Fence for HF Table Saw

[Aaron Hamilton]

I know that HF is not the most popular thing around here, but I got a heck of a deal on the 3hp 12 inch table saw with cast iron top and wings. It does a great job and has tons of power, but I want to put extension tables on it and add an aftermarket fence. The factory fence is very precise and easy to use, but it requires a locking rail on the back side of the saw, prohibiting a gapless table extension.

Has anyone added or heard of someone successfully adding a Incra, Bess. or other aftermarket fence system to the HF table saw like this one http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93491 ?

If so...what brand?

[Bruce Page]

Aaron, an aftermarket Biesemeyer type fence should work fine with your saw. They do not require a rear rail but you would have to remove or replace the right wing with a solid one.

[Bart Leetch]

I think you could easily use a Grizzly Shopfox fence I have one on my old Unisaw there isn't enough difference in it & a Biesmeyer commercial fence to sneeze at. I had my saw right next to my friends saw with the Biesmeyer fence when I was reconditioning my Unisaw. On the Shopfox fence there is a little piece of flat metal under the cam action lock down lever. with this flat metal flipped up my fence would set right on my friends saw. We looked over both fences really close & they are very similar.

Why is a gap-less table extension so important?

You could do like I did make hanger tabs of flat metal welded to angle iron with the bolts that hold the wings on going through the tabs the angle iron runs out back behind the saw 12" or enough to clear your motor then hinge the rest of the table made so it clears the floor when folded down. When up its held up by 2 folding legs that are off set & fold in toward each other overlapping from each side with screw down feet to level the table.

You could just slide your fence to the right & change the tape measure. You should be able to get at least 36" or more to the right with no trouble at all. I put a Sears fence off my 1997 saw onto my Dad's
1950's Craftsman saw & he has somewhere between 36"-38" as long as you can cut material for a lower cabinet end you can cut anything else with the narrow drop off piece next to the fence & the project piece on the left of the blade & that won't be very often.

I have a right tilt Unisaw & just scooted my Shopfox fence to the left so I have 24" to the left & 40" to the right. The fence came set up to cut 11" to the left & 50" to the right which is fine for a left tilt saw.

[scott spencer]

Any aftermarket fence for a standard 27" deep saw that rides on the rear rail should work. Best bang for the buck IMO would be the Delta T2 from Lowes ($150), the Vega ($215 shipped), or the Shop Fox Aluma Classic from Grizzly for ($210 + s/h). All are front lockers. The T2 and SF are both decent clones of the Biese Homeshop fence. The Vega has a nice microadjustment.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/H5742
http://amazon.com/Vega (http://amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/103-0666017-4028638?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=vega+fence&Go.x=0&Go.y=0&Go=Go)

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=237669-32764-36-T30

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/71JNHVJH9ZL._AA280_.gif

http://www.epinions.com/Vega (http://www.epinions.com/content_217486757508)

[Joe Spear]

Go to Lowe's and find out if they have any more of the close-out Unifences for $165 or less.

[glenn bradley]

Just an alternate opinion; if your current fence works well why not modify your outfeed table construction instead? Your fence looks like close cousin to the Ryobi-made Align-a-rip that Sears sold for awhile. I had this fence and it worked great. My dad still loves it. It looks like your motor hangs out the back anyway so I'd just build a leg assembly to support the table at the saw to table 'joint' and attach the outfeed table to the saw body to prevent creep.