extended rip fence

[hilux]

Hi guys,
I'm thinking of widening my table top. Has any one extended their rip fence in length or do you think it can be done?
cheers

[leehljp]

I have a sacrificial fence made in the form of an "H" of 1/2 in (marine grade) plywood for the vertical sides and a piece of 1X2 for the center part of the "H". The vertical sacrificial parts are glued and screwed onto the cut down 1X2. The 1X2 is actually about 1 by 1 1/2 but precisely the width of the fence. It fits snug over the fence and is still easily removed without need for loosening anything.

Oh yes, the center part is only as long as the actually aluminum fence. This allows the handle to be raised and lowered even though the scarificial fence sides stick out in front of the handle. Just a tad awkward for large hands, but works well. If this is a problem, Only the blade side of the fence needs to be longer.

Mine is 32 inches long and greatly enhances the infeed/outfeed alignment.

[Tom Miller]

Has any one extended their rip fence in length or do you think it can be done?

Huge "yes" to both! That's one of the first things I did, based on all the good info I got from whichever BT3 forum I was reading at the time.

There's lots of good ways to do it to suit your needs. Mine is a piece of baltic birch ply (~5" x 40"), with a stiffening rib along the length that I attached to the face of the fence. It hangs over the front of the table by ~12", and helps immensely in aligning rip cuts. (This photo shows my older version, based on the long rip/miter accessory, but you get the idea.)





I've since added a little infeed support to the bottom of the leading end of the fence.


An added benefit to the "tall" aspect of the fence is that you can easily make lots of useful jigs like this push shoe. It's adjustable height, and by riding the fence it keeps my hand safely away from the blade.





Here's a tenoning jig that was quick and easy to slap together, while performing quite well.





Regards,
Tom

[cobob]

I recently just clamped an 8' shelf from lowes. A stiffener would have helped, but it alone was pretty effective

[LinuxRandal]

I thought there used to be one in the articles section but I didn't spot it. I believe it was discussed a while back, about using some of the aluminum extrusions that are sold on Ebay by 80/20, as well.
For stiffness, I would consider wrapping the current fence as well.