sawstop fence any good

[kelly logan]

Are the sawstop fences accurate?
or do they drift?
how accurate are they?

I do a lot of fine box work

[johnny means]

Which SS fence? Biessy style fences are pretty much all the same no matter the brand, stout, durable and reliable. What do you mean by drift? I would hope that no fence that was up to manufacturer specs moved while in use. I imagine that only the crappiest saws could possibly come with a fence that bad. I have the Tsquare style fence on my SS and in my opinion it is slightly better than a beisemeyer(it has adjustment for squaring to the table). The plywood faces are crap though. Mine has a noticeable dip in the middle. It has never been a problem, but for almost $5000 I think a flat face on the fence should be expected.

[scott spencer]

The basic contractor saw fence is pretty humble, but their Biese clone looks as good as any.

Good:


Not so good:

[Matt Kestenbaum]

I've never had problem with drift on my SS t-glide fence (biess style) on my 3hp cab model. But I don't love the way the faces are mounted to the steel frames...there are few very tiny dished spots in the faces (.003") and the adjustment mechanism is too tedious for me to feel that I'd make it better before worse.

[Mike Heidrick]

The SS T glide is as accurate as you set it up to be. It has no limitations vs any other bies/clone. There is always the Incra too.

[kelly logan]

I have the incra now on my unisaw but going to upgrade to a sawstop just for the fact that sometimes my fingers are close to the blade and this would be my last upgrade on a table saw

[Paul Grothouse]

I find the fence is just as good as any Unisaw or other saw fence I have ever owned. If you are putting a lot of pressure against the fence for some reason, you could always add a clamp to the back side.

[Mike Heidrick]

Id buy a gripper first.

Then move the Incra to the sawstop if you upgrade saws.

[Don Bullock]

Move the Incra to the SawStop. I have one on my ICS and it's a fantastic combination. Even if your Incra fits a "standard" size saw you can get parts to convert it for an ICS. Incra customer service/sales reps are great at working with any kind of special order.

[Peter Aeschliman]

I have the biesemeyer clone fence on my Sawstop. The fence locks down rock solid and doesn't deflect at all.

Like others, I have found that the faces on the fence are complete garbage. Very wavy... so you'll probably want to replace the fence face with a dry, stable piece of hardwood. This is by far the biggest weakness of the saw. In fact, I can't think of any other weaknesses. It's easily my favorite machine in my shop. But for the money you pay for these saws, it seems odd that they have skimped on the quality of such an inexpensive part.

[mreza Salav]

I have the biesemeyer clone fence on my Sawstop. The fence locks down rock solid and doesn't deflect at all.

Like others, I have found that the faces on the fence are complete garbage. Very wavy... so you'll probably want to replace the fence face with a dry, stable piece of hardwood. This is by far the biggest weakness of the saw. In fact, I can't think of any other weaknesses. It's easily my favorite machine in my shop. But for the money you pay for these saws, it seems odd that they have skimped on the quality of such an inexpensive part.

I second what Peter said. The fence itself is very straight (to within 0.001" or so that I could measure) and is rock solid. the laminated plywood face is not the same thickness across the length. Had to shim it at a few spot. That's the ONLY complain I've had about my ICS sawstop. You can always swap that with a different plywood face or MDF or UHMW.

[Marcus Waddell]

Move the Incra to the SawStop. I have one on my ICS and it's a fantastic combination. Even if your Incra fits a "standard" size saw you can get parts to convert it for an ICS. Incra customer service/sales reps are great at working with any kind of special order.

Hey Don,
I know this is a super old post, but you are the first I have seen that actually has an Incra on a Sawstop. I have an Incra on my old 90s Delta Contractor saw and I'm thinking of upgrading to a 36" 3.0HP PCS. I would like to get the floating overarm dust collection and the folding outfeed table, but I think the Incra rails and central clamping element would get in the way of those things. Do you (or anyone else) have experience with Incra on the PCS with those two options? Pros/Cons? Etc? Your help is greatly appreciated.

[Prashun Patel]

Sawstop fence is just fine. It has stayed plenty accurate for me.

For tight box work, consider using your incra fence on the sawstop. I assume you have some nice microadjustability with the incra that will be lost with the sawstop.

[ChrisA Edwards]

Marcus, I have a 36" 3HP Sawstop with the Incra fence system.

Prior to installing the Incra fence, at my old house, I had the OEM Sawstop fence system and had built a fold down table as I needed to put my saw away, against wall, to allow my wife to park her car.

I mounted a large piano hinge to the L chanel bracket on the rear of the Sawstop to allow my folding table to pivot.

With the aluminum extrusion, that is part of the Incra system, I don't see any reason why you couldn't attach a folding table to that. I now have a more permanent out feed table that I clamp, with the Incra L brackets, to the out feed side fence.

As regards to the two overarm Dust Collection systems, that Sawstop offers, I don't see any reason why either of these could not be made to work with the Incra Fence, you might have to fabricate new mounting brackets.

I have the cheaper Sawstop dust collection system. It's not on my table as I prefer to use a cross cut sled and that system doesn't work with a sled.

Also, I have not sprung for the floating overhead arm system, because for the most part, my DC, sucking sawdust from inside the cabinet, seems to get the majority of the debris from a cut.

[Jim Dwight]

When I got my PCS a few years ago there was an aluminum 30 inch fence that I did not like the looks of and the 36 inch steel fence model I bought. It is very robust and heavy and does not move. The scale is accurate and dependable. The only complaint I have is with the faces. I could not adjust it so both the left and right fence were perpendicular to the saw top. I chose to make the left face perpendicular because it is the one I use essentially all the time. I did not dismount the faces and try shimming them. I don't think I should have to. But it is a nuisance, not a real problem for the way I use the saw.