Help with making a fence for my table saw.

[Vaughan]

Hi
I am new to woodworking and to this site. Fantastice site and really some good info.
I have bought a Ryobi TS and I am going to exstend the TS all the way round the TS. The problem is I do not know how to make a fence, I do not know how the fence will be able to move.
Any ides or plans will be appreciated. I looked to buy a fence but there are no 3rd party fences in South Africa.
Thanks for your time,
Vaughan

[dubdrvrkev]

On NYWS one time Norm made on from a pipe clamp with a box around it more or less. He was doing something like you describe and built a bench top model into a cabinet. You might search through their site to find plans.
HTH

[Maddognkc]

I think this is the link off the NYWS http://www.newyankee.com/getproduct3.cgi?9908

Hope it helps.

Maddog

[tpuzio]

seems like a lot of time and effort to put into an underpowered with a lot of vibration that will ultimately die in a couple years. Seems to me you'd be better off saving your money for a contractor saw.

[dcarter636]

Same picture, different eyes. Looks like $30 and a weekend to make that saw much more practical while saving up for a big boy. I like the enginuity of that pushrod/belcrank fence design; it looks like a serious tool from the industrial revolution era. Spiffy!

[tpuzio]

pick up wood magazine february/march 2005 issue 161, they've got a pretty good description in that one and references to more complete help elsewhere.

[Sawduster]

My first "table saw" was a sizeable hunk of 3/4" plywood table with a 2X4 frame which folded down from a monster plywood "cabinet" which I kept on the patio of the apartment we lived in. I rigged up a way to attach my handheld circular saw underneath with the blade extending up through a hole in the ply. Used a small hose clamp to depress the trigger and plugged the thing into a switched outlet in a box mounted on the table. A factory edge on a narrow piece of plywood and two C-Clamps acted as a fence. For crosscutting I would unmount the circular saw and use a home made T-square clamped to the workpiece to guide the saw.

This was either before they made router mounting plates, or at least before I knew about them, although I bought Wood Magazine nearly every month and don't recall seeing any such animal advertised. The 3/4" thick ply was way too thick to give me much in the way of depth for my 1/4" drive router, so I cut a hole large enough for the entire base to fit into and mounted a thinner plywood insert in that and back filled the top with JB Weld which I then had sanded and filed flush with the table top. Drilled and countersunk some holes through that to match my router base and had me a shaper. Same switching method as the "tablesaw".

So just because a fella hasn't the resources to get great equipment, the important thing is to get at making sawdust with what you've got or what you can get. I'd have never thought of using a pipe clamp like the Norm one, but I think that it is a great idea (and Norm is not one of my favorite woodworkers).

[Livens]

Shhhhhhh... Dont give Sears any ideas!!!

Besides, I think the upside down circular saw idea was the design premise behind my 3HP Direct Drive "Craftsman 10 in. Table Saw with Dust Collection System and Casters". And of course it uses a crappy Universal motor so its loud as all get-out!

But I'm pretty happy with it and the fence works pretty good so far. However the self-aligning feature on the fence is a joke. I have to measure and remeasure from the front of the blade to the fence then the back of the blade to the fence to get everything parallel. And I have to do this eveytime you move the fence otherwise I get bad cuts and burnt wood. Very time consuming.

But hey, I only paid $175 for it :)

I told myself this is what you get. If I can make profit from using it then that will go towards a better one. I don't think a better saw will necessarily make me a better WW.

[Sawduster]

Yep. Better tools of any sort mostly make it easier to do the work, they won't make you any better at it, though.

BTW, that 3 HP is a dream on the part of Sears, especially if it is a 110 V machine. In a perfectly efficient machine (which does exist) 3 HP translates to over 2200 watts which at 110 V is in excess of 20 Amps. Several of the compressor manufacturers just settle a lawsuit over they hyperbolic HP claims.

Better to look at Amps or Watts on the motor plate if you can find them to determine the real power of the tool.

[BigDaddy]

are you talking this saw here:

http://home.comcast.net/~sgraflund/shop/4.jpg

here's a closeup of the fence I made:

http://home.comcast.net/~sgraflund/shop/15.jpg

and the underside:

http://home.comcast.net/~sgraflund/shop/16.jpg

use furniture slider pads to attach to the bottom of the fence so it can glide across the table ... it's still not very safe as you need to check for square to the blade every time you use it ..

You'll end up investing just about as much into the extention table and fence as you would if you take the saw back and buy a BT3100 (that would be my reccomendation).