Thanks Hank....I'm doing the same upgrade and got several good ideas from your pictures. Can you tell me (us) a little about the fence? How is it attached to the counter top?
John,
I built my RAS fence and stop blocks years ago from an article in one of the magazines. I wish I could give you the cite, but I don't recall it. I think the design in the magazine was for a miter gauge extension with stop blocks. I just extended it and modified it for my RAS.
The top of the RAS is designed to clamp the fence between sections of the wooden top - much like a Workmate top. The sections of my fence that extend out over the bench top are held in place with brackets I made from aluminum angle. I cut 2" sections from the angle and drilled them to accept #10 pan head screws into the fence and 5/16" X 3" SS bolts through the bench top into threaded inserts in the under side of the top. There are three brackets holding the left section in place and one at the far end of the right section. There are two indexing dowels in the end of the left section that fit into corresponding holes in the end of the right section which remains clamped in the saw. These keep the two sections of the fence aligned and prevent them from twisting. The right section is primarily held in place and square by the saw table clamp; the bracket is simply to keep the far end from flexing out of alignment.
The left, long section of the fence is completely removable by unscrewing the bracket bolts. Removing the left section allows me to use the entire surface of the bench, unobstructed by the fence. If I need to crosscut long boards, the section is easy to replace and it stays aligned with the right section that remains clamped in the saw. I can also remove the right section by loosening the table clamp and removing the bolt through the bracket on the far right end. This allows me to replace my good fence with a sacrificial board fence for miter cuts and other RAS fixtures. The clamping feature of the saw table insures that these fixtures remain square to the cut line of the blade.
I'm sure this explanation is clear as mud. Here are some photos that might help understand it.
The brackets holding the left section of the fence:
Here's a photo of one of the brackets:
Here's the connection between the left and right fence sections:
The clamping feature of the saw table is probably difficut to understanad from my poor description. I don't know if this will help or not. It's a couple of photos of the saw table with the fence removed. You can see the 3/4 X 3/4 strip on the under side of the fence in the first photo. It fits in the channel behind it and is clamped in place my tightening the two chrome knobs on the front of the saw - think Workmate. This insures that the fence remains square to the cut line each time it is clamped in place.
Here is the table clamping mechanism:
A loose piece of MDF fits in the wide gap filling it in and leaving a narrow gap for the tenon on the bottom of the fence.
That's probably way more than you wanted to know, but I didn't know how else to explain it. Hope it makes sense.
Hank