike Cutler]

Eric.

First off. Welcome to Sawmill Creek. Pleased to meet ya'.

Don't be afraid to drill the cast iron on your saw if you can't find a bolt on replacement. Cast iron is very mild. It has a somewhat "granular nature" to it, so when drilling, use a low speed to start, lots of cutting fluid, and drill pilot holes. This will prevent the drill from trying to walk,and follow the grain on you.

A number of folks on the board have had, or still have Craftsman Tablesaws. I'm sure you'll get a wide range of solutions, and options.

Mostly though. Welcome to Sawmill Creek.

Mike

[glenn bradley]

Unfortunately Sears has stopped selling the Align-a-Rip made for them by Ryobi. they were around $250 but went on sale for half that frequently. When they stopped selling them they blew them out for $99!!!

If you can find one used or at a clearance center they are 30" left AND 30" right by design. they mount with t-slots so lots of folks would make 12" left by 48" right units just by sliding them down and sticking on a new tape.

I had one on my 1970's saw and it also fit my 1950's C-man. If you find one I would highly recommend it. The only downfall is it is aluminum so home shop use with care is all I'd advise.

Beyond that there are a boat-load of $250 - $500 fences out there but that was more than my saw was worth. You can see my old build here:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=36317

[scott kinninger]

I have a Craftsman also from the early 80's that I got from my grandpa. I put a Unifence on it and it's an immeasurable improvement. That fence is pretty close to "bolt on", I had to drill some of the existing holes a little bigger for the bolts to fit, other than that it was a straight foward installation. A high quality fence, along with a link belt and machined pulleys, are the best upgrades you can do to a saw like that.

I know some will say that it may be crazy to spend $300 on a top notch fence to put onto a $100 saw, but my saw has some sentimental value to it, and, I'm not ready for my Sawstop yet because I'm really tired of moving 400+ lb machinery down a flight of stairs.

Edit: Welcome to the forum!

[scott spencer]

The Vega is one of the better values going, and it's also one of the easier installations.

http://www.epinions.com/content_217486757508

[RichMagnone]

Not a Craftsman owner, but another vote for Vega. I put a Vega on a Jet contractor saw and all of a sudden, I did not yearn for a cabinet saw.

[Carl Eyman]

I put a Vega on my Craftsman (about 5 yrs older than yours) and have been really pleased.

[Jim W. White]

Ditto on the VEGA. Put on on an ~90 vintage Craftsman about 8 years back; best upgrade ever. Like a whole new saw. Also consider upgrading to the RIDGID pulleys which should fit that model also. They are grooved and extremly smooth. (I found mine on *bay)

Jim in Idaho.

[Bart Leetch]

[QUOTE=Mike Cutler]Eric.

First off. Welcome to Sawmill Creek. Pleased to meet ya'.

Don't be afraid to drill the cast iron on your saw if you can't find a bolt on replacement. Cast iron is very mild. It has a somewhat "granular nature" to it, so when drilling, use a low speed to start, lots of cutting fluid, and drill pilot holes. This will prevent the drill from trying to walk,and follow the grain on you.



Cast iron is self lubricating because it has either fine flakes of Graphite in it if it is ordinary cast iron or in ball like form if it is Nodular cast iron also know as spheroidal graphite iron ( Ductile iron)(info from the Machinery's Handbook) so you don't need oil. You can drill it with a common HSS drill bit. Yes drill a pilot hole.

[Greg Cuetara]

I picked up a late 70's c-man saw a few years back. It has worked well so far but I was having trouble with it. The shear pin on the main pully broke yesterday...not sure why but I tore it apart and finally got it fixed tonight. The other problem I was having was getting the blade aligned with the saw. I was able to read back to a few good articles about aligning the saw.

But to the point of your post. I picked up a Jet superfence....drilled a few mounting holes and it is 1000 times better than the original fence. Look around on *bay or craigslist or where ever....any secondary fence will work well and mount on your saw... I have heard great things about the vega...very similar to a biesemeyer which if you can afford go for it....

good luck.
Greg

[Dave Worsley]

I have a Craftsman 10 table saw i picked up the other day at a sell and want too upgrade it and clean it up a bit also,The table it self has a small amount of surface rust on it and what is the best thing too use on it to clean it up and then add some wax, also i want to replace the pullys and put a new and better belt. Iam going to get it cleaned up and give it too my son.

[JayStPeter]

Not sure if they still sell them, but the Ridgid fence was a direct bolt on. I bought one for around $99 and it worked well. It's not as good as some of the more expensive fences mentioned, but it was usable. It required periodic readjustment though. But, for the price it was good.
The biggest problem with my Craftsman saw was that the blade wouldn't stay adjusted parallel to the miter slot. I eventually got tired of adjusting it and got a new saw.

[Don Wurscher]

I upgraded my Craftsman Bench Saw 113.29943 (circa 1970's) with a Shop Fox Classic from Grizzly. All mounting is done to the table top and nothing on the wings. I had to drill & tap the table top,(cast iron) but this was easy and straight forward. Just make sure you have a drill/tap to match the size/threads of the mounting bolts. I am very well satisfied with the fence. The fence is heavy so plan for a close storage place, I put mine in a special box/slot under the 7' x 8' table I have built a round the saw. Good Luck

[Eric Williams]

Yeah the saw has sentimental value belonged to my father who is not alive anymore. I new he wanted to upgrade the fence so will give it a shot. Vega seems to be the consensous what exactly is required for a vega upgrade any drilling and tapping? What is the rigid belt size or part number?

I like the mobile base plans I saw on woodcrafts website so I ordered them. The pic shows a delta saw and biesmeyer fence very nice The fence looks larger then 50 inches though hmm! Any chance you can upgrade the motor on the craftsman what is it factory?

Thanks for the welcome and glad to be a new member of the forum...

[Eric Williams]

Anyone have pics of the vega fence on their craftsman table saw that want to share. I would love to see how it fits I am very close to making my decision.

[Keith Webster]

I have a Ridged table saw and wanted to up grade my fence system. I ended up with the Incra TS-LS http://www.incra.biz/Products/TSLS.html
It took about 2 hours to install it. I did have to do a little modifications on the motor mount on the table saw but nothing that would affect the saw. Also Incras customer service was great.

[Mike Cutler]

[QUOTE=Mike Cutler]Eric.

First off. Welcome to Sawmill Creek. Pleased to meet ya'.

Don't be afraid to drill the cast iron on your saw if you can't find a bolt on replacement. Cast iron is very mild. It has a somewhat "granular nature" to it, so when drilling, use a low speed to start, lots of cutting fluid, and drill pilot holes. This will prevent the drill from trying to walk,and follow the grain on you.



Cast iron is self lubricating because it has either fine flakes of Graphite in it if it is ordinary cast iron or in ball like form if it is Nodular cast iron also know as spheroidal graphite iron ( Ductile iron)(info from the Machinery's Handbook) so you don't need oil. You can drill it with a common HSS drill bit. Yes drill a pilot hole.

Ya' know, I've always had problems with CI and very low grade steels. The drill bits seem to want to "wander" in them. I started using a low speed, pilot holes and cutting fluid(Aqua-Tap). I'll have to try without the fluid. If I can avoid the mess, I'm all for it.

Thanks Bart.

[scott spencer]

Anyone have pics of the vega fence on their craftsman table saw that want to share. I would love to see how it fits I am very close to making my decision.

This isn't my setup Eric, but hopefully the owner won't mind me posting a link to some great pics.

http://www.mv.com/users/besposito/woodworking/vegafence.html

[Eric Williams]

Ok so I decided on the Vega 50 inch fence but where to buy it anyone?

[Raymond Romero]

I bought a Craftsman 113.298762 for $100.00 at a garage sale. It was in pretty good shape but still had the stock fence. I purchased and installed a Saw Stop Premium Fence Assembly. I only had to make 2 (two) changes to get it working. File a relief in only one place for my miter gauge bar on the front rail and being as I have the webbed cast iron wings the rollers had to be repositioned to roll evenly on the back rail of the casting. The fence is easy to adjust and it moves as if it were on glass. I am quite pleased with the work needed for the finished result and the cash outlay, $199.00 for the fence. $100.00 for the saw. I have added a link belt from Harbor Freight and that got rid of any vibrations it had.

[Dick Brown]

I rebuild a lot of old Craftsman saws as a hobby and have put literaly dozens of shop built Biesemeyer Home Shop clones on them as all of the originals drug on the table, wouldn't move straight and lock down, measure both ends, adjust, measure, etc. Bought a C-man the other day and said to my self, "I wonder if these can ever be made to work as a fence should?" Took the rails off, sanded all the contact surfaces smooth, made sure the rear locking clamp was working freely, mounted and adjusted the rails to get 1/16 clearance under the fence, waxed rails, adjusted the little nylon thingy that rubs on the back side of the front rail to keep the fence straight, and what a surprise! IT MOVES SRAIGHT WITH ONE HAND, LOCKS DOWN SQUARE AND SOLID, ACCURATE WITH THE TAPE!!! The Craftsman fence will never be a Vega or Biese. but if you are really into "Dad's Saw" and willing to put a little work into it, I think you would find it very useable. I and most others have always bashed the C-man fence but I now wonder how many have ever taken the time to do the tune-up as I described? Good luck in what ever you decide.

[Will Boulware]

Another 113 owner with a vega fence here. These are not bad saws at all, and the fence upgrade stopped any thoughts I had of upgrading to a 10" cabinet saw (no comment on that Oliver 260 I'm trying to justify...)

I didn't have to drill anything. The Vega fence uses a HEAVY round bar on the front that can be aligned on most saws (this one included) without having to drill. You mount the brackets to your existing holes and adjust the bar on the brackets.

The one complaint I've heard about them is their lack of sturdiness. True, they're not a Bies professional model, but I don't exactly have employees slapping a truckload of plywood against mine 8 hours a day either. I have no complaints. It turned a workable hobbyist saw into a machine I could rely on for VERY accurate cuts. Set it up right, though. Align the blade to the right miter slot and then align the fence to the same slot and you're good to go.

[Dan Rude]

I recently sold mine with the exacta-fence upgrade. It worked well, but at the price point I wished I had bought the Vega or a T-Square clone. My exacta fence always needed a little nudge to stay square. I think. If I had changed out the bolts to ones that would lock down better, it would not have the issue. My vote would be the Vega or build your own if you can weld. Still have to finish my SawStop fence install. So, I may not be the best one to talk. Dan