Table saw guide rails

[Brian Timmons]

I got my table saw set up today. It works well but it's a little big for my space. Is it ok to cut the guide rails down a few inches? This is my saw.

It is 70" wide. If I cut the rails down flush with the router table on the right and the cast iron on the left it would make it fit my space a lot better. I would still be able to rip up to 25". Any harm in doing this?

 

[Vaughn McMillan]

The only harm I can see is a bit less rip capacity, but you already have that part figured out. Depending on how the rails mount to the table, another option might be to just shift them over a few inches in one direction or the other. The measuring tape scale on the rail would need to be changed (or simply ignored), but you could actually gain some rip capacity that you don't have now.

 

[fred hargis]

Vaughn covered it, it's not nusual for those rails to be shortened a little to fit the space available.

 

[Brian Timmons]

It's done. I slid the rails down and lined them up on the left side, marked it on the left side and spent 10 minutes with a hacksaw. I can still rip up to 26.5" on the right. It is so much easier to get around in the shop now.

 

[David Johnson]

Works for me.
David

 

[glenn bradley]

I had a similar fence and when that saw went to dad we cut 10” off the rails, no problem.

 

[Brian Timmons]

I tried it yesterday. Made a few minor adjustments and it works great.