KREG® Precision Band Saw Fence

Product Information

I didn’t learn much about the metric system until I went to work for a BMW, Jaguar, Subaru and British Leyland dealer. One thing I would worry about is if the magnets are strong enough to hold alignment while ripping a big heavy thick board; something I do a lot on the bandsaw. The actual function of the measuring tape, with its very fine divisions, together with the lens cursor, is very good indeed and, once calibrated, extremely accurate. Magnified and easy-to-read for even the smallest adjustments, the thin red line on the Precision Lens Cursor lets you accurately set up the fence for cutting veneer, tenons, and more.

You want the hole for the bolt to be far enough away from the fence that you can get a hand drill in there. Since I set the saw up according to a standard set of steps each time I change the blade, I can use the front of the saw's table as a reference point for distance from the blade when resawing. I usually just clamp a piece of wood for a fence when I need it, but the magnetic fence sounds like a great idea. I like the two fences as they give a range of heights that are easy to switch between as it’s a knob to undo the fence as opposed to two Allen bolts.I find it a great little machine but the fence is poor as it seems to move out of parallel when you lock it down. The adjustment mechanism has two handles, one to adjust the fence angle and another to lock the setting. Two 24" lengths of 3/4" thick x 1-1/2" tall Double Track aluminum extrusions serve as the front and rear fence rails. This fence mounts to most 14″ (356mm) band saws right out of the box and can be modified to fit many others by drilling a single hole in the aluminum mounting rail. To maximize the pivoting action, the front of the fence needs to be spaced out from the end of the runner.

This piece of plywood was left over from another project, and I already knew the sides to be square and straight. To ensure accurate fitment and smooth movement of timber, the table extension features fine-adjustment mechanisms to allow the extension to be fitted perfectly flush to the table. A hardwood spacer pushes the rail away from the front of the bandsaw table so the fence can ride on it. The locking handle invariably changes the setting slightly once you tighten it, so the process is fiddly and needs to be repeated. The stress on sharp is critical and being prepared to give up on pushing a blade beyond its life’s span for the sake of saving a few pennies.Kregg also offers a tall fence add on adapter for free hand re-sawing but I have never used mine because it is to tall to fit my 14″ bandsaw and I prefer to re-saw with the fence. This appears an excellent fence, designed by Mark Dukinske, author of the very clear book 'The New Complete Guide to the Bandsaw'. cut into a log support (that is the initialization every band sawyer has to do at some point, I’ve learned…) causing the blade to dull. Just loosen the locking knob and lift the fence from the mounting rail, which is located below your table’s surface so it won’t get in the way.

Some small modification work will be needed to adapt this to most machines, but this should not deter you from making this upgrade. Maybe on higher end bandsaws the fences are much better, but the MagFence gives me an easy way to set up for ripping and resawing while the fence that came with my Rikon (actually 2 because they sent me a second after the first one couldn't be lined up properly) never worked without a lot of effort each time I used it. They shipped me off to Subaru school 3 weeks later and my instructor taught us how dead simple metric was.Join our Facebook group to share your projects, tip and tricks, get ideas and feedback, inspire others, improve your skills, and help fellow DIYers grow theirs! Aside from the UK issue, anyone in the US who wants to upgrade their fence will be very happy with retrofitting one of these.