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Shop Made Band Saw Fence with Micro Adjust

I wanted to add a fence to my Enterprise band saw for ripping and re-sawing so I checked online to see what was available. Lots of ads and good reviews for the Kreg fence and Jet fence but I didn't think they would work all that great on my big saw. The driftmaster fence by Laguna looked nice but at 400 bucks it was too pricey for me.

So I decided to take a stab at making my own. I remembered I had an old fence that came with my Oliver table saw ratholed in the back of the shop. It was a school made fence and was nice and heavy duty but needed some modifications to work on my band saw, so I cut it up, made some modifications, turned a half a dozen knurled nuts on my lathe, and put it back together.

This it what I came up with ...

To adjust for blade drift I design it so the rail can pivot in and out from the table by cutting a slot in one of the two brackets. To slide it just loosen the knurled nut that's mounted under the table and move it into position.

The rail will also swing out from the table for changing blades.

Figuring out the micro adjust was the hardest part but I think I came up with a pretty good solution.

To use it ya just raise the fence's clamping lever and tighten the knurl nut next to the lever so it locks the fence on to the 3/8 inch rod,

then turn the knurled nut on the end of the rail to move the fence closer or further away from the blade. One turn of the nut will move the fence a sixteenth of an inch, 4 turns will move it a ¼ of an inch.

Next I made an axillary fence out of wood that slips over the metal fence.

One side for ripping ...

and the other resawing.

The fence works great and the best part is it was all made with parts kicking around the shop. Free is a lot better than 400 bucks

Tags: Band, fence, saw

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Site AdminPermalink Reply by John Moody on December 30, 2011 at 11:15am

That is awesome Shane. I love the micro adjustment. That fence is packed with so many features. Great job and as you said, free is great!

John Moody
John Moody Woodworks
http://www.johnmoodywoodworks.com

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Master CarpenterPermalink Reply by Wayne Mahler on December 30, 2011 at 4:52pm

Shane

Not a surprise that you made this. After seeing the magnificent work you do restoring these old machines. I really think you have the best fence going, and for free it is even better. Hats off to you guy, another fantastic job well done.

Wayne Mahler
God bless and protect our troops that serve so we can be free.