T-Square Fence and Table Extension for Cheap Box Store Table Saw

My brother left me a cheap Home Depot table saw when he moved away. I have been using it a lot recently, but I have been completely frustrated with the absolute garbage fence it came with. It takes forever to get it parallel to the blade, it is not square to the table, and it has a wave down its length. I would love to invest in a quality saw, but do not have the means to do so at this time. Since I have more time then money, I decided to modify what I have.

There are many videos and websites that I found that showed how to make a T-square fence. The fence itself is basically the same as all the others. The problem I ran into was that my saw did not have a removable track or a flat front for mounting the new track. The original track for the fence is molded into the front edge table saw deck. It seems to be a common design on most budget table saws but becomes a problem when you want to mount a new fence system. I came up with a work around that I hope someone else in my position might find helpful.

I happened to get another treadmill donated to me by a friend. It had a good amount of usable steel tube that I was able to process with my homemade band saw. The only other significant pieces I used were angle iron. I started with 2 pieces of angle iron bolted to either side of the saw. There were already holes there for some purpose so that made it easy. From there I welded tubes to the bottom side of the angle to hold the main horizontal tube that would be used as the track. This dropped the track down low enough that the fence would not interfere with the miter tracks.

FYI - I am not a very experienced welder so please don't make fun of my welds.

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I did end up having to put a C-notch in one of the tubes to allow for the angle iron on the fence to pass over. This could have been avoided by using a smaller piece of angle or trimming one of the legs down. I didn't feel like doing either at the time so I just notched it out and welded in a half section of tube.

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Here it is cleaned up and painted.

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As I mentioned, the fence itself is just like all the other t-square fences. It has a piece of rectangle tube welded at 90 degree to a piece of angle iron. I threaded set screws into the angle iron for fine adjustment and glued nylon washers to the underside. The hold down mechanism is a $5 toggle clamp from Harbor Freight. The toggle clamp presses against a hinged plate to prevent denting/crimping of the tube used for the track. I did not take any assembly pictures of the fence. I get caught up in what I am doing and forget.

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I put several coats of car wax on the track and lightly sanded the washers. The fence glides back and forth surprisingly smooth. The toggle clamp holds the fence securely with little effort. It will even hold it square way out on the right side where there is no table to support it.

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s...w/IMAG1490.jpg

Last night I started making the extension table. I used the wood deck the came from the treadmill. This is the piece that you run on under the treadmill belt. It happens to be 3/4 melamine. I also used a piece of it for the face of the fence.

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Since I got the metal for free, I might have $15 in the whole thing. It has been working awesome. I no longer have to measure at both ends of the saw blade (I still do out of habit but it is always the same). Once I get a ruler in place I will be set. I am still planning on making a fold down out feed table. I intentionally left the fence long for that reason. After that I want to box in the under section to collect all the saw dust that is getting thrown all around my garage.

Hopefully this might help someone else.

Thanks Matthew! I've added your T-Square Fence and Table Extension to our Table Saws category, as well as to your builder page: mr95gst's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

<div id="blocks"> <div class="block b1 pngfix"> <div class="bimg"> <div> <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/t-square-fence-and-table-extension"><img src="http://www.homemadetools.net/uploads/122415/t-square-fence-and-table-extension.jpeg" /></a></div> </div> <div class="head pngfix"></div> <div class="left pngfix"></div> <div class="right pngfix"></div> <div class="blockover b1 pngfix"> <div class="title"> <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/t-square-fence-and-table-extension">T-Square Fence and Table Extension</a> <span> by <a href="/builder/mr95gst">mr95gst</a></span> </div> <div class="tags">tags: <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/tag/square">square</a>, <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/tag/table-saw">table saw</a>, <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/tag/fence">fence</a></div> </div> </div> </div>

Great idea, don't worry, I grind better than what I weld. Hentie

Really good!
I might steal this idea....

Thanks!

For the dust you might want to try one of these:
http://www.rockler.com/contractor-table-saw-dust-bag

Hi Matthew,

Great work and great documentation! Your T-Square Fence and Table Extension is the 'Tool of the Week'!

You'll be receiving one of our official HomemadeTools.net T-shirts:

Attachment 3930 Attachment 3931
Attachment 3932 Attachment 3933

If you've already received one of our official HomemadeTools.net T-shirts, we'd be glad to award you a $25 online gift card from GiftRocket. Your choice!

Either way, just let me have (via PM) your details (size, color choice, and mailing address for the shirt or email address for the gift card) and we'll get things processed directly.

Congrats!

Ken

This thread has been moved to the Must Read subforum. Congrats (and thanks) to Matthew for making such a valuable contribution!

Brilliant! Nice job on the fence and on documenting it.

I got a few more pictures to add. I finally got around to adding the a measuring gauge to the fence. I bought the stick on measuring tape from ebay. The window in made from Lexan. I heated it in a oven and clamped it between 2 stepped pieces of wood to make the bends.


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Sweet!
An accurate measuring device on a fence you know is square is a HUGE time saver.

If it's handy, please provide a link to the stick on tape.

The tape brand was Starrett. The one I bought came in a 6' length. The tape is metal with and adhesive backing. It was about $8 with free shipping. They had some with inches on top and centimeters on bottom, but the inch measurement was only in 1/8 in increments.

Cool, thanks.

I think this is it:
Starrett Measure Stix SM66W Steel White Measure Tape with Adhesive Backing, English Graduation Style, Left To Right Reading, 6' Length, 0.75" Width, 0.0625" Graduation Interval: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51MC%2BHuT1TL.jpg

That is it. I bought it off Ebay, but it was fulfilled by Amazon (It came with an Amazon sticker on the package). There is an Amazon distribution facility about 20 minutes away from my house. I ordered it on Sunday and it was in my mailbox when I got home on Monday. How is that for quick shipping!

This is the best T-square and extension I seen. I plan on using this design. Thank you!

Thanks. I have been using it know for several months and I am still very happy with it. However, if I was to do it again, I would extend the fence track farther out in front of the saw. That way I could put an extension to the table in front of the saw blade. On these cheap small saws there is almost no room to place your work piece on the table before it contacts the saw blade.

Thanks for a great post. You have a lot of great ideas that I have not seen on other shop-made table saw fences. And I must say an excellent use of available materials in your fence.

As you know a good fence and good saw blade can make a low-cost table saw into a good machine capable of precise work.

It sure helped me out to find this post! This is why I love this site, I have two cheap saw setups like this, one Delta and one Makita, and I have been looking to build the same thing as you have, but now I don't have to mess around with trying out 10 different ways to get it done. Your way is perfect for both of these saws!