Tablesaw Fence Support

Stand-Tall Tablesaw Fence

Here's a simple fixture that makes workpieces stand upright and ready for cutting.

Now you can stand workpieces, such as raised panels, upright and cut their edges on your tablesaw. Just use this auxiliary tablesaw fence designed by WOOD� magazine reader Joe Xaver of Auburn, Illinois. The jig bolts temporarily to your saw's existing fence to let you make these cuts safely and accurately, and folding supports make for flat storage.

Before you begin, take a few measurements from your saw to ensure proper fit. First, examine your saw's existing fence to see if drilling it for the machine screws, where shown in the drawing below, will interfere with the fence's operation, and adjust the locations if necessary. For webbed extension wings, measure between the centers of the webs at the front and rear of the extensions. Make the removable spreader this length, and add 1-1/2" to find the length of the crossmember. (The dimensions shown are for a table that is 26-1/2" between the centers of the front and rear webs.) For saws with solid extension wings, shorten the dimensions shown for those pieces by 4".

Armed with that information, build the auxiliary fence as shown in the drawing. Drill 5/16" holes in your fence to match the location of the t-nuts, and bolt the tall fence to your saw's fence as shown in the photo above.

Before using the jig for the first time, adjust the nylon glides so the tall fence is perpendicular to your saw's table top. When you're done, unbolt the unit from your fence, pop out the removable spreader (attach it to the top edge of the crossmember for storage), fold up the legs, and hang the unit on a wall.

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