What happened to Shophelpers?
I have an old Excalibur fence, no longer manufactured.
In about 1991 from “Western Commercial Products” based in Tulare, CA, ( or maybe their distributor) I bought yellow wheeled “Shophelpers”. It’s an anti kickback device in that the yellow wheels rotate only clockwise. One uses a pair of the Shophelpers mounted on the tablesaw’s fence. The yellow wheels are spring loaded and hold the work against the fence.
This morning one of the hold downs fractured off when I touched it.
I would replace these Shophelpers but apparently the exact item is no longer
manufactured. Correct me, please, if I’m wrong on that.
Grizzly sells “Board Buddies.” These hold downs work apparently in the same
way as did the original Shophelpers.
My problem is: Will Board Buddies mount/fit into the older Excalibur Fence?
Anyone able to bring me up to date on hold downs for tablesaw fences?
I dread to have to buy a completely new fence because my Shopholders are
broken.
Thanks very much for guidance and suggestions.
William
Florida
Replies
I have a set of board buddies and I use them amout 10% of the time. However they are a huge help that 10%. I haven't seen the older system you are refering to but I bet it is the same. If not an adapter plate is easy to make. I have a Unifence and it is perfect for my shop. I like the re-positionable tall/ low profile fence and it is easier to adjust than the other systems out there. Altough I never have to adjust it because it holds its settings perfectly. The only disadvantage compaired to a Beismier fence is that if the Unifence is dropped you could damage it because it is made of aluminum. But it is a very heavy fence and the clamping sliding mechanism is cast iron, so I'd say it is a nonissue.
Mike
I have both the board buddies and the shop helpers. The shop helper cracked within the first year of use.I prefer the board buddies although they have some limitations.
As far as I know the shop helpers are not available.What I did was make a new casting from epoxy.This was not worth the trouble even though it works. If I recall it took about 6 hours to make the thing. Half way thru the process I ordered a power feeder over the net.
mike
Thanks, MikeThe T slots on my older Excalibur fence are 5/16" wide on the top surface of the fence and 7/8" wide down inside the fence.Do you think the Board Buddies would mount onto such a fence?Many thanks,William F.
FLI make something, sometimes twice, each year.
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