Auxiliary fence

 

auxiliary fence

+2...

 

I didn't really have a lot of time to make a first class auxiliary fence, so I quickly put this one together from some scrap plywood.

In order to keep it tight on the aluminum fence, I clamped the two sides together tight against the fence before screwing the top piece in place.

It is a good push fit and I think that it will not slide away on me during use. However, just to make sure of that I ran a screw through the top piece at the front of the new fence to act as a stop should it be necessary.

I won't need to use this all the time, but in the case of a repeat performance as above, it will do the trick.

I need to remember to deduct 11/16" from the guide measurement when it is in use. You know what's going to happen, don't you? And it will be with some critical measurement...goes without saying.

 

I would suggest a note conspicuously affixed at the saw or on the aux fence reminding you to always check the distance from the blade with a ruler. That should do the trick. Best of luck.

 

Yup...auxiliary fence...

 

Keith
I had an auxiliary fence like that for my old Beaver TS and hated it. Because my stock fence has holes through it, I simply screwed a piece of plywood to the face.

You could use something like these clamps - also available at Lee Valley
Yes, always remember to allow for the offset, but I don't use my fence's scale, I simply use a tape measure to check the distance.

 

I might just write 11/16" in big letters on top of the fence. Us old guys with short memories need all the help we can get!

Nice clamp.

 

You can clamp an auxiliary fence on top of your existing fence. Rockler has a couple of small clamps just for that purpose. You drill holes in the top edge of the auxiliary fence and put the post part of those clamps into the holes. The clamp portion goes behind the fence. You don't have to remove anything from the existing fence. That should solve your problem. You should also be using a really wide, expendable push block to hold it down and against the fence at the same time.

In the future I'd cut the thickness first, then come back to cut the angle on the smaller pieces. with the cutoff on the side of the blade AWAY from the fence. That way you're pressing a flat side against the fence for all cuts.

When I make such cuts, I use two sticks, one to push the piece forward through the saw, and a second to push the piece against the fence. You could also use a feather board, but for this kind of cut, I like to press a longish piece of stock sideways against the work piece to guide it all the way up to the blade. Makes for a nice, stable angled cut.

This is one of those times you could also use a half inch thick push block with a hook on the back end to press the piece forward.

Below is the kind of push stick I'd use. You can make them quickly in the shop. The hook on the back end is needed for slender parts like what you're making.

Glad you asked.

 

Thanks Tom.

When I cut those little staves, they were actually out of 8' long 2 x 4's, so the problem didn't show up until I cut them to length.

In any event, I do have push sticks, but I should make a few more, especially like your fancy red one.

I need some zero clearance inserts as well and a sled. I'm going to try and get at least something made tonight.

No rest for us wicked guys it seems. :smile:

 

I use the same clamps that Vince uses. They work great and are quick and easy to out in place. I don't rely on the scale on the saw to setup a cut. I use a steel rule. Also I never cut thin strips next to the fence. I have a little jig I made for repeatable thin strips on the outside of the blade. I'll post a picture of it one of these days.

 

Richard, it wouldn't hurt my feelings even a little tiny bit if you posted it now! That would be great.

 

I would but I don't have a picture of it saved anywhere. Tomorrow is my day with the lady of the house so I doubt I'll get it done before the first of the week, Keith.

 

Well that's OK then...we will just need to wait patiently for you.

I did just make three new push sticks though...so some progress this evening. And I cut some runners out of some very old Douglas fir T & G flooring for a sled.

Would you believe I hit the broken off end of a drill bit in that flooring? No idea of how or when that might have got in there. Nice fir though.

 

Broken bit

Here's the chunk of drill bit that I managed to hit with the blade. So tomorrow, that one will have to come off for a good inspection.

 

New push sticks

Followed up with three new push sticks...made from the 11 ply plywood that seems to have been used for everything here that it shouldn't have been used for. How about for a retaining wall!

 

Keith; re the aux./sacrificial fence thing.

If your fence is the same as mine, that slot...accessible from either end(?)... is in fact a T slot? If so you can slide a couple of 1/4" nuts in from the back end?
I just took a piece of 3/4" plywood, drilled two holes through it centered on the slot, counter-bored the front face for a 1/4" bolt head plus socket diam., and used a couple of 1/4x20- 1" bolts...nuts on but loose.
The fence just slides into place from the outfeed end then I snug it down with a socket wrench. Facing the blade side with laminate would be even better.
Doing it this way doesn't limit the ht. of the fence.

 

Sounds similar to yours Dan. No access from the infeed end, but outfeed is OK.

I think I have a trip to Vancouver coming up on the 18th of this month, so a trip in to Lee Valley for all sorts of jig making bits and pieces will be in order.

 

Incidentally, speaking of hitting metal in wood...look at this. Just brought it in from the firewood stash. Couldn't have hit that nail any better if I tried.

There was a big pile of logs here when I arrived, which got turned into firewood. Can't tell you how many nails I hit cutting it up, but most of them were buried in the logs just as this one was.

So, if you have any trees on your property, please don't drive any nails into them. You never know who might need to cut them up later.

 

Keith; for some reason, Delta made my original fence, the one with the slots, a non-standard size...my jig bits and pieces didn't fit.
Hence my fallback on 1/4" square nuts for the slot. In my case they're a perfect fit; they can't rotate in the channel! *Happy little camper*

 

Keith; KMS has a pretty good assortment of jig parts as well...
https://www.kmstools.com/rockler-32pc-jig-hardware-kit-10938

 

Oh, right. I keep forgetting about them. I'll be in Kamloops later this week and they have a branch there. They were able to supply replacements for the broken trunnions on my King band saw

Whatever they don't have, I can pick up from L. V.

 

That's a Rockler item; my understanding is that KMS* will bring in items from the Rockler catalog, if you don't mind waiting for the items to be processed.
That's over and above their regularly stocked Rockler stuff.*


*KMS is a Canadian online and bricks&mortar tool house
They have fairly frequent free shipping events.

(I have my eye on this puppy...
https://www.kmstools.com/king-canada-16-open-drum-sander-106700

The price has gone UP $60 since Dec.....the falling Canadian $ I assume? )

 

(I have my eye on this puppy...
https://www.kmstools.com/king-canada-16-open-drum-sander-106700

The price has gone UP $60 since Dec.....the falling Canadian $ I assume? )

That's a pretty nice looking unit.

At first glance I thought it would be too light to do a good job...then I checked the weight at 156 pounds. Hah! Not so light weight after all.

The specs look decent and the price is a real bargain.

As for the Canadian Dollar, I'm starting to think that's just a distant memory. We should rename it the Half Loonie.

My mind right away tries to figure out how to make one of these...

I have a chum down on Ruxton Island who has a closed version of one of these things. He got it maybe 7-8 years ago. Cost him over $1,000 new at that time. He sanded ALL the beams in his house on Ruxton. Looked absolutely spectacular.

 

I drilled a 7/32" hole in my aluminum fence and tapped two 1/4" I milled a piece of 1" stock for a sub fence and screwed on with FH screws

 

...and I am assuming that you could easily attach anything you wished to that? Did you make that fairly tall?

 

In between who knows what all that I was doing today, I did make up a quickie sled.

Strictly from what was in the "Laying Around" pile. Everybody has one of those, don't they?

So the 11/16" (here we go again) main part of the sled only has enough room to cut up to a 2" x 12"...something that I doubt very much I will ever do. But it will be good for smaller stuff. And it can be used from either side.

I was also thinking of adding a 45º setup for miters, but the max length for something like that would only be about 16". Not that practical. Anyway, my miter saws do a passably fair job of those.

I'll let you figure out the pics.

 

Making the cut

Here we go cutting the sled.

The 90º cut worked out perfectly.

Yes, I used two slides, and without even waxing the wood, it slides well.

 

Hi cocobolo1,

Have a look at this Jig I made for holding timber against the fence that I use on my table saw. I made this about 2 years ago I haven't had any kick backs yet. I also have attach a feather board for holding the timber down on the table. If you would like more photos
how it holds the timber on the table saw just let me know and will to put them on. I hope this helps.

Graham.

 

Hi cocobolo1,

Have a look at this Jig I made for holding timber against the fence that I use on my table saw. I made this about 2 years ago I haven't had any kick backs yet. I also have attach a feather board for holding the timber down on the table. If you would like more photos
how it holds the timber on the table saw just let me know and will to put them on. I hope this helps.

View attachment 179770

View attachment 179778

Graham.

G'Day Graham. Thanks very much for posting...how about a pic or two showing your jig in use.

I have some of those rare earth magnets from Lee Valley, so they might work well. Yes, indeed, some more details will be very much appreciated.

 

How I cut tin strips

@keith as I promised this is how I set up to cut thin strips. After I cut one I just slide the fence toward the blade and I'm ready to cut the next one. The sun made it a little hard to get good pictures this morning.

 

@keith as I promised this is how I set up to cut thin strips. After I cut one I just slide the fence toward the blade and I'm ready to cut the next one. The sun made it a little hard to get good pictures this morning.

Thanks Richard. It took me a second to see how you managed to get consistent thicknesses on your thin strips. Then I spotted the bolt setup in the second slot. Nice and simple. I like that. And your fence setup looks not too shabby either!

Does it work equally well if you are cutting wider strips, say in the 2 1/2" to 3" range?

The pictures are just fine.

 

Keith, When I cut staves on the table saw, I rip them for thickness and then use a sled to cut the angle on the edges. They are laying flat on the sled,clamped down and the saw blade is tilted on the bevel. It works very well and is quite safe.

And if the staves are taped as in making a bucket, make 2 sleds and bevel and taper the cut one one side ,then put the piece in the other sled and taper the other side.

Herb

 

Roger that Herb.

I would need to make another sled for that purpose...no big deal.

I don't yet have any of those nice toggle clamps, but they are on my list for when I go into town later this week.

 

@keith Of course you would be limited by blade height but I have cut some thick stock this way. I also do some resawing on the table saw. I can go up to 3 inches wide (tall)doing that. I make box sides that way.

 

About the same blade height here.

I have been thinking about picking up a 12" sawblade and making some sort of dedicated table saw for taller cuts.

I'm of the opinion that cuts on the table saw tend to be more accurate, or repeatable if you will, than on the bandsaw.

Still do not have my bandsaw put back together yet, but I think I will pick up a new blade for it anyway. Maybe that will give me some incentive to get the job done.

Gotta tell you, I really miss my Lumbermate sawmill sometimes. :crying:

 

I use a Shopsmith bandsaw which is not real great. I often think of selling it but I've had it 30 years and about the time I decide to sell I use one or two of the other functions and it's safe for awhile longer.

 

I was hunting for a used one a year or so ago and found a couple in the $700 price range. For what they do I thought that was dirt cheap.

At the time I didn't have anywhere long term to put one...so it was just another pipe dream that went out the window.

I think if I had one for 30 years, they could bury it with me. :smile:

 

Mine is a Mark 5 and if someone offered me 700 for it I would help the load it.

 

Slick!! I like it. Is it designed to be 'consumable' ie as you move the jig closer to the blade, do you care if you cut into the base?.
I guess if the base got a bit too narrow you could glue an extension on?

If a bit of the clamp gets eaten, it's not the end of the World...
And it'll work fine with the blade guard on

 

These are made for tapered staves, but the strips can be popped off and renailed for any angle or straight cut you want. The edge of the cut is the edge of the sled,so It is easy to measure over and set the strips with short pin nails, and the fence guides the sled straight and your hand has plenty of room to push the sled and be away from the blade.

Herb