Thread: New (2nd hand) saw came without a fence...

Personally, I wouldn't bother with the traditional fences...

A bandsaw doesn't cut in a straight line like a tablesaw, after all.; the blade tends to wander with the grain so you generally have to steer the wood to make a straight cut.

IMO, all you need is a V-fence. Basically just an offcut that comes to a point, which you clamp onto the table so that the point is level with - and the right distance away - from the cutting edge of the blade.

This allows you to guide the piece through the cut while ensuring the same gap is always maintained at the cutting edge.

If anything, you might want this fence to be fairly thick, so you can rip planks lying on their thin sides, holding 'em against the fence to maintain them at vertical.

Hope this makes sense?

Hey Skew,
I have actually done that method quite a bit with my old saw (GMC ) which had a useless fence. It worked fairly well but I often found it difficult to maintain a straight line.
I still would like to have a fence as I find it easier to use with smaller pieces, and as a kind of depth stop for crosscuts (especially when repeating a cut)
Cheers
Will

As Skew said a fence is sometimes not a great help on a bandsaw. I would not spend a lot of money on one. I have found it not worth while cutting longer bits on a srtait fence and now use a single piont fence for that. A home made wood one shoud be suffient. Do a google on bandsaw use for ideas. A reasonable miter guage is a worthwhile bit of kit for a bandsaw for crosscuts. As for stops just clamp something to the table.
Regards
John

Thanks John. It seems I need to re-assess my 'need' for a fence!
Nonetheless, supposing I follow the increasingly unlikely road of buying a fence, does anyone have an answer to the Kreg question? Are there any other cheaper options out there that are adjustable for blade drift?
Cheers
Will

I bought a fence for my old 14'' saw some years ago from Timbecon if memoray serves at about $50. Had to drill the table edge to mount the runner. OK for shorter cuts if you have a blade that cuts true. It had some adjustment but not enough. Each blade is a bit different. I hear good things about kerg but reckon it is overkill on a bandsaw. However I have been known to be wrong before so if anyone out there has a kerg fence on a bandsaw, well how does it perform.
Regards
John