Bandsaw Fence?

[Tom Veatch]

Anybody out there have an aftermarket bandsaw fence they can recommend? Or links to shop built designs?

Not going to ask "What the best....?", because there are too many variables. In my case, it's for a 16" Jet bandsaw and will be used mostly, but not necessarily exclusively, for resawing. Want something that's rigid and can be set/adjusted square to the table. I have a "FastTrak" that comes up short in both those areas.

[glenn bradley]

I favor the CI one that came with my saw (except for the handle placement) but, during discussions, a lot of folks favor these: http://www.amazon.com/Jet-708718R-Fence-Resaw-Guide/dp/B0000223LG

I can't speak for it, just trying to help.

[Glenn Howard]

Kreg makes a nice, modestly priced bare-bones aftermarket fence. I have one on an old Grizzly G1019 and have been happy with it. You can usually catch them on sale for around $100.

[Cary Falk]

I favor the CI one that came with my saw (except for the handle placement) but, during discussions, a lot of folks favor these: http://www.amazon.com/Jet-708718R-Fence-Resaw-Guide/dp/B0000223LG

I can't speak for it, just trying to help.

I had the Jet mentioned on my 14" Delta and now have the one that Glenn has. I like the Grizzly better. A lot of people like the Kreg. I have never used it so I can't comment on it.

[Harley Reasons]

I put the Kreg on my Griz 15" a couple of months ago. It made a HUGH difference in the accuracy of my bandsaw. I think the Kreg is the best bang for the buck you can get on an aftermarket fence.

[Lee Schierer]

I have an earlier version of the Kreg (Tuff Tooth) fence and really like it. It can be used left or right of the blade.

[Jeff Wright]

One of the best I've seen is the Laguna one for a pricey $400. It's on my wish list.

[Jim Becker]

The Kreg, which I believe was originally designed and marketed by Duginski, often is mentioned and is of reasonable price.

[Chris Padilla]

The $120ish Kreg is a fine fence for the price. I'm using one on my Tansu project....

[Heather Thompson]

One of the best I've seen is the Laguna one for a pricey $400. It's on my wish list.

I bought the one Jeff has mentioned, the Driftmaster, an excellent fence that easily adjusts for blade drift, drift is never an issue anymore. It was a little bit of a pain in the install considering the price, but I have never gotten a new tool that did not require some fine tuning. :rolleyes: If you would like to know more PM me and I will give details and also a contact at Laguna that may be able to work with you on price. My internet has been acting up so please understand if I do not get back to you right away.

Heather

[Tom Veatch]

Many thanks to all who have replied. Looks like the Kreg is getting good reviews. Have to do some minor modifications to fit it to my 16" Jet but that's doable. Only thing I see about it that may be a downcheck is there doesn't seem to be any rear support for the fence - all side loading is reacted at the front rail which, I would think, would make it subject to sideways deflection under load. But nobody's mentioned that as a noticable problem, so maybe I'm seeing phantoms.

The stock Jet fence for the 16" saw is within a few dollars of the Kreg and would fit without any modifications. It also has a rear rail that may or may not, depending on how it attaches and locks, make it stiffer under side loading. May have to take the time to try to find some physical examples of both locally and get a hands-on look at them.

Went ahead and threw together a shop-built resaw guide to get me through this project, but setting the thing at the proper distance from the blade and getting it clamped down at the right spot is a little bit of a hassle. Still thinking I'd like to get a commercial version.

Also found that my blades suitable for resawing 7" Ash are so dull that about all they're good for is cutting Saw Stop weiners or maybe burning through Redwood or Cedar. Oh well, if it ain't one thing it's another.

Thanks again to all that replied, and if anyone cares to comment further on the Kreg side stiffness and/or the stock Jet fence, I'd love to hear it.

Edit: Looked at a couple of videos and websites for the Laguna fence. Looks real nice, but the outlay is a little outside my comfort zone for the amount of bandsaw work that I do. Especially since I'm trying to justify plonking down nealy $1400 for Shelix heads for my planer and jointer.

[Chris Padilla]

Tom,

The Kreg fence secures ONLY at one end. Yes, it'll deflect as you might surmise but proper bandsawing, as I'm finding out, doesn't require that you place a tremendous amount of pressure to severly deflect the fence.

[Cary Falk]

Tom,
The stock Jet fence has a plastic button that rides the back rail(angle iron). It is adjustable to level the fence with the table. There is a metal piece on the back of the fence loosly hooks under the angle iron that would prevent the fence from lifting up more than about a 1/4" but does not lock down or prevent any deflection. It's kind of a pain when removing the fence because you have to pick up the front first then move the fence foward to get the rear metal piece to clear before lifting up. I hope that makes sense.

[William Falberg]

I've been playing with re-saw fences for several years now and finally think I've got it right. It will cut a flawles 16" x (whatever length) x 1/16" veneer consistently without sniping the ends. The trick is breaking the fence function into two parts and making it adjustable in infinite increments. The answer to variable cut depths is a modular fence with a blade guide extension and top-to-bottom adjustability for parallel. The prototype can be seen at my website on the page labeled Slice Miester. If anyboby's interested in partnering an after-market jig (or two) in this regard please feel free to contact me off-list. This could be done at home but some sophistication with metal work would be required - and tools. The prototype is still evolving and the feed system is still in the dreaming stage but the basic platform is better than I expected . Check it out for yourself. I'm looking for feedback at this early stage of development. The harsher the better. I'd rather find out now.............

[Tom Veatch]

Well, folks, all things considered (that I know about, at least), not the least of which is the Rockler 20% off/free shipping promotion, I'm teetering on the brink of buying the Kreg. If the fact that it clamps only to a front rail turns out to be a problem a piece of scrap and a clamp will address that circumstance.

The Driftmaster looks to be a super fence but is way overkill for my needs. Really just looking for something that'll give good support to a single point resaw fence beside the blade and be easy and convenient to index. My resaw work is primarily to prevent turning most of a board into planer/jointer chips and hopefully get two (or more) pieces out of a thick board when I need thin stock. Not really very close tolerance work. My shop-made resaw (fence, jig, support?) does a pretty good job but it's a real pain to index and clamp into position.

Many, many thanks to all that have responded to my questions. The more I think about it, I believe I'll go ahead and order the Kreg, micro positioner, and a couple of new resaw blades after posting this message. After all, it's only money!

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Tom, I know you have made up your mind, but I just wanted to add a +1 on the Laguna recommendation.

[Tom Veatch]

Well, I'll have to say that you guys that recommended the Kreg fence didn't steer me wrong. Delivered and installed yesterday; did some cutting today. Great!

Only one problem with the installation. Did have to drill a hole to match the mounting holes in my saw, but that was expected. The problem is that the fence lock knob has a 1/4-20 thread and the mating part has a 5/16-18 tapped hole. The Kreg folks say they've run into that a few times in the past and I should have new, correctly matched replacement parts early next week. I had a knob laying around the shop with a 5/16-18 shaft, so I'm using that in the interim.

Don't know how much of the improvement can be credited to the fence, however. Also got a new Olson Hard Back 5/8 x .025 3tpi Hook blade and a Lenox tension meter. The new blade running at the proper tension is probably the largest influence on the almost unbelievable improvement in performance, but whatever the reason, I'm tickled nigh on to death.

Did find out one thing which might have been a contributor to my bandsaw frustrations all along. Assuming the Lenox tension meter is accurate, the tension gauge on my copy of the 16" Jet bandsaw is totally worthless. Maybe it's just due to weak springs, but to get the recommended tension stress (in the neighborhood of 25,000 psi) for a 5/8x.025 blade the on-saw gauge is beyond the 1" blade index. But with a new blade tensioned per the Lenox meter, the saw goes through 6" Ash, Maple, and Red Oak with hardly a pause and absolutely no drift. Didn't try peeling anything thinner than about 3/16" but that was near perfectly uniform top to bottom and front to back.

Beautiful, love it, and may even be using my bandsaw a lot more in the future!

Thanks to all for the recommendations!!!

[Fred Belknap]

fact that it clamps only to a front rail turns out to be a problem a piece of scrap and a clamp will address that circumstance.
Sometimes I use a magnetic base for dial gauge as a backer up for fence if I think I might need to