Can anyone recommend a good TS fence upgrade for a Jet JWTS-10 Contractor saw? The power is sufficient for my needs as I only have 120V receptacles in the garage, however I would like a better fence. Have seen good reviews on the Jet XACTA Fence and Biesemeyer, but don’t know if these will fit my saw.
Thanks,
Brian
Replies
The Mule cabinet fence is fantastic.the people i deal with they were fantastic too you will see trheir add in fine woodworking magazine also there price was a lot better godd luck
Here's the link for the MuleCab Accusquare fence:
http://www.mulecab.com/TableSaw/
No testimonial here, I've just had my eye on it for a long time, for my ancient blue Jet table saw. If money was no object, I'd probably be lookin' at the Bies.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
The Jet Exacta should fit your saw well. It's a good Biesemeyer clone wUHMW faces, but not necessarily the best bang for the buck unless you get a good deal....same is true of the Biese, although their website sometimes offers blems and overruns at good prices.
The Vega U26 is on sale through Amazon for $188 delivered. The U50 is on sale for $250 but it qualifies for the $25 discount...so for $35 you'll gain alot of rip capacity. Very nice fence, easy to install, and has a great microadjustment. Rated "Best Buy" behind the Biese....I've had both in my shop and could live happily with either. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_hi/104-6405719-2839928?url=search-alias%3Dtools&field-keywords=vega+fence
Grizzly offers the Shop Fox Aluma-Classic which is also a good Biesemeyer Homeshop clone for $190 plus s/h. It has aluminum clad faces with t-slots mounted to a steel fence tube, as opposed to the laminate faces of a Biese. http://www.grizzly.com/products/h5742
I've used the Rockler version of the Mule on a friend's saw. His fence had more deflection than I would like and it's not easy to slide on and off the saw. The deflection is possiblly a result of being a weak t-square design made out of thinner aluminum and not steel....other similar aluminum t-square fences have similar deflection, although I don't believe it's a significant enough issue to hinder acceptable performance. My friend now owns a Biesemeyer and is much happier with it. Wood's review gave the Mule mediocre remarks in comparison to alternatives, and commented on the same deflection we noticed. It does have some nice accessories available like a router fence and slider, plus it has t-slots.
The Delta T2 is now sold at Lowe's for $150. It's not quite in the league with a Biese but it is a similar steel design with lighter gauge steel and seems to work pretty well.
Edited 8/16/2006 12:17 pm ET by Knotscott
I have been very satisfied with the Vega fence that I bought about three years ago. It is a very straight forward conversion that required no drilling of new mounting holes. The Vega is an extruded aluminum fence. It does not have replacable faces but you could easily make sacrificial faces. I did mar the face of mine once, and replaced the beam at reasonable cost. Vega is a small Illinois company and their service is very good. One thing that I like about this fence is the optional sliding push device they call the Finger Saver. I use it on all narrow rips. I would highly recommend this feature. I also have had no problem keeping the fence within .003 in. of square with the blade and/or miter slot. Their are four stout bolts that hold the beam to the sliding mount. This mount has a micro adjuster built in and it slides freely and truly when not locked down, something that other fences cannot always claim. The home shop version of this fence is very adequate for my Jet contractor saw. Let me know if you have specific questions. Anything would be better than the stock Jet fence.
I have no complaints about the Exacta Fence that came on my Jet cabinet saw. I like the facings, rigidity, accuracy and magnified cursor. I had the heel of my right hand calibrated to bump a fence to within .01 of an RCH so I don't have much use for a microadjuster :). Spent some time with the Vega on a friend's saw. Felt like I had to baby it compared to my Bies clone and the finger saver didn't really impress me either.
John O'Connell - JKO Handcrafted Woodworking
The more things change ...
We trained hard, but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams, we would be reorganized. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing; and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralization.
Petronious Arbiter, 210 BC
If you don't see the benefit of the Finger Saver, something makes me think that you don't use a splitter or blade guard, either. Am I correct?
Actually, I agree that the Exactafence (spelling?) is a nice fence, but you have to pay extra for it. The standard contractor saw fence is the "Jetfence"; just a piece of c*** that doesn't have any way of solidly locking or adjusting of tension. The second one they sent me was worse. Jet needs to make your fence the standard on every saw.
My final comment is that quality is always a function of price; and the Vega is considerably more affordable than the "gold standard" Biesemeyer. Should a fence cost more than the saw?
Edited 8/17/2006 5:16 pm ET by Handrubbed
No. I use a quick release Biesmeyer splitter and an Excaliber over-arm blade guard. Sorry, I should have completed my statement. I don't see the benefit over sacrificial shop-made push sticks, just like the ones in the current issue of FWW. There may be exceptions but don't most contractor saws come with cr*ppy fences? I'm sure Jet would put the Exactafence on their standard contractor saws just as soon as Delta put Beismeyers on their standard contractor saws. Quality is not always a function of price. For example Best Buy sells inferior iPod accessory lines because they have margins. They routinely "test" the market by selling accessories over the MSRP just to see what the market will bear (or read as "to see just how stupid their customers are"). I agree a fence shouldn't cost more than the saw it's on. That's why I bought the cabinet saw instead of hanging a Beismeyer on my old POS Crapsman contractor saw. John O'Connell - JKO Handcrafted Woodworking
The more things change ...
We trained hard, but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams, we would be reorganized. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing; and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralization.
Petronious Arbiter, 210 BC
"There may be exceptions but don't most contractor saws come with cr*ppy fences?"...The quality of stock fences has been on the rise in recent years IMO. Delta has replaced their basic stock aluminum fence, the old Delta T-fence that was similar to the stock Jet Fence mentioned, with the new "T2"...a steel t-square design that has some similarities to the Biese but has lighter gauge steel. They also now offer the Unifence and Biese as options on even their least expensive contractor saw. Jet has upgraded the afore mentioned Jet Fence with the Microglide...that's the fence that came out on the original Supersaw and caught flack for not being on par with other fences on $900 saws....it's no Biese by any stretch, but is still an improvement....the new Supersaw sports an Exacta II. The GI 50-185 has a version of the Biese Homeshop. Grizzly has their rendition of the Biese HS on all their contractor saws and on their hybrid, but with aluminum clad faces....essentially it's the same fence that's on the Woodtek, Bridgewood, Canwood, and King Canada. PM has the MG on the PM64S and the Accufence on the PM64a. The Ridgid still has a dual locking aluminum fence with aluminum rails...again, no Biese by any stretch, but it works well for a design of that type. Of the contractor saws from the major players, I'd rate the Microglide and the Ridgid fence as being arguably the weaker offerings...some might may feel differently, but either way, they all actually work quite well, so I'd say the overall quality of fences is way up in the past couple of years. The new generation hybrids offer fences that are at least equally nice. It's likely we'll see far less owners persuing aftermarket fences for most of these saws.
Edited 8/17/2006 10:12 pm ET by Knotscott
I've used a beismeyer fence on both my contractor and cabinet saws for almost 20 years now and they are are very well built,adjustable, and very accurate. I've never had a single problem with them and they have been a joy to use. They are built like an army tank and you just can't break them and once their locked they just don't move. I understand that Norm Abrams recently switched to using a Bies and He prefers it over any other that he has used. They have been the industry standard for cabinet shops for many years, and have been copied by many other table saw manufacturing companies. Hope this helps! Brownman
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