I have the 50″ Biesmeyer on my old Unisaw. Absolutely love it, but… I keep running into the left end rail, that sticks out past the saw a good 6″ or more. I have a tight shop and the dern thing seems to always be in the way. More importantly, when cutting small stock – with all appropriate safety stuff in place – I am often more comfortable working from the side of the saw, euro-style. Moving from the back to the side is harder (and more dangerous!) with that rail protrusion.
Before I do something permanent that I’ll regret, I wanted to poll the wisdom of the Knotsheads. Has anyone ever used their fence at the far left edge of their table? That’s the only reason I can think of for the rail sticking out that far. I’ve got a hack saw that’s itch’n to be used :-). Anything else I’m missing?
Thanks, Wayne
Replies
Wayne,
When I changed TS, I shifted the "extra" left-hand rail to the right adding greater cutting capacity right of the blade. Before this change, I used the "extra" to help support a router wing. I see no reason why you can't wack it off or move it to the right in case you later change your mind. It does not take very long at all to re-tap some new mounting holes.
Doug
Cutting a piece of 2X3 recr. tube with a hacksaw, are you nuts? And a 2X3X1/4" angle iron too. Find some one with a power band saw for metal so as to get a nice square cut, you know the floor mounted kind. I wouldn't recomend a porta-band either. Most welding shops have these tools. Shouldn't take more than 10 min. to do. An abrasive cut off saw could also be used to make these cuts. You can put an old plywood blade in a circular saw and make a friction cut. It will make more noise than two tom cats fighting in a 55 gal. drum. Wear both eye and ear protection. Blade will probably warp from heat, so let it cool by running saw with blade not in contact with steel. Remember sparks are HOT! Work outdoors if at all possible. The reason the tube and rails stick out so far is to allow the fence to be moved to the left of the blade. PS today I spent some time working on a couple of Bies. clones for my saws. Made one so I could cut 36" to right of blade(end panels for base cabinets) Also your ply blade wont be any good for cabinet stock. When I say ply blade .I'm refering to the cheapie steel ones.
Well, yea I have been accused of being kinda obsessive/compulsive before. I guess cutting the rail with a hacksaw counts - LOL! I do have various metal cutting disks for the worm drive and for the 4-1/2" angle grinder - I suspect I would have figured out fairlu quickly that it was time to bring out the big(ger) guns :-) Thanks for the reality check!
As I recall, my Beisemeyer pipes were all tapped on about 6" centers.
You should be able to move the fence to the right without any problem.
Only thing off will be the ruler.
I'd tap a few holes, before cutting it (If you need to line a few extra up that don't).
At least you will have it to restore later if you want to.
Jeff
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