Automated Table Saw Fence

[4nthony]

I came across this fence on Frank Howarth's Instagram this morning. Kinda like the table saw equivalent of a Nova drill press.

At first glance, it seems kinda cool, like a Wixey with a motor. I'm curious to see how well it locks down on the rail compared to a standard Biesemeyer fence.
https://rip-itfence.com/

 

[ChuckM]

The inventor had a booth at the AWSF Fair this year. I didn't study its details, but think it could work according to a cutlist.

It wouldn't be suitable for me because I use various jigs with my fence as well as the Jessem stock guides. But the automation is great for a small business.

 

[Svar]

High end sliders have had automated fences for years. This should work too. I would integrate t-slots for mounting accessories and a flip high/low profile rail. The latter is a standard on euro saws.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

High end sliders have had automated fences for years. This should work too. I would integrate t-slots for mounting accessories and a flip high/low profile rail. The latter is a standard on euro saws.

Yeah, the slider we had in the old shop had a Tiger-stop. One of the woodworking supply stores here in town has a "jump saw" that uses a similar automated stop, made by the same company.

 

[lwoirhaye]

This was new on Kickstarter like 5 years ago.

 

[luvmytoolz]

Looks like it's a NEMA17 or 23 stepper motor driving it, via a plastic gear by the look of it. The holding power of a decent stepper is good but I'd question how well it will handle sideways pressure. Although it could be a servo. If I was buying it I'd want to test by pushing it sideways and see if it gives.

 

[4nthony]

This was new on Kickstarter like 5 years ago.

Interesting. The 1.0 version was back in 2018 and was not successfully funded.

The 2.0 version still has 12 days to go, but they need to raise ~$22k.

 

[festal]

Saw it as well.  Looks interesting but it seems the fence is sitting too low.  Needs to be higher.  It is similar to tigerfence but 3rd of the price.  Loading cutlist would be neat feature.  Based on few posts i saw, it looks like few items would be upgraded before release though.  Got burned few times on kickstarter so going to wait on this

 

[ChuckM]

Snip.

The 2.0 version still has 12 days to go, but they need to raise ~$22k.
Snip.

That's a lot closer than last time, and I wish them good luck.

It says "All or nothing," but I suppose the inventor could make up the difference if the final amount doesn't reach the goal but the difference is small.

They are offering about 30% off to the participants. Is it the normal discount offered by Kickstarter inventors?

 

[rmhinden]

They are offering about 30% off to the participants. Is it the normal discount offered by Kickstarter inventors?

I am not sure there is a normal discount for Kickstarter.

Also a reminder, there is no guarantee with Kickstarter that you will ever receive the item.  I supported a small 3D printer for $329 two years ago that is unlikely to be delivered.  560 backers pledged $167,037  [sad]

Bob

 

[Crazyraceguy]

I would be far more interested in a powered blade tilt than automated fence. The fence is far easier to move manually than the angle.

 

[Mini Me]

I would be far more interested in a powered blade tilt than automated fence. The fence is far easier to move manually than the angle.

That should be fairly easy to do using a stepper motor and a Gilmer belt drive, put a digital angle cube on the blade and press go.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

I would be far more interested in a powered blade tilt than automated fence. The fence is far easier to move manually than the angle.

That should be fairly easy to do using a stepper motor and a Gilmer belt drive, put a digital angle cube on the blade and press go.

Agreed, so why has no one done it?

 

[Mini Me]

I guess there is very little demand for it, I certainly don't routinely change the blade angle but then I am not doing production work as you do. Felder now do an in handle angle gauge but the tilt is still manual. Have a look at this video by Jer Schmidt who is a very clever young man, he made a precision quick move fence with a fine adjustment control and no digital control needed.

Making the Fence

Using the Fence

Plans to Build It

 

[GoingMyWay]

Here are the videos from the previous post:

The fence construction


Using the Fence


Plans to build it


The full URL (youtube.com) and not the shortened URL (youtu.be) needs to be used in order for the video to load properly on the forum.

 

[fritter63]

Dead thread bump!

I've been looking at this product recently, as I'm wanting to upgrade my TS fence. Currently I have an OLD Incra TS fence (not the latest generation). My issue is that I now work in both metric and imperial systems (thanks Festool!) and would like to be able to switch back and forth on the table saw (I tend to model my projects in metric with Fusion 360 now. Yes, I realize I can make the back and forth switch in the CAD program.

I had thought about just setting up with both metric and imperial versions of the Incra, and then just swapping.

Then I saw the Harvey "big eye" system. They have the ability to swap out scales on the fence system. That would work, and I have suggested to them that they provide a dual scale (metric on top, imperial on the bottom) as that would negate having to swap the scales (good thing they both start at zero!!!!). I may just make that mod myself with some self stickie dual scale tape.

But, Harvey is promising a digital calibration readout that would allow me to keep the super accurate repeatability of the Incra fence. however, even though they show it at the woodworking shows, my inquiry to them this weekend  has resulted in this:

"At this time, there is no official release date or additional information available. It’s simply a glimpse of what’s in development for the future. We’ll be sure to share updates on availability and pricing as soon as they become official."

So then I found the Rip-it fence, looks awesome! Yes, concerns about about deflection, etc. But basically like having a 1 axis CNC positioner. And after digging around... dang, this thing first started 7 years ago (googled reddit thread), and they're always close to production, but still haven't delivered a thing (aside from a picture this month of reported packaged up rail parts). And blaming supply problems for "parts".

Starting to look like it will never be delivered (and the price keeps going up!).

[sad]

I think I did see a YouTube video where somebody made their own rack and pinion motorized fence. It might not be that hard (I already have an AvidCNC which is just 8020 based with a gear rack bolted on it. You could basically build one-third of that (no need for gantry or z-axis), just two motors for the single axis (slaved), setup Mach4 to disable  two of the axis, and then use it to manually position for cuts (G-code manual entry).

Kinda wish I hadn't had that thought.......

 

[fritter63]

Here are the videos from the previous post:

....

Ha, that is literally a DIY version of the Incra fence.

 

[smorgasbord]

Shark makes something similar for router tables:https://nextwavecnc.com/product/sha...ShV_-OwxBuY0aKrZvm8LVKAYNNbA4SGpFCQ9L9DKvj1G7
=c4j2m7wbXL-Mb8L_&t=40

Only 12" of fence travel, though.

 

[fritter63]

Found the one that I saw before:

CNC Table Saw

 

[GoingMyWay]

Here is the video from the previous post:


The full URL (youtube.com) and not the shortened URL (youtu.be) needs to be used in order for the video to load properly on the forum.