Biesemeyer Fence hold downs

[Touchwood]

Hi Folks,

Still haven't got my intro on the site, but I'm the "black walnut desk" guy that Jeff posted the pictures for last week. I managed to get one of the $80 Bies fences at Lowes in Sanford,... they still had one, and another in an open box last Thursday for what it's worth.

I have a 20 year old Unisaw with the original fence. The fence has served me well, but now seems to re-align itself after I "nudge" it for fine adjustments. The Bies looks much better.

I'm looking for any suggestions on the best way to attach the "yellow wheel hold-downs" ( board buddies) to the Bies. I know I could simply screw a wood platform to the top of the fence and mount the wheels on that, (yuk), but I'm thinking there's probably some kind of track set up that would allow more flexibility in their placement.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Don;-)

 

[Travis Porter]

I don't have them, but I have seen them mounted on something like a t - track. I think the company that makes the board buddies sells them. For that matter, you could get a Kreg T track that holds 1/4" bolt heads in position and use that.

One thing to consider though. The Biesemeyer (which I have) is not clamped at the back and the board buddies will push the back of the fence up some. When I use feather boards I usually clamp the back side of the fence down.

Good luck, and LOVE the desk!

 

[JimmyC]

Don,

The tracks that Travis speaks of are available from Grizzly (www.grizzly.com). I think the price is $13.95 for a 12", and $18.95 for a 24". I' ve used 'em for years and I love 'em. Good Luck.

Jimmy

 

[Touchwood]

Thanks Guys,

I have some 24" T-track, I guess I have to drill and tap holes to mount it on top of the Bies, or use epoxy. Screws are probably better. How much do the yellow wheels lift the end of the fence? Have you thought of mounting one of those "pull-up" type toggles to the end?

The desk gets delivered next week, so I'll be able to get better pictures. The customer loved it when he saw it for the first time Friday. I'm working on a matching file cabinet.

Take care,

Don

 

[SteveColes]

Don, somewhere in my shop disaster, I have some of the "official" Board Buddies track. Its yours for coming over for a visit.:eusa_danc

 

[Travis Porter]

I don't think it lifts over a 1/4" tops, but it will lift a little. I hadn't considered a toggle, not a bad idea. As for the track, I would screw it down that way it can be removed if necessary compared to epoxy.

 

[Touchwood]

Hi Folks,

Finally figured out how to crunch my JPEGs and upload them to the site. I guess I'll set up some albums inthe Photo Gallery now.

Thanks for all the helpful inputs on the Biesemeyer hold down issue. As you can see from the pictures I had to lop off the left side of the tube to avoid the sliding table..I took off 6" on the right as well. I rarely (never) need to rip wider than 24" and I have limited space on that side...I'm sure I'd be walking into it all the time, so it's now only an inch longer than the front rail. Scott Smith has a metal cutting band saw that made a very clean, straight cut-off on the tube.

I've had my yellow wheels for years..don't think they make them quite the same today..but they've saved me from nasty kickbacks many times. It just seems better to me to squeeze the wood against the fence on the inside of the cut, rather than push on it from the outside with a featherboard. The only time I've taken a shot was when I was in a hurry, didn't bother with the wheels and paid the price. The tips of a 10" blade at 3500 RPM are moving at about 120 MPH ...so the piece kicking back can produce bad colored marks on your body.

I attached the T-track by tapping 6-32 holes in the top. The close-up shows the end of the fence spacing to the table without and with a rip in place. What you actually see is the edge of the slip-strip I stuck on the fence face. There's virtually no lift. My Rube-Goldberg approach to holding the end down was to tap 1/4-20 bolts into the bottom of the fence and run a bearing along the underside of the back rail. All the parts were from Ace Hardware including the bearing. The bearing actually misses the bottom of the rail by a hair, so there's no drag on the fence, and when the fence is clamped, contact to the rail is made but there's no shift in it's horizontal position.

Hope this helps anyone that wants to use the yellow wheels with this fence.

Take care,

Don

 

[Travis Porter]

Very good idea on the rear hold down. Easy to take off and slides with the fence. Very impressive!

 

[JimmyC]

Great job on the back of the Biesy fence Don, I'm gonna have to steal the idea for my saw and rollers.

Jimmy