U26 Table Saw Fence System: 36-Inch Fence Bar, 26-Inch to Right

The fact that I waited so many years to upgrade to the this fence makes me really dumb. For years I struggled with my old (30 plus yrs.) Sears 10in. table saw fence, adjust, measure, tap tap, repeat and hope that the feance didn't move. Screwed up hundreds of board feet of wood. Out of frustration went to YouTube and built a homemade biesemyer style fence out of 1/2in plywood. Great improvement but still not what I was looking for. All this time I had the Vega fence on my Amazon Wish List but never pulled the trigger. I was also a little hesitant after reading some of the criticisms about the finish and installation. A couple of months ago I finally took the plunge. I waited to write this review until I had the ample opportunity for the 'honeymoon period' to wear off. Well it's been several months now and I'm still madly in love! First, it arrived in pristine condition. packaging was great and handled with care. Second, the finish on the parts was fine. A little overspray on some of the painted parts but you reall had to look to find it. The complaints about rough edges and having to file parts smooth are not what I found. Third, installation was so easy that I thought I had to have made a mistake after reading some of the negative comments. Including taking off my old fence, I guess it took about and hour to install. And that includes really taking my time. I didn't install the rear hold-down beacuse it's something I could do later if it was needed. So far it hasn't been. I did have to fool around a little to get plastic peice used to line up the measuring tape to zero. Rounded over the edges to to move it a little further to the left to get it directly over the zero. Moved the bar over to the blade to see if everything lined up correctly and the first cut was perfect. Now the most important part, performance. Ecstatic may be a little strong but I'm pretty darn close. I still will pull out my tape to see if the measurements are accurate but that's more about 'Old dogs and new tricks' issues. Never to to adjust the measurements after locking down the fence. Speaking of which, after you lock the fence, it ain't movin'. Talk aobut rock solid. Needless to say I could be happier with this purchase. I just have to stop kicking myself for waiting so long.

I own a 1947 Unisaw and at 73 years old it was time to replace the cranky old OEM fence. The Vega U26 was pretty straightforward if you have any mechanical ability but here’s a few tips for older Uni owners. Tip #1: The bolts that come with the Vega are 5/16”. The bolts that hold the original rails are 3/8-24. Go to the hardware store and buy 2 - 3/8-24 x 1 1/4” for the front and 2 - 3/8-24 x 2 1/4” for the back. The holes are drilled and tapped into the table and the front brackets and rear rail will bolt right in. Tip #2: Re-drill the holes in the rear bracket to 1/2”. You will need the addition clearance to let the rail drop below the miter slot. Tip #3: There is a plastic bumper that attaches on the underneath side of the fence. This bumper slides along the top of the rear rail. Remove the Phillips head screw and remove the flat washer from under the bumper. Removing the washer will allow the rear or the fence to drop down to the table. Tip #4: When you bolt the fence to the front mount you will have to remove the rear plate on the fence and slide out the Formica cover to access the four mounting screws. Leave the plate off until you adjust the front and rear rail. The instructions tell you to adjust the fence leaving a 1/16” gap between the bottom of the fence and the top of the table. The rear plate you removed is 1/16” thick. Lay it under the fence, drop the rails to get your clearance, re-tighten the rail bolts and remove plate from under the fence. A perfect 1/16” clearance. Tip #5: Before you lock down the four cap screws that hold the head in take a 3 foot 1 x 4 and drop it into the miter slot. Slide the fence flush up against the 1 x 4 and then tighten the four cap screws. If your miter slot is parallel with the blade then your fence will be parallel with the blade. Tip #6: If you’re going to add a sacrificial fence to your Vega don’t use 3/4” MDF because it’s too thick. Use 1/2 oak or another hardwood. I made an MDF fence and attacked it but there’s not enough adjustment in the rails to allow you to adjust the zero mark on the scale. Not that it’s perfect but here’s what I did. You need a way to attach the sacrificial fence to the Vega fence so I tapped the existing hole to 1/4-20. The pre-drilled hole is the perfect size of the tap. Then I planed a piece of white oak to 1/2”, drilled the fence holes and drilled a countersink for a 1/4-20 flathead screw. Works perfectly. Hopefully, these tips will help all the Unisaw owners out there.

I bought a Jet JWTS-10JF table saw. The JF stands for Jet Fence and it was lousy. It didn't rest anywhere near the table top (better than 1/8" from the top) and only the rear is adjustable. The front rail was as low as it would go, so I was out of answers - until I saw the Vega fence. I lost a little cutting space on the right (30" down to 26"), but since I'm working out of a single car garage it didn't really matter. Every review I read had indicated that the Vega fence worked on Craftsman and Delta saws, but not a word about Jet. Well, I ordered it anyway even though I would probably have to drill holes to make it fit. Surprisingly, it fit in the Jet's original holes. I even left the chromed Jet rear rail in place instead of replacing it with the shorter black rail from Vega. Installation was pretty straight forward except for the final adjustments. Maybe I was doing something wrong, but I don't see where. Everytime I tried to adjust the front rail and then tighten the bolts up, it raised the rail up and so the fence would be too high. I had to play around with it for about 30 minutes before I got it to my satisfaction. It is because of this that I gave it a 4-star rating. After final adjustments, the fence performed as promised. I set the fence to the tape measure and all cuts have been "on the mark". Locking the fence in place algins it perfectly. The fence removes from the rails just by picking it up. If, like me, you wind up with a less-than-satisfactory factory fence on your new (or old) saw, check into Vega fences. Their accuracy is outstanding and the price is right too. I got mine through Amazon.Com for about $178.00 with free shipping. I had it in about a week.