Do it yourself Table Saw Fence

I bought a small 10" table saw from skilsaw, and I really like it, but the table itself was too small for what I wanted to use it for, so I decided to make a larger table out of 3/4 inch plywood.  The holes in the table really made it easy to bolt the plywood down (using sunk holes of course).  The problem was that this made the fence useless, so I needed to make my own.  I played with a lot of ideas and looked for more online, and as always a simple solution arose as the best.

Step 1: Square Your Table

First thing you have to do is make sure the edges on the new table are perpendicular to the blade.  I did this by putting a level against the blade (be careful not to push against the blade), then a T-square and another level to keep the edges square to the blade.  This will also make sure your table edges are always the same length away from each other, even though with this design its not that important.  Once you have the edges square get the length of your table (from the front to the back).  Mine was 26 1/2 inches.

Comments

[BillBiker]

Wow, this is definitely a money save! Too bad you didn't have something for a guide as well. But this has been one of my biggest problems, trying to buy a decent fence for my table saw. Pro Tech 10" is what I have. Not the best but nice for what I do, for now ;) .

[sydyara]

thanxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[Bill WW]

Thanks, Pat.

I knew you were OK when I saw your tools: level, straight edge, square.

I have been debating about whether to buy a new fence or build one. My existing stock fence has gotta go - due to misaignment, I had a bad kickback while cutting a sheet of plywood this week. Now have a nice laceration on my middle (luckily where there is some padding).

Options for the new fence are steel of wood - I will likely go with wood, don't have a welder.

[amandaghassaei]

nice first instructable, you should post it here:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Rewards-for-New-Authors/

[pfred2]

You may like a couple articles I've made here about my table saws. A fence I made:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Homemade-Table-Saw-Rip-Fence-Build/

Here is an on off switch I made for one of my saws too:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Homebrew-Magnetic-Motor-Starter/

I'm real pleased with the whole setup now. Done with it in fact.

[UncleBuild]

A pretty good setup, simple and inexpensive. Two things to remember; use a well-seasoned, straight-grained, knot-free 2x4 to reduce warp and twisting as much as possible. For safety, measure from the blade to the fence at the front of the blade and the back before you cut. The two measurements should be the same or the back should be a little wider, about the width of a mark on your tape measure.