I just picked up a powermatic 72 14" cabinet saw and I'm looking for a bulletproof fence. It came with a biesemeyer fence (now in the dumpster) and I'm looking for something better, much better. Not trying to bash the biesemeyer as I have other saws with them and for general use they are adequate. Any thoughts are appreciated. Not against building my own but I don't want to reinvent the wheel. Thanks!
I thought this was supposed to be a top-of-the-line brand. We do have a powermatic saw here at my work , when I get a couple minutes I will take a walk out and see what it actually has for a fence.
That's what I have on my model 66 saws and is quite fine for general use. The problem is with heavy sheets of plastic like 3" thick UHMW for example it just thumps off the mark. Also I want a DRO and that will require a rigid, non lift off fence.
I don't know about their fences , but good to know. I like the thought of a DRO , I put one on the sawmill and love it. One on the table saw might be something to seriously consider.
How nice it would be to make a test cut, measure it and punch the number in the readout for a actual zero. Flex, kerf ect. all taken into account.
You got me thinking now. After I get home tonight I need to take a couple measurements to see how long the reader bar has to be. You know where this is going.
Sounds like you should just build one yourself. I doubt you are going to find one that takes a beating and has fine tune adjustability.
I think the one on our saw is the Excalibur. It has micro adjust and T-slots made into the top rail to hold jigs.
I have a Delta at home myself , embarrassed to say without looking I am not sure of what the fence actually is. I do know when I bought it I went for the upgraded fence and cast iron wings on the sides of the table. If I can remember I will check to see. Now I am wondering myself.
