TS Fence Rail Length

[Tom Elgin]

New to the forum and returning to WW'ing after a 30 year absence.

I will be purchasing tools soon and am trying to decide what length table saw rail to get (probably between Bies 30" or 50" right side rip). Space is at a premium, but I do plan to use a lot of sheet goods. Comments? (Or can you direct me to a previous thread? I haven't mastered the search function yet.)

Thanks.

[Matt Day]

I think the space you have is the first consideration. If you can get by with the 50", go for it, but if space is at that much of a premium get the 30".

I have a 50", and in hindsight I could probably get by with a 30" for 99% of my cuts. I do like to use the extra table width as a workbench and it's also my router table, so it's not like it's dead space.

[David Gunn]

Tom, I think Matt is on to something for you. If space is that much of a premium, but you would still like the 50" rails, you could put your router table on your table saw. It wouldn't be wasted space and it would free up room elsewhere. This is of course if you planned on a router table.

[Grant Lasson]

I've often wished I didn't have the 50" length. First, maneuvering large sheet goods is really hard for a single person. Second, It's a permanent loss of space to you. (I prefer to have my router table much higher than the table saw bed.) I have purchased an 8' straight edge, a circular saw, and a good blade and I made a good break-down platform to lay the sheet goods on while cutting down big sheets. It works great, it goes away when not in use and it's much safer for a single person.

If I had a "do over" I'd get a 30" fence and put the TS on a good mobile base.

Grant

[chris fox]

Any thoughts on purchasing Festool rail saw system for the tight quarters? I guess it depends on how much sheet goods you will be cutting and how tight of area you have have to work with.

[glenn bradley]

I'm the opposite of Matt. I have the 30" and wish I had about 6 more inches. I have heard of folks sliding the rails about 10" to the right to get 40" but wonder about the front rail cutouts for the miter guage. I'd go 50" if you can based on your statement about sheet goods.

[Ted Miller]

My rails with table are 7', I also made my outfeed table the same width 7' by 8' in length. I know this takes up a lot of space but I feel as though you can never have enough table top space on a TS. I handle full size sheets with ease. Plus my outfeed table is my assembly area...

[Paul Johnstone]

Another thing to consider is your outfeed table arrangement.

I got the 52" fence. I also added a left side table.. That allowed me to make an outfeed table that is slightly larger than 8' x 4' in size.

Now you are probably saying "woah, space is at a premium".. but underneath the outfeed table, I can store sheet goods (since it's slighly larger than 4 x 8. It also is my workbench, assembly bench, etc.

The outfeed table isn't attached to the saw. It's about 5" behind the saw.

Everything else in my shop (other than DC, mitre saw station and drill press), gets moved around on mobile bases. It's a great setup.

The extra width on the fence is really nice, because you can crosscut full sheets of 1/4 plywood safely. I wouldn't try it on 3/4 inch (obviously), but 1/4 inch is light enough IMO, that you do it.

Also, if space is at a premium and you are doing a lot of sheet goods, I think the best idea is to make a mobile router table the same height as your table saw. That way it doubles as an infeed table when you need it.

[Don Bullock]

New to the forum and returning to WW'ing after a 30 year absence.

I will be purchasing tools soon and am trying to decide what length table saw rail to get (probably between Bies 30" or 50" right side rip). Space is at a premium, but I do plan to use a lot of sheet goods. Comments? (Or can you direct me to a previous thread? I haven't mastered the search function yet.)

Thanks.

Wow Tom, I thought I'd been away from woodworking for a long time. Welcome. You have come to the right place for good answers and advice. I'm constantly amazed at how helpful the people here are.

That's a great question and I've been wondering the same thing, but hadn't gotten that far yet. I'm very interested to read the responses.

[frank shic]

tom, i mainly work with sheet goods like plywood and melamine as well. the 30" has worked well for me. after all, how many times am i going to need to rip to 47"? i could just as well remove 1" instead. what's even more important is a reliable sliding table (like an exaktor or excalibur...) so that you can square the sheets quickly. you will NEVER convince me that ripping to 24" and then crosscutting is less cumbersome than crosscutting to 30" and then ripping. in addition, when i moved my fence rails over to accomodate my sliding table, i gained approximately 10 more inches although i'm not sure what i'll need them for and i am strongly tempted to just trim off the extra length! BTW: get a high ATB 80 tooth blade with a -5 or -6 rake and a decent zero clearance insert throat plate for smooth edges.

[Ted Miller]

Paul, My large outfeed is exactly that as well, a sheet stock storage since it is 7'x8'. I also added a few 2x2s closer to the underside of the table to handle my 5x5 BB panels so they have a support of their own...

[Brian Rice]

If 30" or 50" don't exactly fit, you can cut them down. The rail the BM fence slides on is nothing more than square steel which you can cut down to any length you like. Get the biggest one you can accomodate in your shop, or better yet, go with a sliding table saw. Brian

[Joe Jensen]

New to the forum and returning to WW'ing after a 30 year absence.

I will be purchasing tools soon and am trying to decide what length table saw rail to get (probably between Bies 30" or 50" right side rip). Space is at a premium, but I do plan to use a lot of sheet goods. Comments? (Or can you direct me to a previous thread? I haven't mastered the search function yet.)

Thanks.
I tend to use the extra surface area as extra work space. I rarely need more than 30", so I don't have to move the stuff I'm doing in that extra work surface very often. Sadly it becomes a collection space for junk a lot of the time...joe

[Paul Johnstone]

Paul, My large outfeed is exactly that as well, a sheet stock storage since it is 7'x8'. I also added a few 2x2s closer to the underside of the table to handle my 5x5 BB panels so they have a support of their own...

That's a great idea.. I'd love to be able to store BB panels there as well.
Also, I learned that it's a good idea to mix up your 3/4" thick panels and 1/4" thick panels. It's annoying to have to move out five 3/4" sheets to get to a 1/4" sheet.

[Rob Will]

Tom,
I'm thinking that a 50" fence is a good thing but it would seem that a large fence system also calls for a large outfeed table. In my case, I built a rolling shop table that doubles as an outfeed table.

Also, you might be able to construct a drawer cabinet that goes under the right side table. (That's another advantage of left tilt saws.....the motor access is on the left so you have more storage options under the table on the right).

Keep in mind that you might also need 8' on the left side of the blade.
For example: what happens if you need to cut 1" off of the end of a 4' x 8' sheet? Unlikely and dangerous as it may be, it is worth asking the question.

Perhaps a mobile base would help your overall situation.

You may also like a Beisemeyer snap-in splitter.

FWIW, I bought a used cabinet saw and put a new Beisemeyer fence on it. Often times, used machinery is better and heavier than new. ie: Powermatic was USA made up until a few years ago. All of the new stuff is made.........well, you know.

Rob