Upgrading the fence on my 1946 Unisaw, looking for feedback

I have the Shop Fox Classic on my Grizz. It has been (and is) A really good fence. Set and forget.

-- bill@magraphics.us

One vote here for T3. I have a delta T2 on a change 113 and it is as repeatable and reliable as the OEM fence on my ridgidl 2412.

-- there's a solution to every problem.......you just have to be willing to find it.

either one will be better :<))))

-- Tony---- Reinholds,Pa.------ REMEMBER TO ALWAYS HAVE FUN

Out of 3-4 viable fence options I’ve used, I like a bies even over a unifence.

-- Shooting down the walls of heartache. Bang bang. I am. The warrior.

Much as I like the Unisaw, the original fence to me is the weak point. On a Rockwell contractor’s saw I had many years ago (same fence as the Uni), I despised the fence, and made my own rails and T-square type fence. Worked fine. I have heard many good things about the Unifence, but have never used one. Otherwise, I think any decent T-square fence would serve you well.

I made my own rack and pinion fence (real one, like on the DeWalt job site saw), just because I like the idea, but I wouldn’t do it again. It actually works very well, but was too fussy to make. The hardest part was finding steel square tubing that would fit to telescope nicely, but not be too sloppy. The outer tube has to be the exact right wall thickness.
It has the advantage that it gives generous cutting width not only to the right side of the blade, but left side also, while staying within the table footprint when retracted. This required that the actual fence could have 3 mounting positions—left, right, and center. I still use it, but it’s getting to the point where it needs a tune up.

-- I admit to being an adrenaline junky; fortunately, I'm very easily frightened

I absolutely love my VSCT fence. Building the rails isn’t trivial, but it’s very easy as metalwork goes. Alan’s videos take you through the whole process step by step.

If you can find a local metal shop that has drops the size you need, you could get the steel for almost nothing.

The VSCT fence is definitely a few steps above the T2/T3/Vega fences. I’ve not used the Shop Fox they sell now, only an older model. It’s not bad.

I have an older PM-66 with an Incra fence and love it. I don’t know that you can get a more repeatable setup. Offers a lot of options as far as total rip width too, as the rails can be set further back; I currently have about 26” rip. I got mine used (and somewhat abused) for about $250, it’s the older style Ultra positioner but works perfect for me.