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Davis-Wells Bandsaw Fence Purchase Question ?

Dan Mosley

Dan Mosley

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1,169
Location
Palm Springs, Ca
I rebuilt a old Davis-Wells bandsaw awhile back and have been using it off and on - mainly for rough sawing blanks and minor things for woodturning - Using a 3/8" 3 TPI carbon steel blade - the blade works fine for what im using it for but i do get drift - The table is solid with no cross cut grooves, nor brackets for a fence. So I decided I would look into getting one to improve my cutting - I looked around at the following options :

Davis-Wells original fence - found a source but costly - plus it is not the quality that fences are now a days.
Kreg but for my table 25" + square I do not think Kreg makes what I would need.
Grizzley makes what looks like a decent one but still I am not that impressed.
Laguna Drift Master - a bit costly but looks like the best of what I have seen so far - a little more money perhaps but far better in quality.

Anybody else restore or add on a fence to one of these older machines ? I am asuuming a couple of holes thru the cast table and bolts will attach the Laguna or tap it
 

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I guess it depends on what you are using it for. For resawing anything that you can adjust to the drift of the blade will work, but the wider the blade the less drift you will get. My big saw as a resaw feeder on it and that is all it is used for. The smaller 14" has no fence on it and used mostly for curves. I dont think fancy newer fences are any better then a block of wood.
 
Yeah I see your point and with the cost of what they want I may just keep getting by with clamping a pc of steel to the bed and cutting..................
 
I know this is late Dan, but we have one of those at our church shop with a 1" 4tpi blade. Our fence is a piece of 2x2 square tubing with clamps on either end. We also have a 2x4 steel rectangal tube for bigger rips. That saw cuts through anything!!
 
dan i to think a clamp on fence is fine i took off a fence to do just that on my big saw.. works just fine and for resawing you want a 3/4 to 1" blade on that saw, and 3 to 4TPI. i made mine outa baltic birch and have two sizes short and high.
 
Larry - Jim - Yep, I am going to stick with just C-clamps and my own scrap for a fence - I did put a 3/4" blade I had laying around on it and your right that it works much better than the smaller width ones I have been using - I can free hand much of what I do because it is usually just for blanks for the lathe and the cuts do not have to be perfect and when I do need a straighter cut the clamps works fine.
That saw is one of my favorite tools its big, solid, and works great - I have a 1 1/2 hp, 220 motor on it and it works great - I may replace it one day with a bigger motor but for now it works good.

Thanks Dan
 
I know i'm late to the thread here, but i have a saw that i needed a fence for and wound up getting an inexpensive alumnium bar clamp from Harbor Freight and attaching a tall wood scrap to the side for resawing. I think i've got less than ten bucks in it. It clamps on to the table quickly and is easily adjustable to accound for any drift. The block of wood works great as well, but this is easier - especially for tall resawing.
paulh
 
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