Cheap Long straight edge

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Feb 24, 2015
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Can I trust a product Like azek to be straight enough to set fences on mitersaw? Is there a better product that I can get 10' long with a long straight edge?
 
How about a 3 meter festool rail  ;)

But seriously, AZEK will be way to bendy for this use.

Ken
 
Azek is readily bendable. Even if it is straight a little pressure will make it move.

That said, you don't need a 10' long rigid fence for a miter saw. 2 feet is more than enough in general and often too much. Reason is the molding stock you cut with the miter saw is seldom straight enough to be compatible with such a fence. If the stock is flexible enough to conform to the rigid fence then the fence didn't need to be that long anyway.

The only reason imo for a long fence is to be able to reliably set stops at far distance from the saw, but if the stock is unwieldy such stops aren't reliable.
 
Hmm.. I definitely oversized this thing then. I have 2) 6' cabinets with a connector in between for saw. I recessed 4 t tracks on bench top to connect fence. Now that its ready to install im going to go with 4'-5' fences left and right for stops.
20160629_184438.jpg
 
I bought this 96" Starrett one mainly for layout purposes.  $30 for a big ruler
Currently, it lives on my miter saw wings since that's the only place I have 8 feet of flat space in the shop!!
https://www.amazon.com/Starrett-ASE...ial&ie=UTF8&qid=1489600569&sr=1-2&keywords=96+straight+edge

It probably isn't going to be accurate down to 0.001 but I trust them to make pretty good stuff.
I checked it with my Veritas straight edge and it seems pretty good.

The best part was the look on my wife's face when the 10' long amazon box came  [eek]
 
In my shop at work I have 14" out feed tables, right and left.  I cut 24" aluminum regularly.  Those tables are 2 x 12s with a 2" aluminum angles and 12' stick on tapes attached inline with my 14" Makita chopsaw.  I built this 28 years ago to make fabrication easier.  My home Makita slider has out feed tables made with 8' lengths of 8020 material for the base and back.  I used 8020 45% angle extrusion for my scales and use Kreg stops, two on each side for positioning stock.
 
[member=25351]rst[/member]  Do you have any photos of your home setup?

Thanks, Mike A.
 
RobNJ said:
I bought this 96" Starrett one mainly for layout purposes.  $30 for a big ruler
Currently, it lives on my miter saw wings since that's the only place I have 8 feet of flat space in the shop!!
https://www.amazon.com/Starrett-ASE...ial&ie=UTF8&qid=1489600569&sr=1-2&keywords=96+straight+edge

It probably isn't going to be accurate down to 0.001 but I trust them to make pretty good stuff.
I checked it with my Veritas straight edge and it seems pretty good.

The best part was the look on my wife's face when the 10' long amazon box came  [eek]

I have this same rule and actually every size they make.

I can tell you they are more than good enough for anything I make or made in my lifetime. And actually I work down to .003 and to 1/64th inch daily and it's very rare I need pull out my better rules. For 30.00 these are no brainers.
 
Sorry Mike, I'm not able to attach my pictures and have not spent the time to figure out why.  I do love 8020 as I am a dedicated improver tinkerer.  I've been putting 20' cords on all my tools for 30+ years.  Now days however the on corded tool I carry in my van is my 35 year old Milwaukee hammerdrill.  Love my cordless.
 
Jimdude said:
RobNJ said:
I bought this 96" Starrett one mainly for layout purposes.  $30 for a big ruler
Currently, it lives on my miter saw wings since that's the only place I have 8 feet of flat space in the shop!!
https://www.amazon.com/Starrett-ASE...ial&ie=UTF8&qid=1489600569&sr=1-2&keywords=96+straight+edge
I just made the mistake of looking up this straight-edge at European prices.

I'm afraid I will have to lie down for the rest of the day...

Haha!  Share with the group.  How much is it?
Are you sure you're looking at aluminum and not steel?
At first, I thought it would be like Veritas pricing - roughly 2x the aluminum pricing.
Looks like a 48" steel from Starrett is $630!
 
Michael Kellough said:
That said, you don't need a 10' long rigid fence for a miter saw. 2 feet is more than enough in general and often too much.
+1
them700project said:
Hmm.. I definitely oversized this thing then. I have 2) 6' cabinets with a connector in between for saw. I recessed 4 t tracks on bench top to connect fence. Now that its ready to install im going to go with 4'-5' fences left and right for stops.
20160629_184438.jpg
Beautiful setup, OP. [thumbs up]
 
RobNJ said:
Jimdude said:
RobNJ said:
I bought this 96" Starrett one mainly for layout purposes.  $30 for a big ruler
Currently, it lives on my miter saw wings since that's the only place I have 8 feet of flat space in the shop!!
https://www.amazon.com/Starrett-ASE...ial&ie=UTF8&qid=1489600569&sr=1-2&keywords=96+straight+edge
I just made the mistake of looking up this straight-edge at European prices.

I'm afraid I will have to lie down for the rest of the day...
Haha!  Share with the group.  How much is it? Are you sure you're looking at aluminum and not steel?
Well, I took the EAN from that amazon.com link and fed it to amazon.de (I shop there regularly), and it came up at 130 EUR! However, that particular offer was not from Amazon itself, but from a vendor that ships through Amazon. It does not look as if this rule is offered by amazon.de directly. I have not looked for other sources. Don't know yet if this is because of the initial shock, or because I'm too lazy about it (I don't ~need~ this rule right now, but at $30, I wouldn't have blinked).

If I feed " Starrett ase-96" into amazon.de, I get one more offer, @96EUR, but this is from a 'new vendor', which I always think are fake offers to fool the Amazon scripts, because the one time I actually tried ordering something from one of them, the order was rejected with a dummy reason. But even then, 96EUR is still more than three times the US price.

Both 'hits' were for the Alu variant, BTW.
 
OK, I'm on a mission now: I thought I might have better luck with the metric variant: Starrett AMSE-2000 (yesyes 2000mm does not equal 96", but 'close enough')

This goes for 90EUR as well on amazon.de. Sigh.  But amazon.it has it for 25 EUR (!), directly sold through amazon. But of course, *.it does not deliver to my country…

Oh well, it was a short mission…

 
[member=46015]them700project[/member]

First of all, what a magnificent set-up with the Kapex; I'm doing my best not to be jealous. 

If you are only checking square alignment of your table fences with the saw fence, the back of a FS 1400/2 or an FS1900/2 may be totally adequate.  These can also be used with a fine ruler or depth gauge to ensure even offset to the saw fence.  As you are most probably aware, aligning in-feed and out-feed table fences perfectly flush with the saw fence may create issues.  Warped, curved or otherwise not totally straight wood could result in cuts which are not at the angle you desire. For this reason, with the table fences set back, you can more easily align your cut with the saw fence.  Variously, Woodpecker 1218 squares, Woodpecker 26" squares, the back of an FS800/2, Betterley Straight Line Connector, or other such have been reported by posters on the FOG to be used to ensure saw fence square-ness.

Best wishes,

DrD 
 
Jimdude said:
OK, I'm on a mission now: I thought I might have better luck with the metric variant: Starrett AMSE-2000 (yesyes 2000mm does not equal 96", but 'close enough')

This goes for 90EUR as well on amazon.de. Sigh.  But amazon.it has it for 25 EUR (!), directly sold through amazon. But of course, *.it does not deliver to my country…

Oh well, it was a short mission…
Maybe you can set a price alert to notify you when Amazon.de sells it?
for Amazon.com we have a service called camelcamelcamel where you can set a desired price and it'll email you when the item is able to be purchased for that or lower.  It helps with a lot of deals.

Funny how Festool searches in the US never show up as sales!  [big grin]
 
Jimdude said:
OK, I'm on a mission now: I thought I might have better luck with the metric variant: Starrett AMSE-2000 (yesyes 2000mm does not equal 96", but 'close enough')

This goes for 90EUR as well on amazon.de. Sigh.  But amazon.it has it for 25 EUR (!), directly sold through amazon. But of course, *.it does not deliver to my country…

Oh well, it was a short mission…

Surely something similar is made locally (in the EU). Those Starrett rules (are not straight edges), they're simply a shear cut strip of aluminum with thick increments printed on the face that eventually wear off. They are usually straight enough for woodworking but the precision dovetail achieves is due to his own skill, not thanks to that $30 rule.
 
Thanks for the help guys. I just installed the fences. First cut seams perfectly square off a 7' piece of poplar. I will keep an eye on it.
 
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