Official Luthiers Forum!

Hey guys. Chiming in with yet another question. So I have a Ridgid 14" bandsaw and it didn't come with a fence. At first I didn't think too much about it, but I've come to a point where I now have to cut straight lines at 90 degrees. Obviously free-handing it just isn't good enough so I was wondering if anyone could recommend a good fence that would work for this bandsaw.

Thanks once again, guys.

Well price isn't TOO much of an object for me when it comes to this. I'll pay for accuracy and reliability. I figure it's probably going to be a 1-time purchase anyway. Might as well spend the money now and avoid the upgrade later. ^^;; Anyway, is this what you're talking about?

http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?fa ... tails#tabs

I have a Kreg on my Jet and really like it.

It installed and was aligned very easily and can be removed with the turn of a knob. What I like the most about it is the built in scale making fast work, and saving wood, of simple cuts.

I use mine to dimension bridge blanks, rip brace billets, and a bunch of other things. Although it is not cheap I think that with my own lack of skill with a band saw this thing has paid for itself by increasing the level of precision that is available to me and saving wood.

Yep Michael my friend this is the one that I have on my Jet.

That price looks downright cheap to me, but I've been looking at Biesemeyer table saw fence systems lately so my fence price perspective may be a little skewed. I'd say if it works well it definitely looks like a good investment.

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

I'll second or third the Kreg as well. I installed it as a replacement on my General 14" bandsaw and really like how easy it is to set-up and remove as Hesh indicates.

BTW if it is not going to interfere with the cut that I have to make and I don't need it I tend to leave it on the table just to make it more difficult for me to have a accident from at least that direction.

I've been messing around with a point fence for my bandsaw. The price is right, just under a buck.

It seems like a person has to consider the blade drift which is changing with material, blade type, blade tension, blade sharpness (or lack thereof), et al when setting up a long fence on a band saw regardless of the innate accuracy of the fence itself. A point fence allows manual corrections for drift to take place as needed. It does take some practice, but I got the hang of it in probably 15 lf of cutting. Here is a link to an article that is much more eloquent than I:

http://www.woodcentral.com/cgi-bin/readarticle.pl?dir=powertools&file=articles_235.shtml

My point fence is just a scrap of hardwood that I install on the table with a clamp.

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Jim Howell
Charlotte, NC

One thing I like about the Kreg is the micro adjuster. I have one on both my tablesaws and it is a real nice thing. Much better than the bump method. One thing I would be sure of before buying a fence is that it can be shifted to compensate for drift. Seems like all bandsaw blade cut a little differently and I always take the time to set it. That way the wood stays against the fence. Good luck

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Mistakes are mandatory-learning from them is optional. http://www.opensourceluthiersupply.com

Where is the micro adjuster? Does mine have one (I have the one in the picture above)?

Hesh, yours has it. It is a nice feature that allows you to set the fence to compensate for drift.

I agree with Todd, this is not a good path for resawing. Whatever fence you choose needs to do a couple things very well. Hold a true 90 degrees to your table(table needs to be tilted to 90 with the blade). It also needs to be set and hold a parallel line with the cutting path of the blade. Where most of the fences on the market fall short is in doing these two tasks well. Interestingly enough clamping a square block of material to your table has outstanding accuracy. Unfortunately it is not as fast as a quick clamp of the fence.

You should inspect the fences, and look at how stable they are when you rock them. Are they extreamly solid and hard to knock out of square to the table, and does the outfeed side lock firmly enough to not slip. I have yet to run across a fence I would trust without modifications. I am sure there is a gem out ther but I have yet to find it.

Rich

Wow this seems to be a rather polarizing subject - you either love it or hate it.

Anyone on the fence here........

Thanks James! I found it......... For an entire year I did not know that you could pull the 150 grit file out of my Stew-Mac fret file and turn it around and have a 300 grit one.......

Clueless in Tecumseh.....

Nothing wrong with just clamping a bit of straight whatever in place when you need a fence. I don't plan on using anything else until I upgrade to a bigger resaw setup in the eventual future. It handles all my ripping needs for general lutherie, from making bindings to braces and the small handful of other jobs that require a fence.

When I bought my bandsaw it came with a fence but being that it was the first machine I ever owned I wasn't quite up to getting it well setup and accurate, hence just clamping a fence in place instead whenever needed was how I first started out and the habit stuck because it's quick, easy and very stable.

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Richard
http://www.guitarmaker.com

I picked up this fence at a local woodworking show last year.
http://www.woodworkershaven.com/expandafence.htm

It's a full 6" tall and solid as a rock. Re-sawing is very precise and easy now..

Cheers,
Chad

James/Hesh, I actually don't see one in Hesh's picture. The microadjust is a mechanism for moving the fence closer to or farther from the blade, not for adjusting for drift.

They work pretty well:

http://www.leevalley.com/images/item/Woodworking/BandsawBlocks/86n4000-av3.jpg

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David White, Toronto

"All my favourite singers can't sing."

I remember that discussion!

I bought the Jet fence when I got my saw because it was $50 compared to the $100 Kreg. I wish I'd gone for the Kreg. It just looks so much cooler!

I have been resawing and cutting my own veneers for over 20 years. I own a Oliver 30", Northfield 20", Sold my Davis and Wells 20". I have set up and use many, many bandsaws over the years. I have never used a single point fence, I see no point in one. No advantages with many short comings.
No need to buy a fancy fence. Two pieces of plywood put together with gussets so it is 90° is fine. All the acurracy you need. Half the time I just grab something and run it over the jointer and clamp it on the bandsaw. Why spend good money on something like this ? I think it is more emotional. That shinny nice anodized fence must be more accurate right. You could have the best fence in the world and if your blade is wandering all over the place whats the point. You would be better off taking the money for the fancy fence and buying a better bandsaw or making the one you have better. The irony here is that most of the bandsaws folks own are consumer grade and marginal at best. (No offense intended here) So you have the best bandsaws ever made Oliver, Tannewitz, Yates and everyone I know uses homemade fences. Then you have the lower end of the spectrum and folks think they need some fancy fence to get the job done. I don't mean to be critical but be informed anyway. If you really want the fancy fence thats cool.
A couple of things. You know that spring that the company sell for $15 as a after maket thing. Look at MSC. You can get the same spring for $4.
Also most folks run way to wide a blade on their saws. I have yet to see a 14" saw that can tension a 1/2" blade properly. You will get much better results with a narrower blade and more tension, contrary to popular conception.


Todd, I never thought I would see the day where someone said forget the cast bandsaw and get a weilded steel one.
In the case you are speaking of I see what you are saying.
Link

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Cut to size.....Beat to fit.....Paint to match.

I don't have anything against welded saws. If made right they are fine. I have a friend with a old 20 " welded Delta or Rockwell, I don't remember which but it is a really nice saw. Some of the Italian ones are pretty good. I can't remember who makes them for Felder and Laguna, etc.
My take is for folks to learn to tune the saws they have, put their money there and run a narrower blade than they have been told to run (most likely ). And forget the fancy fence. Waste of money. IMO.
Link

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Cut to size.....Beat to fit.....Paint to match.

Well I got the bandsaw for free as a gift so selling it is out of the question for me. Of course I do plan to upgrade sometime in the future, but I would just feel that I'd be insulting my parents by selling a gift that they bought me not even a month ago. I understood when I got the saw that it wasn't going to be the best tool in the world and I accept the fact that there will be flaws that I probably won't have to deal with in a more expensive or better machine, but I think it's important for all of us to be thankful for what we've been given and what we have. Frankly speaking, I don't see what the big fuss is about spending a mere $150 on something that might (or might not depending on your perspective) be important. It's not as if it's such a huge sum of money and I probably spend more than that on gum and snacks in a given month... It's not as if it's some life-altering purchase...

I'm sure you could use two pieces of wood and be just as accurate, but what would I use to cut those two pieces of wood accurately in the first place? Also, even if I could, why on earth would I? It's not so much that I have some sort of sentimental attachment to shiny or overly glitzy things, but it's just something that I got out of being a photographer. Lots of people buy $2000 cameras with their $600 flashes and when it comes down to a flash diffuser, they use an index card with a rubber band strapped around their $600 flash. Does it work? Sure. I just never saw the sense in spending all that money for your main tool and then cheaping out on what would be a $30 accessory... It's not just about the looks (although I feel using an index card diffuser looks atrocious and unprofessional). For me, it's about how I feel using it. You could theoretically use a stick of wood or plastic as a straight edge, but how many of us actually do? It can be just as accurate, but we spend what another person might consider an absurd amount of money for something so simple as a straight edge or ruler... I guess it's the same concept...

This may not make a whole lot of sense to a lot of people out there because either way the end result may be the same. For me, it's just about having a respect for whatever I do. I believe that if it's something you really care about, then why start pinching pennies? Penny pinching is what I do with things that are less important to me so that I can spend that extra on the things that are. I guess that's what it comes down to for me...

As for my current saw, I completely respect and understand the limitations of it. I'm just doing what I can to get the most out of it. I don't plan on throwing endless amounts of money into it. Even I realize that there comes a point of diminishing (or no) returns when it's better just to upgrade to a better tool.

Anyway, now that I've got that out of my head, I've ordered the Kreg fence so hopefully it will help. Thanks for the suggestions as always, guys.

Michael - Good for you! As a former photagrapher, I see your point! Also, if or when you upgrade to a different saw the Kreg fence can come along.

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Steve Walden
Aspiring Builder,
Bartlesville, OK

No big fuss. This isn't life altering for me. I am just giving my opinion which is based on over 20 years working with bandsaws and shop tools and over 30 years working with wood. I teach this, I do this for a living. I am drawing from a large pool of experience of my peers as well as my own.
I didn't intend to offend or make you feel bad about your saw or purchase of the fence. A lot of beginners think they have to have a lot of tooling that they don't and to some it is discouraging and the $$ seems huge. To some people maybe $150 is a lot. I am glad for you that $150 is not a lot..... You are obviously not a woodworker..... That was a joke. You heard about the woodworker who won the huge lottey. They asked him what he was going to do now and he said "I don't know, I guess I will just keep working until the money is gone ".
There is a lot of marketing out there to convince folks that they need this jig and that jig and most of the time they don't. I hate to see people send time and money on things that maybe they don't need. And maybe they want this or that and that is cool. It's not like that fence is going to mess anything up. Lord knows I have my share of tools that I have bought because they were cool and some I bought because I thought I needed them and they are gathering dust. I also realilize that sometimes it is better to just buy something because by the time you get the materials build it yourself you could have bought 10 of them.
You asked how are you going to make a fence out of wood and why on earth would you. Come on, aren't you aspiring to make a guitar ! I would hope you could make a simple fence. Your photography analogy is not very apt.
More apt would be to take a $10 camera and a $2 flash and put a $60 diffuser on it. You said "I guess it's the same concept" Well you are right about the guess part, but it's not the same concept and woodworking is not photography.
My point is that fence won't make your resawing or bandsaw tasks any easier, faster, or more accurate. You will have to put a wood fence on that fence anyway when resawing tall stock.
I also didn't want to offend you. Seemed like I hit a nerve. I am just putting out information. Again my opinion although it is a informed opinion, take it or leave it.
Link

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Cut to size.....Beat to fit.....Paint to match.

Actually, I think the photography analogy works because that was a similar dilemma I faced getting into it. I started out with a relatively cheap camera (a $200 Canon EOS) with a kit lens. Then I had to start buying accessories. What do I do? Do I just shell out for top-of-the-line stuff? Do I try to get inventive or creative? Somewhere along the line in my decision making process, it started to make sense to me to buy the $1500 lens and the $500 flash for my $200 camera. Why? Because I could use the same lenses and flash (which I do) with my $1500 camera when I bought it. So why not get that diffuser if it will carry over when you upgrade? Given the fact that a fence isn't necessarily an upgrade that is limited to use on my current saw, I personally see it as a justifiable expense. If it WAS limited only to being used on a Ridgid 14", then I'd probably be at least a bit more apprehensive about buying one.

Another point that was on my mind was simply ease of use and efficiency. To me, the Kreg looks pretty easy and convenient to use and adjust as necessary and all reviews indicate that installation and removal are not difficult at all. I suppose I see it a bit as a jig in that sense. It's just something with a cost premium to make life a little easier. As for making a fence, you're right, if I thought about it for a minute, I probably could make a fence with relative ease. But on the same note, I could probably make a bending pipe instead of buying a bending iron. I could theoretically sit there and build a belt sander instead of buying one or bringing it down to a smaller scale, I could easily make my own clamps instead of buying them. My response, I suppose, is that I simply choose not to do these things nor do I have an interest in spending my time and efforts on these particular endeavors. Some people, whether for necessity or pleasure, will choose to spend their time conceptualizing their own jigs or creating their own solutions to a given problem. I don't deny that problem solving is a necessary skill, but so long as there is already a given solution out there that isn't cost prohibitive, then I don't see it as an effective allocation of my time and effort (both of which to me are valuable resources) solving a problem that someone else already has, particularly if the solution of that problem isn't my primary objective in the first place. Of course, if what you're looking for is pretty unique to a problem you have at hand, then I suppose you'd have no choice but to devise your own response to it, but when I start making my own tools for doing this or that, where do I draw the line between spending some money so that I can get back to doing what I SHOULD be doing quicker and hand-building the solution to my next problem? Simply put, if a picture frame in my house breaks, I'm not going to go out, buy 4 pieces of wood and nail them together even though I could make just as nice a frame. I'm just going to go buy a new picture frame... People say that time is money. I simply say that time spent doesn't come back so I try to prioritize how that time is best spent.

I agree that there are plenty of unnecessary things out there and Lord knows we've all bought our share of useless/worthless things in our lives. What strikes a nerve for me is not so much when someone suggests something, but when I feel that a post takes on a tone that simply isn't constructive to the nature of the thread. For instance, the intent of this thread was to get some suggestions on good fences so it annoys me when it becomes a discussion about bandsaws themselves or why it's a bad idea to buy a fence in the first place. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I personally just don't see how a discussion comparing bandsaws or the cost of this or that accessory that isn't related to the topic at hand applies. I asked about a Ridgid 14". I didn't ask if it was a good saw. I didn't ask if I should spend a ton of money on other accessories not related to the fence. I didn't ask whether I should sell it and get myself a higher end saw. I asked a simple question and I expected answers to be pretty simple as it's not exactly the most complex of questions. Don't worry too much about striking nerves for me, though. It happens quite often as I'm a person of strong opinions and beliefs and I tend to view people through my own little paradigm... It naturally frustrated and sometimes downright irritates me when people don't respond as I had anticipated.

Anyway, this is going to be my last post in this particular thread as my question has been answered already. I just felt that I owed some sort of explanation for the discombobulated nonsense that I tend to spew out from time to time. This post itself is probably more of the same, but whatever. I hope it helps people sort've understand my mindset a little bit more.

Thanks once again for the help, guys.

Michael,
I would hope you have not stopped viewing this topic, or I guess I am wasting my time. When you asked this;



I responded wanting to make sure you understood you will not get better accuracy than simply clamping a piece of wood to the table. I also wanted to point out a few things to look for in your fence of choice, that would allow it to be closer to a clamped piece of wood for accuracy(as a fence could be much less accurate). That is what the intent was in posting this;



What Todd has mentioned comes from experience with upgrading and working with 14" band saws(I took a similar path and can totally relate). Having run my 18" bandsaw, and pushed thousands of wide cuts through the machine, I hear a LOT of solid advise and truth in what Link is telling you. Trust me, most people follow a path with bandsaws as they learn how to get the most out of them and improve accuracy. He is giving you a bit of perspective that goes beyond your question about a fence, in the hopes it will help you down the road(good intention, and valuable insights).

The 14" bandsaw is a great size for most of the tasks we do. I still use mine even though I have a larger saw. Buying a good fence, or making a good fence is smart. Your 14" has more than enough functionality to always have a place in your shop and get a ton of use. Make or buy, look for the features I mentioned. Put little faith in reviews, when you can go and look at something that has such basic requirements. First and formost make sure the fence you choose can handle the tasks a solidly clamped block of wood can achieve, then make sure the added features and micro adjuster stuff does not compramise the reliability of the fence, and that the locking mechanisms repeatedly hold a consistent position and angle.

Rich

Never mind!

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Mike

"The Dude abides. I don't know about you but I take comfort in that. It's good knowin' he's out there. The Dude. Takin' 'er easy for all us sinners. Shoosh." The Stranger