4 hours ago, kmealy said:

I have the UniFence, since I got my saw after Biesmeyer came out but before Delta started putting them on.

 

Pros
-  can pull the fence back so you can use as a cross-cut stop without it being where the blade is.  Or if you want to go European mode, so fence stops at back of blade to avoid pinching if the wood has a little spring in it

- has two positions.  Lower one is thin so would work well if you are trimming a piece that has laminate or veneer applied

- height is somewhat adjustable, so you can raise enough to not have sawdust become a problem

 

Cons

- Hard to get a jig that straddles the fence because there is no square back side and the guide extends beyond the fence in the near side 

- If you need to switch from the fence on the right to the left (e.g., you are doing bevels on a right-tilt saw), you have to take the fence off and move it to the other side as it's not reversible (see con #1)  Not a big deal, but you can't just slide it over the blade.   Also, at least on mine, there is no indexing tape measure on the left side of the blade

- Made of aluminum.  Most fences that I see have a little saw blade shadow on the blade side where it got too close

 

 

All that said, I've never found it so much a problem that I'd want to change to something else.  Been using it since mid 80s

 

 

That's a good solid review, Thanks!

I'm still using the original fence to my saw that runs on a geared rail in the front and locks to the table top on the back. Always had to leave a gap between the back of the saw & the outfeed table and any sawdust that traveled with the wood would fall onto the motor. I have made gigs and push blocks that slide over the fence, 1.5" wide, and I'd like to keep that option open with the new table. With the Biesemeyer this would allow me to close the gap above the motor. @Ron Dudelston thanks for asking & thanks for the advice guys.

Ron, you may want to hold up on the fence....watching the news this morning it sounds like you might be able to get several blades with it, and a few other goodies.

On 12/22/2020 at 9:46 AM, DuckSoup said:

Does the Biesemeyer have a front and back rail or just one front rail?

 

Mine has a back rail but it is the 52" model.  The back rail comes in to catch the fence when it is extended out past the saw table for wide cuts. 

51 minutes ago, HandyDan said:

 

Mine has a back rail but it is the 52" model.  The back rail comes in to catch the fence when it is extended out past the saw table for wide cuts. 

 

Was the back rail an option upon ordering the fence Dan? I don't remember having one, I may have gotten it but opted not to install it as I built my side table out to accommodate a full 52" cut, I guess I didn't really have too, but I did, I figured what could it hurt to have that much table out there, if anything it made additional assembly space for items or?

Image below was the day I sold my TS and most things that came with it, I included the OEM Grizz fence and rails among other things I knew I couldn't use with my Shopsmith. The Beis was a great fence, like I stated, I adjusted it once, the day I installed it in 2002, and never adjusted it since, sold the saw in 2018.

 

Actually, I do remember now, it did have a back rail. Hmmm, I just don't remember why I guess. But do remember, I had the back rail.

I've had my Unifence for over 30 years, only complaint is the difficulty of adding auxiliary fences (for those of us not wanting to drill holes in the aluminum extrusion). I bought the Uni-T-Fence Uni-T-Fence from Peachtree a couple of years ago (held on to the old extrusion as I really like the low option when ripping thin materials. One thing I really like about the Unifence is how easy it is to adjust parallelism of the fence to the blade - with the Woodpecker gauge set-up, adjustment of the fence is as easy as sweeping the indicator from the rail to the outer end and back, making the adjustment as the indicator is moving, still possible with the new fence. And a fixture - eg a tenoning jig - that slides along the fence is pretty simple; you can't easily straddle the fence because of the T-shaped mounting casting, but it's easy enough to have the back of the jig slide along the fence, with the rear retained by a "key" that fits in one of the T-bolt slots on top of the fence.

4 hours ago, DuckSoup said:

I'm still using the original fence to my saw that runs on a geared rail in the front and locks to the table top on the back. Always had to leave a gap between the back of the saw & the outfeed table and any sawdust that traveled with the wood would fall onto the motor. I have made gigs and push blocks that slide over the fence, 1.5" wide, and I'd like to keep that option open with the new table. With the Biesemeyer this would allow me to close the gap above the motor. @Ron Dudelston thanks for asking & thanks for the advice guys.

 

I myself prefer the geared rail fences. Turn the knob instead of bumping the fence back and forth.

I've got one of the early Delta fences that allows you to pull the geared knob out, and lift the fence off the rails.

7 hours ago, John Morris said:

Was the back rail an option upon ordering the fence Dan?

 

Nope, came as a package.  Still does I believe.  I Used it to attach the side table.  How did you attach yours?

 

25 minutes ago, HandyDan said:

How did you attach yours?

Ya I clearly remember Dan, I did have the back rail, duh. That's how I got my side table secured.

Beis has two rails and will not work right without both. On initial set up you adjust both but the back is only there for leveling and support so the fence does not scrape the saw top.

UPDATE:  the new fence has been purchased and installed.  I looked at all of the reviewed and bought a Vega primarily because it had great reviews and it was an easy swap out for my Uni.  In fact, it works a lot like my 73 year old OEM fence.  I really like it because it slides off the front tube rail quickly and it has a killer micro adjustment feature.  All in, $329.