Fence Upgrade For Table Saw And Miter Gauge Using Aluminum Extrusion

[tiger carpenter]

I upgraded all my machines fences to the universal system using aluminum extrusions (aluminium extrusions).

In this video I only present the table saw and the miter gauge (mitre gauge) fences upgrade, to keep the watching time reasonable.

Please watch the separate videos for the miter saw, as well as the band saw fence upgrade using aluminum extrusions.

I used 30xx aluminum extrusion series, because they allow me to use the standard T-track on top of them, which is 30 mm wide, and fits these series perfectly.

Depending on my project requirements, I can use various types of the fences:
- short fences,
- long fences, which allow better registration of the long material along the long fence,
- tall fences, which allow cutting rabbets / rebates, tenon shoulders, dados etc in the vertically positioned boards, hence keeping them more stable.

The table saw fence uses UHMW supporting board, to prevent the flimsy thin hollow original fence from denting as it is tightened to the aluminum extrusions.

I used cam-action clamps from the bicycle seat, as the clamping mechanism for the original fence + universal aluminum extrusions upgraded fences, to speed up swapping different types of fences as needs arise.

The results of the table saw and miter gauge fences upgrade exceeded my expectations, especially due to now being able to produce perfectly straight long cuts (which was a real struggle prior to this upgrade).

The cross cuts quality also significantly improved.

The bonus of using aluminum extrusions + UHMW supporting board, is that my universal fence system is weather resistant, it will remain straight and won't ever change its geometry. So this solution is also time proof.

The aluminum extrusions allow attaching stop blocks, feather boards, jigs of all kinds to all my fences, and the attachments can be shared between various machines, as all my fences are now using the same format, same slots size, same width.