I love the Type H rack and pinion (R&P) fence on my Oliver 270.  The micro adjust makes it very easy to dial in on exact measurements, but it's not very user friendly for jigs.  The design even makes it difficult to clamp a feather board to it.

Here's the Type H tilting R&P fence with micro adjust

When I had a Unisaw with a Biesemeyer fence I made several jigs that straddled the fence. The square sides made it very easy for clamping stops, feather boards or a sacrificial boards to it for cutting rabbets.  So after I got rid of the Unisaw a couple years ago I have been on the lookout for a T-square style fence for my Oliver.

Friday I was looking for some goodies in a big warehouse and there hiding in the corner was a Type G Ripping fence .... Perfect. He wanted 50 buck, I offered 40 and he accepted. A lot cheaper than the $400 I paid for the Type H fence.

It's in descent shape with a slight mark on the side where it hit a saw blade.

Unfortunately the fence rail was nowhere to be found so I gathered up some materials that I had kicking around the shop to make my own.

I found some 1/2 inch thick bar stock, 3/4 inch round stock and a 1/4 inch thick piece of angle iron.

I cut everything to size and did a dry fit ... looks like it will work.

I threw the rusty bar stock and the fence in the electrolysis tank, stripped the paint off of the angle iron and then painted and polished all the parts.

The fence is cast iron and weighs 35 lbs by itself .. Good and solid.

The Type G ripping fence was standard equipment on the Oliver saws and the R&P fences were optional. The funny thing is I have only seen one other Oliver with a Type G fence and all the rest of them have the R&P fences.

That's some sweet fabrication. Your saw is such a beautiful machine. I could only dream of owning one.

Shane that is bad to the bone. I love what you did, and the retrofitting of the fence is way cool.

Now, with your custom fab of the fence, is it close to the original? Just curious, because it looks like the one you made came right out of the factory, did you have some specs to work off of/ Very nice sir>

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Wounded Warrior Project and Homes For Our Troops

Shane,

Nice find!  

 

Larry

Old Woodworking Machinery Forum Host

Thanks Guys.

John I don't know if its close to the original or not, I have never seen one or seen any drawings, just made something that I thought would work.

John Morris said:

Shane that is bad to the bone. I love what you did, and the retrofitting of the fence is way cool.

Now, with your custom fab of the fence, is it close to the original? Just curious, because it looks like the one you made came right out of the factory, did you have some specs to work off of/ Very nice sir>

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Wounded Warrior Project and Homes For Our Troops

Well Shane, if one were made, it would look like that!

Shane Whitlock said:

Thanks Guys.

John I don't know if its close to the original or not, I have never seen one or seen any drawings, just made something that I thought would work.

John Morris said:

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Wounded Warrior Project and Homes For Our Troops

I know the feeling when it comes to the tilting fence. I too have the same problem on my 232. I have been looking for a G fence as well for the same reasons. But, as like all arn prices they are cost prohibitive. Nice grab and nice fabrication. Keep us updated on how it works out.

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My job is to give my kids things to discuss with their therapist

I've looked on craigs list but can only find 1 for sale in the U.S. are these rare?

I love old iron too.  They put a lot of thought and engineering into those machines.  Nothing like today if you want that kind of quality now, you have to spend hundreds of thousands on machinery.

 Is that a South Bend in the background there?

Mike I would think they are pretty rare, I have only seen a few of them through the years. I'm curious, how much was the one on Craigslist?

Cliff that is my old Heavy 10 South Bend that I restored a couple of years ago. It probably gets more use than any machine in my shop.

Here's what it looked like when I got it for 50 bucks

and after restoration.

Shane I think it was $3,000.00 and it was in need of restoration from an appearance stand point. It also didn't have rip fence. The listing did say it was operable.

Wow that's a beautiful lathe, and what an awesome restoration.

Shane, may i be so bold as to make a suggestion or two?

On the tightening knob for that new fence it might be a good idea to use a piece of that bar stock BETWEEN the screw and the guide rail.  This will not only give it more surface area to grab but will help keep the fence straight while it slides back and forth.

 

As for the new fences nowadays i Mainly attach a board of Rock Maple to the face of the new fence.  That way i can clamp to it and if it's a couple of inches higher i can build a jig that can slide along the top edge ( such as making my own tenon jig).

 

That is such a sweet machine!!!!

Mike, I thought ya was talking about the G fence being rare, not the saw itself. The saws are fairly common, mostly used in industrial settings and school shops. If ya look on the Vintage Machinery site you can see quite a few of them.

Dragon, great minds think alike I was planning on adding a piece of the bar stock between the screw and rail, just didn't have time to get to it last weekend. I like your suggestion of adding a board to the fence that is a little taller than the fence, in fact that would probably work on my R&P fence too. Thanks for the idea!

I didnt realize you only paid $50 for the South Bend. For that you deserve the YOU SUCK of the year!!

Shane Whitlock said:

Mike I would think they are pretty rare, I have only seen a few of them through the years. I'm curious, how much was the one on Craigslist?

Cliff that is my old Heavy 10 South Bend that I restored a couple of years ago. It probably gets more use than any machine in my shop.

Here's what it looked like when I got it for 50 bucks

and after restoration.

Shane,

               I can only recall ever seeing a handfull of Oliver machines with the T-Square fence. It seems to me that having a saw setup with both the R&P and the T-Square is just about as good as it gets.

-Arthur

http://www.owwm.net