Member
David, did the VSCT t-square fit directly onto the stock SS rails?
I too have the Jessem guides on my SS. Pisses me off to see those wavy gaps when I'm ripping a straight board along the SS fence. I generally like the way the SS fence works, maybe I could just re-face it with something.
Contributor
I have looked at the VSCT fence several time but have not pulled the trigger yet. A flat face is what I want. I have a newer PM2000 with what I consider a very good OEM fence, with the exception of the fence faces and the sideways slop when locking the fence to the rail. I have tried a couple different faces on the fence both of which go out of flat all on their own. The attached picture shows how I cured the side slop. I can now move the fence to the position I want and lock it. No noticeable side movement.
Contributor
Hi NickOriginally Posted by Nick Decker
Yes, I was relieved to see that the VSCT T square fit like a glove.
I coulda screwed around w shimming that SS rip fence face-but I figured over time, it would just bend more, and my few hours in the shop I want to spend differently than that.
David
Confidence: That feeling you get before fully understanding a situation (Anonymous)
Member
Thanks, David. I guess that unless what you're screwing the fence face to is flat, pretty much anything you screw to it is going to telegraph that lack of flatness onto it. I might pull the melamine off of mine tomorrow, to see what's what under there.
Contributor
From what I understand from previous threads on the subject of Beis style fence flatness, when the fence face mounting holes are drilled into the rectangular tube, the drill press deforms the surface inward, causing depressions in the face. The holes are made by a multi-bit machine, so the force is substantial. When the face is attached, the face is pulled into these depressions, causing out of flat surfaces. If you are lucky and your fence was made while the drill bits were fresh, then there would be less of a depression left behind, so the face surface would be more flat.
Too bad there isn't more care taken in that machining process.
Member
Robert, that looks like a reasonable fix for the sideways slop problem. My SawStop has some slop like that, but I'm just in the habit of pushing down on the fence handle to square things up once I get it close, then tap it into final position. I assumed that was just a Bies "feature."
I pulled the trigger and ordered the VSCT rig today, will report back once I get it installed. That probably doesn't help Lisa much, since it will apparently fit the existing rails on my saw. Drop and drag, so to speak. But I can at least give a quick review of the current state of the product.
[OP]
Contributor
I just wanted to thank everyone for their posts and let you know that I ordered the materials for making the rail system today. It will probably be Christmas when I tackle making them, as I have 2 projects to finish that are Christmas gifts and can't be without the TS right now. I expect to order the fence within the next week or so.
Member
To update, my fence came in yesterday and I have it installed and dialed in. Very easy to assemble the extrusion to the t-square mechanism, but I'd suggest watching the video at VSCT for several helpful tips. After that, adjusting it parallel to the miter slot and square to the table top took all of about 10 minutes. As someone mentioned earlier, it fits the SawStop T-Glide rails perfectly. (Won't fit the other "Premium" fence rails.)
The extrusion is plenty straight for me. Using a dial indicator, I see a 0002" variance over 42", well within the advertised claim of .0001" per foot.
There is one area of possible concern: The extrusion rides across the table on a small piece of UHMW that's about 1/8" thick, which means there's a 1/8" gap under the fence. Not good, if you're cutting very thin stock. You can't grind/sand the piece down, because it's held in place with a countersunk flat head screw. I've ordered a couple pieces like the SawStop uses, which are thinner and adhesive backed. For now, I've put some slick tape under that end, works fine.
In all, I'm happy with it. Allan (VSCT guy) and his wife, Sue, seem like nice people and responded quickly to a few questions I had.
Contributor
I have a Mule Cab fence which has one T slot on each surface. To fix the gap under the fence problem, I took a piece of well dried 2 X 4, made it square all 4 sides and planed to 1" thick (remember to add an inch!). I then counter bored 2 holes to be able to attach it to the T slot such that the wood subfence sits flat on the saw table, no gaps. I can use this either for a no-gap fence for thin material or short fence for ripping material that may move once cut, sort of like the Euro fences. If the material spreads more than 1" I guess I'd have a problem but so far that hasn't happened. One use for T slots on table saw fences.
Member
Curt, I wasn't familiar with that brand, looks similar in concept to VSCT as far as using extrusions.
VSCT sells some accessory fence faces in various heights, as well as one that's designed to sit down on the table for ripping thin material. You have to sign up to get on a waiting list, which looks to me like he only makes up a batch of them if they're pre-sold.
He uses a material by Wilsonart called Compact, which I haven't yet found a supplier of and which is probably expensive, judging by what he charges for his fence faces.
Another poster here recently mentioned his method of just attaching a thin strip of wood with double-stick tape, which sounds fine for occasional use.
Contributor
Has anyone purchased extrusions from 80/20? How straight are they? Im curious if VSCT actually does anything to the 80/20 extrusions.... Just makes me wonder how its worth it to profit $50 when you need to mill 4 sides, and then anodize the aluminum afterwards. I could be cynical and incorrect, but im guessing hes just selling standard 40mmx80mm extrusion and then eating the imperfect ones in the chance the customer is anal enough to check. My extrusion purchased from VSCT is remarkably straight, but it does have a very slight cup across the face that is typical of 80/20. It is meant to straighten once bolted together.
If people's experience with 80/20 is positive, i think ill order a different length than what VSCT sells.
Member
I wondered that myself, Patrick. Don't see how he can precision mill and anodize for what he's charging. I guess the way to find out would be to buy an extrusion from 8020, measure it and compare.
Contributor
I just purchased a length of 54", so ill let you know when i get it. It was like $93 shipped to my door after taxes. Im guessing its going to arrive pretty straight, with a slightly cupped face, and generally much better than any biesemeyer fence face.
Member
Cool, please let us know what you find out. Did you get the same profile that VSCT sells?
I wasn't aware of the slight cup on the face. Can't see how it would matter much, at least for my purposes.
Contributor
I did get the same profile. I already have a dozen or s of the expensive tnuts. Also, if you get another profile, it would complicate connecting to the tsquare.
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