Kreg bandsaw fence.
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Hello again.
I’m thinking about buying the Kreg KMS 7200 fence for my bandsaw. My bandsaw is second-hand and the fixing lever of the fence has a little of play. It still works but it could be better.
I’ve never used a Kreg product. Reading and watching reviews of this fence it looks to be a good fence, sturdy and rigid, but I’ve also read that it has some flaws, mainly from it is an universal fence and you have to make a little work to fit the table of some bandsaw models. I’ve read that the adjust between rail and fence fixing could be better, witn less play, and sometimes doesn’t run parallel to the bandsaw table, scratching it and stucking.
So my question is: has anybody tried this fence? Could some of you give me first-hand information? It costs almost 160 euro in Spain. Though it is not excesively expensive, I would like to be secure not to be spending money in a poor quality fence.
Thank you all in advance.
“fixing lever has some play”
On my saw, when I tighten the knob that locks down the fence, the fence twists a bit. So, one cannot position the fence and then tighten down. What I discovered, though, is that there is a Goldilocks point of tightness at which twist is done, but one can still tap the fence and achieve small adjustments, then finish tightening. This twist, by the way, affects the squareness of the fence to the edge of the table, so it must be taken into account when fettling the saw.
Is there any chance this would work with your problematic fence? So, position the fence. Tighten to the Goldilocks point. Tap in the final adjustment, and lock down fully.
If this ever ends up not being an adequate solution, what I may try doing is attaching a pair of “switchable” magnets to the fence. These are permanent magnets with knob that can be turned to turn them on / off. (It isn’t an electromagnet. It is a clever arrangement of permanent magnets that, when rotated, sort of cancel or enhance the fields of the individual elements). So, the idea here is that the fence could be fettled to slide while staying square, but then locked down in place via the magnets. Search for MagFence MagJig for an example of the magnets. I’ve not tried this yet, so cannot say if it works on a bandsaw.
I got my band saw with no fence or miter gauge, so I have made mine. The fence is a simple design with a toggle clamp to pull it square against the table. A lot easier and cheaper to buy a couple of toggle clamps and make a fence that you can fit to the table. (If you were feeling particularly adventurous, you could probably do something with wedges instead of the toggle clamp, but it’s up to you. Personally, I would never spend that much money on something like that.)
Search YouTube for $5 Self Squaring Quick Release Fence for an idea what I am talking about.
I use a straight piece of wood, 2 clamps & a machinist square. About 4″ square seems to work best as it mostly avoids hitting the blade.
Check for square on both front & back.
Hardest thing being when you have to bump (adjust) one end. You’ll need to go back & forth.
But it’s CHEAP!!!
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