Delta Unisaw Fence

[Twobyfour]

Does anyone know if replacement rails are available for the Delta Unisaw Fence?

 

[Packard V8]

Yes, but since the Unisaw has been produced for almost 100 years, there are many sets of take-offs lying around from those who've upgraded to more expensive aftermarket fences. I found a long set to replace the standard length ones I had.

Ask around on craigslist, marketplace, OWWM, Lumberjocks, et al woodworking sites.

jack vines

 

[Firebrick43]

There are at least three different fences installed from the factory.

Which one do you have or post a picture

 

[PoorUB]

Does anyone know if replacement rails are available for the Delta Unisaw Fence?

eBay is the place.

What are you looking for? I have a good shorter one, Unifence, I might consider selling, 32"??

 

[seber]

Double locking, Unifence or Biesemier?

 

[shoot summ]

ebay or local market place is your best bet. They show up on FBM from time to time, ebay will have a significant shipping cost.

Unless you just love the fence(it is a good fence) I see more Biesemeyer style show up on marketplace,

 

[Whitworth]

Beisemeyer rails as well as Unifence rails are available retail, new.

Jet-lock rails look for a used set. I don't think anything changed on the design for 60 years.

Lots of them out there, I’ve given more sets of rails than I can remember. The mounting hardware is proprietary, special shoulder bolts and half-moon spacers; so if included, a big plus.

 

[acer66]

We have a woodworking section now.

Woodworking Fabrication & Technique

Show off your woodworking skills here or learn a little something about using your tools...

www.garagejournal.com

I have a Unisaw myself I but not sure what type of fence I have.

 

[Firebrick43]

We have a woodworking section now.

Woodworking Fabrication & Technique

Show off your woodworking skills here or learn a little something about using your tools...

www.garagejournal.com

I have a Unisaw myself I but not sure what type of fence I have.

That is/was the Jet lock fence, introduced around 1960.

Previous to that was the micro set fence which was very similar but had a lock, below




Then came the great and mighty unifence, the pinnacle of fences especially if you have both the factory fence extrusion and a peachtree UNI-T-Fence extrusion.






And lastly delta started cutting cost and slumming it with the Biesemeyer and its termite barf parts

 

[ez-duzit]

...
And lastly delta started cutting cost and slumming it with the Biesemeyer and its termite barf parts

Simply not true. The Beismeyer fence is superior.

 

[shoot summ]

Simply not true. The Beismeyer fence is superior.

Well they did cut costs, the unifence is ridiculously over built and engineered. I have no issues with my Biesemeyer, and have one for the next saw in the mix.

 

[PoorUB]

Simply not true. The Beismeyer fence is superior.

Biesmeyer superior to the Unifence? I don't know about that. I have used both, and they are both great fences. Which one is superior is probably opinion and which one you are accustomed too. IMO, it is a toss up.

Personally, I like the Unifence better, but if I bought a saw with a Biesmeyer I wouldn't spend the money to replace it with a Unifence, or the other way around.

 

[cgrutt]

I retrofitted an old Craftsman contractor saw with a Biesmeyer before I bought my Powermatic 66 that came with a Unifence Accu-fence. Hands-down prefer the Unifence Accu-fence but the Biesmeyer worked fine.

It's funny the Powermatic was shipped with two sets of rails. I kept the second set as a spare for years but wound up sending it to the scrap yard when we moved. Still brand new in the original box. Sat on my lumber shelf for years...

ETA sorry, Powermatic uses an Accu-fence not Unifence.

 

[acer66]

That is/was the Jet lock fence, introduced around 1960.

Previous to that was the micro set fence which was very similar but had a lock, below




Then came the great and mighty unifence, the pinnacle of fences especially if you have both the factory fence extrusion and a peachtree UNI-T-Fence extrusion.






And lastly delta started cutting cost and slumming it with the Biesemeyer and its termite barf parts

Yeah that looks like mine and good eye that the one I have does not have the locking feature.

Thank you.

 

[seber]

Simply not true. The Beismeyer fence is superior.

I have now had two saws with biesemeyer fences and two with Unifence. For me it isn't even close. I will never have another Biesemeyer even if I have to pay buy an entire saw to get a Unifence. Which as it happens, is exactly what I did to get my current unit.

 

[ez-duzit]

What makes the Unifence inferior to the Beismeyer is its flexibility, which is readily apparent when you run large/long, heavy workpieces through, the increased force of which causes noticeable and undesirable deflection of the flimsier Unifence components. I have had both systems in my shop for decades. The Unifence works fine on smaller, lighter workpieces.

 

[senlow]

What makes the Unifence inferior to the Beismeyer is its flexibility, which is readily apparent when you run large/long, heavy workpieces through, the increased force of which causes noticeable and undesirable deflection of the flimsier Unifence components. I have had both systems in my shop for decades. The Unifence works fine on smaller, lighter workpieces.

I agree. I much prefer the rigidity of a Beismeyer. Since I'm more of a metal worker, I built a Biesmeyer clone.

 

[seber]

The greatest advantage of the Unifence is adjustability. When properly set up, it can be set to the proper location with one hand and no messing around back and forth lock and unlock as with the Biesemeyer. That saves real time and frustration. But if your Unifence is flexing with large sheets, it is set up improperly. I just went out and pushed on the outer end, It most definitely does not flex without truly unreasonable force. If you are pushing your fence that hard, you need to question your method.

 

[ez-duzit]

The greatest advantage of the Unifence is adjustability. When properly set up, it can be set to the proper location with one hand and no messing around back and forth lock and unlock as with the Biesemeyer. That saves real time and frustration. But if your Unifence is flexing with large sheets, it is set up improperly. I just went out and pushed on the outer end, It most definitely does not flex without truly unreasonable force. If you are pushing your fence that hard, you need to question your method.

Baloney.

 

[alinc100]

The greatest advantage of the Unifence is adjustability. When properly set up, it can be set to the proper location with one hand and no messing around back and forth lock and unlock as with the Biesemeyer. That saves real time and frustration. But if your Unifence is flexing with large sheets, it is set up improperly. I just went out and pushed on the outer end, It most definitely does not flex without truly unreasonable force. If you are pushing your fence that hard, you need to question your method.

Push on your Unifence at its far outmost end with a 3/4" sheet of birch plywood as leverage. I will bet $20 it moves/deflects, as would a Biesmeyer to some degree as well. I'm not arguing one is better than the other.

 

[Packard V8]

Push on your Unifence at its far outmost end with a 3/4" sheet of birch plywood as leverage. I will bet $20 it moves/deflects, .. . .

This begs the question, why would one ever be pushing a 3/4" sheet of birch plywood sideways at the outermost end of a Unifence????

In sixty years of woodworking, I've never found that operation necessary.

jack vines

 

[ez-duzit]

...why would one ever be pushing a 3/4" sheet of birch plywood sideways at the outermost end of a Unifence????
...

jack vines

To keep it from coming away from the fence.

I no longer have this issue, since buying a Festool track saw.

 

[Packard V8]

To keep it from coming away from the fence.

I no longer have this issue, since buying a Festool track saw.

I used a Unisaw with Unifence for many years and don't remember plywood coming away from the properly adjusted Unifence. Just asking, why would this be a reoccurring issue?

jack vines

 

[whateg01]

 

[ez-duzit]

I used a Unisaw with Unifence for many years and don't remember plywood coming away from the properly adjusted Unifence. Just asking, why would this be a reoccurring issue?

jack vines

It isn't a reoccurring issue... as long as you apply enough force against the fence. And that force is sufficient to deflect the Unifence enough to provide a poor cut, depending on the quality expected of your work. If you're building garage cabinets, you can get away with it.

 

[Indexmill]

Beisemeyer rails as well as Unifence rails are available retail, new.

Please do tell; where can I buy a new Unifence Rail today? Really, where?

 

[Firebrick43]

To keep it from coming away from the fence.

I no longer have this issue, since buying a Festool track saw.

You don’t have to push at it on the end of the fence? You don’t have to put that much pressure at the head of the fence either.

How would you even push on the fence past the blade? You would just close up the kerf of the wood your cutting, binding the blade or push against the splitter if one is installed, then none of the force is directed at the fence.

 

[Firebrick43]

So this morning I grabbed an indicator and placed it where the center of the blade would be if the fence was against the blade.

I then grabbed a 1.5" x 6 " x 6' piece of black walnut and placed it as if it was in the cut but not touching the indicator.

Then from the proper operator position as to not catch a gut full of kick back, I pushed as hard as I could with my left hand into the fence while leaving my right as to feed the board thru the blade.

The absolute max was 0.002" deflection I could manage. I couldn't feed the wood soothingly while applying that pressure or even hold those pressures with any amount of time

At normal side pressures into the fence while feeding there was no deflection.


For reference I am 6' 1" and 250 lbs. and used to lifting/moving 125lbs parts/cylinders and i work out regularly include fly presses on my REP cable machine/weight rack.

 

[Whitworth]

Please do tell; where can I buy a new Unifence Rail today? Really, where?

Renovo parts is producing them, new, at $128

 

[Firebrick43]

34-916 - Unifence Rail

www.renovoparts.com

34-894 - Unifence Extrusion 43 Inch

www.renovoparts.com

Then there is the Uni-T-fence

Uni-T-Fence | Table Saws & Accessories | Peachtree Woodworking Supply

The Uni-T-Fence is a heavy duty aluminum extrusion up-grade fence for the Delta Uni-fence Table Saw System

www.ptreeusa.com

 

[alinc100]

I used a Unisaw with Unifence for many years and don't remember plywood coming away from the properly adjusted Unifence. Just asking, why would this be a reoccurring issue?

jack vines

Jack,
All I am saying is the far end of a Unifence,a Beismeyer fence,and probably a host of others will deflect slightly with the force compounded/leverage of the mass of a sheet of plywood. If you were to rip a 4' x 8' sheet of plywood in half , the fence will almost certainly deflect slightly as the material clears the blade. I don't have a Unifence to test my thoughts. And my current saw is covered in junk.

 

[Whitworth]

IMO, any fence system that does not lock down at the back will deflect a little when moderate pressure is applied. Even the mighty Beisemeyer.

One reason I like the old Jet-lock fence, it locks on both rails.

 

[ez-duzit]

So this morning I grabbed an indicator and placed it where the center of the blade would be if the fence was against the blade.

I then grabbed a 1.5" x 6 " x 6' piece of black walnut and placed it as if it was in the cut but not touching the indicator.

Then from the proper operator position as to not catch a gut full of kick back, I pushed as hard as I could with my left hand into the fence while leaving my right as to feed the board thru the blade.

The absolute max was 0.002" deflection I could manage. I couldn't feed the wood soothingly while applying that pressure or even hold those pressures with any amount of time

At normal side pressures into the fence while feeding there was no deflection.


For reference I am 6' 1" and 250 lbs. and used to lifting/moving 125lbs parts/cylinders and i work out regularly include fly presses on my REP cable machine/weight rack.

You designed your flawed "test" so that it would fail to show any noticeable deflection.

The pressure the fence would see, while actually ripping a full sheet of 3/4" ply (or long, heavy plank) could be so many times greater than your "test", as that pressure would be exerted on the very end of the fence (not at the center of the blade) and you would be using the length of the sheet goods as a lever.

 

[Firebrick43]

You designed your flawed "test" so that it would fail to show any noticeable deflection.

The pressure the fence would see, while actually ripping a full sheet of 3/4" ply (or long, heavy plank) could be so many times greater than your "test", as that pressure would be exerted on the very end of the fence (not at the center of the blade) and you would be using the length of the sheet goods as a lever.

I dont honestly understand how your using piece of wood as a lever with a saw fence.

For there to be a lever there has to be a fulcrum.

If you use the infeed side of the fence as a fulcrum then you would be pivot the out feed end away from the far end of the fence and into the blade or splitter as well?

The only way you could use the cut piece as a lever and deflect the outfeed end of the fence is to use the blade/splitter as a fulcrum but that would not be good at all for obvious reasons and you would be pulling it away from the fence on the infeed side.

A lever without a fulcrum is just a stick.

 

[dscheidt]

I dont honestly understand how your using piece of wood as a lever with a saw fence.

For there to be a lever there has to be a fulcrum.

If you use the infeed side of the fence as a fulcrum then you would be pivot the out feed end away from the far end of the fence and into the blade or splitter as well?

The only way you could use the cut piece as a lever and deflect the outfeed end of the fence is to use the blade/splitter as a fulcrum but that would not be good at all for obvious reasons and you would be pulling it away from the fence on the infeed side.

A lever without a fulcrum is just a stick.

I have used a unisaw with a unifence that had noticable movement at the far end. I was using the fence with a stop block to do a bunch of cut offs, and when I'd slide the work piece over into the stop block, I'd see the fence wiggle. Didn't matter to me, so didn't worry about it, but it might have been an issue with long rips. It was an old saw, and in a woodworking school, so it had probably not seen the most careful use. it's pretty likely something was worn, borked, or out of adjustment.

pushing the workpiece into the fence will cause the fence to move. How it moves, and how much, depends on the construction and how it's locked in place. If there are no locks (or the locks ****, like the fence on lots of craftsman contractor saws), the fence will move over, ruining the setting. a fence that's securely locked front and back will bow away from the pressure, but a reasonably well fence is stiff enough that the bowing is close to zero. A fence locked only in the front will pivot around the lock, or the rails. a properly adjusted unifence shouldn't move much, it's a ridgid rail, the fence is rigid, and the distance the fence is pivoting around is pretty wide.

 

[PoorUB]

I have ripped full sheets of plywood and full sheets of MDF, all alone, all it takes is a bit of light pressure to keep the wood against the fence, maybe a couple pounds of force. Certainty low enough pressure to not cause any problematic deflection in the fence. What are you guys doing to push that hard against the fence??

And are you the same guys that keep chucking holes in the walls of your shop?