JessEm - Mast-R-Fence (Rating: 3)

First thing was to mount the fence rail mounting rails. They have four screw holes each that are for the screw holes under the phenolic table. They're not threaded, just holes for screws. The directions, which are not very good, tell me to screw those rails to the bottom of the table top using "the 6×45mm screws". It doesn't mention how many, doesn't say that they're included although it's implied. No screws found. I'm no math genius but I can tell you that the bracket is about 1/8" thick, the top about 3/4" thick. Unless you want to the screw to come out the top, that 45mm long screw will not work. Nice directions.

So off to Ace I go, and jumping closer to the end, I ended up making a total of three trips for these f&^%ing screws, oh yea, and a set of washers.

Let me tell you about the washers. When I did get the rails mounted, I put the fence on and it has these long 8mm screws with knobs to lock the fence down. Well, in the first picture you can see that it goes into a T nut in the track. Problem is the screw is too long and bottoms out inside the track, making it so you can't tighten the fence down very much. It left a ring impression in the bottom of the track. So I fixed it by putting a washer above the fence so the screw doesn't go so deep and it can really grip the fence.

However…...

I've used the fence a few times and now that it's installed, adjusted and tested, I can say that I really like it. It has some really nice features, it's square, it's straight, it's strong, and it looks good.

In summary: I would buy it again, its a good fence. Just beware that it suffers from a few simple issues that companies make that are unwilling to make investments to fix. Like directions that are clear, and easy to understand. Pictures are good. Also, either the packaging people forgot to put mounting screws in or they're not supposed to be supplied. But you'd never know that from the directions. And the fence locking screw that's too long and interferes with it's job. They're simple fixes but I doubt Jess Em will make the investment. I'm calling them tomorrow and let them in on my pain.

So, if you buy this fence just know you'll have to supply the screws to mount the fence to the table, and I suggest putting an 8mm washer under the lockdown bolts on the top of the fence. Otherwise it will not lock the fence tight enough to hold it.

Have a good day.

wayne