Agree with everyone on the faces. I successfully replaced mine with some 80/20 aluminum extrusion and am pretty happy with it.
Agree with everyone on the faces. I successfully replaced mine with some 80/20 aluminum extrusion and am pretty happy with it.
If I'm doing very thin strips, I'll usually cut the strip to the left side of the blade. Once you've dimensioned the piece, you are cutting the strips from, you just move the fence in the kerf thickness plus the strip thickness on the LS-TS positioner.
Another approach, and I have a board for this, is to attach a piece of 3/4 MDF or plywood to the fence and then run the strips between the fence and the blade. This way the blade never gets close to the aluminum fence.
I also have a similar board with a 1/2"D x 3/4"H rabbit that allow me to position this over the blade, but almost flush with the blade to trim edge banding on small pieces.
I'm looking for a new fence option for my 2005 ICS Sawstop. What are my options?
I just spent several hours trying to refit the Sawstop fence plates to the metal fence bar. I finally managed to get both fence plates flush enough with the metal bar and then use a credit card to add space between the plates and the table top, but I am having an issue with the plates being parallel and perpendicular. I think the root cause is that some of the threaded inserts that fit into the plywood fence plate are loose and the screws are not going inline into the threaded insert so things are not fitting right.
Maybe replacing the fence plates with new ones from Sawstop will work? Also, it looks as if folks have screwed wood, aluminum extrusions, or other material to the existing fence metal bar as a solution. I see references to the Incra fence as a replacement and the VCST fence also.
I am inclined to move on to another solution that will allow for more time using the saw than adjusting it.
Any ideas?
--I had my patience tested. I'm negative--
I've been setting up my brand new PCS 3hsp SStop. I'm doing the fence adjustments today. I too was a bit disappointed in the SS fence. A cheap thin laminate instead of 1/2" HDPE I had on the first version of the Jet Exacta fence I sold along with my Delta contractor saw. And I too will go with a VSCT route if this fence turns out to be crap. Otherwise, "Wow", what a saw!
I have not replaced the laminated piece on the left side of the fence. It works OK. I got it perpendicular to the saw top and just accepted that in the rare even I rip on the left side of the saw and use the other face it won't be perpendicular to the top unless I change the setting. I clamp a sacrificial plywood piece to the fence for some things.
The laminated face on the right side of my fence is loose and wavy, the reason I originally removed both fence faces. I needed to use the saw so I remounted both faces and encountered this issue of not being able to make the left side of the fence parallel and square. I spent another couple hours yesterday getting the left side parallel and square. It took a mallet, multiple adjustments of the cap screws, and most every swear word in my vocabulary. The right side of the fence is hopeless now. I guess the cheapest solution is to buy new fence plates from Sawstop, but maybe the best solution is the VCST fence. Once mounted and adjusted, the original fence is fine, but perhaps it is just the age of the fence plates and prior to a recent move it was in a garage with wide temperature swings that may have contributed to the threaded inserts becoming wonky and that problem seems to be what is causing my difficulty.
The Saw Stop fence makes it really easy to change or adjust faces but, it sounds like yours is enough out of whack to be a defect. I switched to aluminum extrusions and switched back. I use the tablesaw as a joinery machine more than just ripping material and the t-slots always seemed to be in just the wrong place ;-) Also, aluminum is pliable and will cofnorm to an irregular face and could require shimming as well if your tube is the culprit.
I was able to get my faces flat with just foil and / or paper tape for shims. It sounds like yours is more out of true than that or the face thickness is inconsistent. Run a set of calipers down the removed face. It may be that you are trying to align something that is already irregular before you start. Popping your own inserts into an MDF face would not be much work. I might even do this first but, that's me. I have MDF surfaces that are shellacked and waxed that have seen years of service with only an occasional refreshing of the finish.
"A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".
– Samuel Butler
I have a early (2005,2006?) ICS and the Sawstop fence that came with it is frustrating. It may be adjusted improperly. Every time I tighten the fence down, it moves a bit making it difficult to set to a specific width. Any ideas?
This is it..
You know you guys are replying to a 10 year old post?
Sad to see that Sawstop is still having issues with fence faces though. Mine are fine. I think. I've never measured, the saw cuts perfectly straight and no up cuts from the back of the blade. Some complain about the surface that is 0.003 out of flat. IMO that is irrelevant when it comes to wood. The wood may move that much after cooling down after the cut. I'd love to get the Incra but I can't justify the cost. Maybe I should go check the faces.
As another post said, if you are making small repetitive cuts for small boxes, get a pair of Grippers. They keep you hands away from teh blade. They get a lot of negative reviews, but I think they are from those who use them to push long wide boards, where they don't really help any more than a simple push stick or block. But when making small box cuts, they control both the save and off cut. Awesome purchase for that use.
I have a new ICS. Technically the fence face is wavy but it starts at 0 and ends at 0 with a few valleys along its length in the -002 to -007 range. I'm assuming where the bolts are. I have not tested it yet but I think the board will simply skim over these valleys.