Fences on the Steel City 35920 and 35930

sh2005: glad I was somewhat useful.

when I was researching for a new table saw (after I sold mine and was really in need for one to continue some projects) SC came out with their low-end saws, I was lucky to have been able to go check the 35920 out. for limited funds I planned to get that one, and if eventually I found the fence to be inadequate, to upgrade to the industrial fence - the difference in price between the 2 is the exact price of the fence is you buy it separately, so there really is no immediate benefit to getting the 35930 (at least that's what it was when they came out to the market- you can check with SC about that).

however, when I saw the 35920 I was somewhat disappointed (in addition to the sketchy marketing techniques SC was using) and decided to drop it, and wait a little longer - thats when I heard of the Ridgid. for me - the Ridgid doe the trick, and I got it for half the cost of the SC so it was a no brainer. currently I find the fence to be adequate for my needs, and dont really see any reason to upgrade it for a $350 fence. the most I might do is replace the 2 piece rails with a 1 piece… thats' about it. it's a very good saw. and the SC 35920 should be the same.

since I'm satisfied with my fence so far, I've never bothered myself with research into those numbers. there are several online suppliers for square tubes and angle irons that seem to have done well for some people - when I ran a quick estimate on pricing it was ~$50 for the parts..not too shabby, never really looked into tolerances though since this will be bolted to the granite table+ wings which will clamp it straight anyways. again - this is not the fence itself, just the rails, the tolerances don't really need to be extremely accurate, and again, the bolts will also help keep it aligned and in line.

Alistair - granite IS prone to chipping at the corners, so some care needs to be taken. I personally believe that granite is marketed now since it's cheaper for the MFG to make as opposed to casting iron to it's margins. for me it works well, since where I live there is HIGH humidity in summertime - so one less surface to worry about rust - I with I could do the same for my Bandsaw, Drill Press, and Jointer (actually SC did the BS and Jointer already). is it better ? no it's not! is it worse? not at all.

Guys,

I have a skewed impression of the rigid saw because the only ones I have seen have been at the borgs. Neither were set up properly, and the fence was aweful. You know as well as I do unless you set up the fence properly it can do all kinds of unwanted things. When I had my SC saw 35912 the fence was just awesome. So easy to set up, locked real sold, slid so nice, I just cant say enough. The cabinets and construction just seems much better on the SC saw compared to the rigid. But again that was from looking at the one at the BORG. Dust collection is only so so becuase their isn't a shroud, but in that price range you wont get a dust shroud. You have to add another grand or so to get that. When you see a SC saw with the industrial fence mounted and then you look at the orange. I think you can easily see where your extra $300 goes, to me it is a no brainer. In the last 3 years I have owned 4 table saws, and that is due to my own stupidty. 3 years ago I bought a jet contractor with the motor in the cabinet, nice saw but the fence was terrible. That saw upgraded a cheap $150 crapsman aluminum topped special. The I replaced the jet with the SC. It was a great saw, awesome fence, good power, decent dust collection. Grainte top was my favorite I loved it, totally maitenance free, not much to look at but saws arn't about beauty or so I thought. Then alog came the PCS field test program. My wife talked me into buying one of those saws, and I am still totally blown away. It is the nicest saw I have ever used, and I own it. The only thing about it that isn't better than my SC is the fence. It is as close as you can get to a bies with out the name. Someday my dream table saw would be a granite topped SS with a SC industrial fence. There are differences between the PCS saw and the ICS saw, but nothing that would make that big of an advantage to me. So in the end if I would have geen smart I should have bought the SS right away. But who knew. What I am advising, is buy the absolute best saw you can afford. If you can swing 3k right now buy a pm2000 or PCS. If 1k is more in your ball park buy a SC. But if you plan on woodworking as a hobby for the rest or your life, dont do what I did and go through 4 saws in 3 years, step up to a better saw than the ridgid.

I'll second that skidooman - buy the best saw for the money that you can.

with that said - it seems to me that you are comparing the ridgid saw to the older models of SC which indeed DO have a better finish and a nicer cabinet. BUT the comparable SC models to the Ridgid are far from sharing the same quality and robustness. they are identical to the Ridgid, smaller in size, with the only difference being the color (grey opposed to orange) and the mobile mechanism (SC is 3 wheel and full cabinet, ridgid being herc-u-lift 4 wheel retractable base with 3/4" cabinet which from my experience works much better).

I am by far an advocate for Ridgid - and in my review I also stated that I was never a Ridgid fan, and still am not one. however, in that price range, if indeed you would go for one of those 2, I think it would make the most sense to get the same saw but for less money - which would be the orange choice. and that was my point. sure there are other options such as powermatic, sawstop, sliding table saws, combinations machines, and lots of other good stuff, but I find that out of the OP's topic at hand.

I picked up an Industrial Fence Type II on ebay, the same one that comes with the 39530. I called Steel City and inquired about picking up just the rails and the guide tube. I was told that they don't sell the guide tube and rails separately. I wasn't able to get the specs for the rails and guide tube, however. The guide tube on the R4511 and, I believe, the 39520 are 2" x 2" square. I think the industrial fence uses a 3" x 2" guide tube, but the tech could not verify that information. There are pads on the fence and screws on the fence that allow for some adjustment, so I may not have to worry about getting the exact specs. He said the whole 30" industrial fence system lists for $394.96. I guess I'm stuck with making my own guide tube and rails, although I may be able to re-use one or both rails.

Interestingly enough, the person I spoke to said that as of May, they are no longer selling the 39530. His reasoning was that it was too close to the 39500G, which costs a bit more. As such, you may not be able to even pick up the 39530 even if you wanted to. You might get lucky and find someone who has one in stock, however.