Bandsaw Fence Recommendations?

[jcredding]

I have an 18" Rikon bandsaw (model 10-345) and have always hated the fence that came with it. Though I don't do a lot, I need something that would be appropriate for resawing only occasionally. Would appreciate any thoughts on good options.

Thanks,
John

[jteneyck]

I know nothing of that saw but the fence looks pretty nice from the pictures I just looked at.  What don't you like about it?  A bandsaw fence doesn't need to be anything fancy.  As long as you can adjust it perpendicular to the table and parallel to the miter slot, and it locks in place w/o moving and minimal deflection that's all you need.  For resawing you can bolt or screw a piece of plywood or MDF to it as high as you need.  Witness the high end fence on my 14" Delta.



Don't know what more I would want. 

John

[BloomingtonMike]

If you do want fancy the laguna driftmaster is pretty nice.

[Greg Jones]

Here is what I did with mine years ago, along with the forum post I put together describing the process. It’s been 4 or 5 years now since I switched to this fence, and I’m still very happy with the conversion. I searched for the same fence on Amazon today, and they still have the Shop Fox D3575 fence for only about $15 more than I paid for mine.

Original Post

Here is my Rikon 10-345 resaw fence conversion to add to the others posted here. I mixed things up a little bit-Shop Fox has the same fence for a little less money on Amazon. I paid $153 with no shipping charge and even with KY sales tax it was about $15 less than the same fence shipped from Grizzly.



I first checked to see if the Grizzly/Shop Fox back rail could be used, but the holes were off just a little. The Rikon back rail does work fine as is, so that's what I went with.



The stock Rikon fence has threaded bosses underneath the table, so I marked the location of these with tape before laying out the location of the new mounting holes on the front of the table. You do not want to drill in this area.



One hole drilled, chamfered, and tapped for 1/4-20, only 3 more to go. The fence rail had been marked for center and cut in half on my miter saw.



I used stainless hardware to mount the fence, and I also added a stainless flat washer to each bolt between the fence and the table. By standing the fence off slightly, this will make up for any waviness on the front of the table. 



Low fence position.



High fence position, checking for square. I did have to align the fence to the miter slot, but it is dead square to the table without any additional adjustments.



And the view from the backside. I believe I'm going to be very pleased with this addition as the stock Rikon fence is pretty lame.

[rwe2156]

I have the same saw. The fence is ok for ripping but the little 3" high round thingy they give you for resawing is, yeah, a joke.

So I make my own resaw fences a couple different heights 4" and 8".
I use the existing fence to align it and clamp it to the table.

Works fine for me.

[Lumber Yard®]

I used the Rikon OEM fence for years and it can be serviceable. You can add a more significant single point d-rod to the fence for better performance. I posted the mod here years ago and quite a few Wner's adapted it for their saws.

With that being said, I followed Greg and put that same Shop Fox/Grizzly fence he has pictured on my Rikon 18" 10-345. I didn't feel like cutting the front rail on mine so, I have to spend an extra 5 minutes and unbolt it for blade changes. Since my saw is set-up for dedicated resaw use with a carbide blade my blade changes are very rare on this saw.

My Grizzly G0513 has an older model Jet T-style fence which is also very nice and it came with a nice large single point fence like what I was describing above to mod the OEM Rikon to be more usable. I'm not sure if you can purchase this tyle fence any longer form Jet but it was built very well with steel rails, etc. unlike some of the others with aluminum rails etc.

Unlike many folks here I'm not a fan of the Kreg. I had it years ago on a 14" bandsaw. It's serviceable but I think there are better options out there.

[Greg Jones]

I didn't feel like cutting the front rail on mine so, I have to spend an extra 5 minutes and unbolt it for blade changes. Since my saw is set-up for dedicated resaw use with a carbide blade my blade changes are very rare on this saw.

I probably should have expanded on that myself. If I knew then what I know now, I probably would not cut the front rail on mine either, for the same reason that you mention. I kept my 14" Delta and it sees a lot of blade changes, but the Rikon-not so much.

[jcredding]

Thanks for all the replies and ideas. I've been having trouble getting the fence to stay in place - seems to like to move a bit, which seems odd given the front and back support. Maybe will try to get it in shape one more time and then toss it out the window. Never have the problem with my Delta 14".

[Steve N]

I have an 18" Rikon bandsaw (model 10-345) and have always hated the fence that came with it.  Though I don't do a lot, I need something that would be appropriate for resawing only occasionally.  Would appreciate any thoughts on good options.

Thanks,
John

I have the 18" Rikon, and I use the fence to get parallel to the blade, but I keep it back from the blade so I can insert my tall resaw fence between the fence, and the blade. Once I feel that I am parallel I clamp the wooden fence to my table. For the upright part of the fence I like a melamine shelf board, which is nice and slick, and allows for my board to be resawn to slide easily forward. I made it similar to This fence My biggest difference is instead of cutting the board that sit on the table off at an angle I bring it straight back. This makes it easier to have something to clamp down to the table top. Once I had my wheels coplaner, and adjusted for proper crown, the bearings and the tension on the blade right, I was cutting nice slabs off on the first cuts.

Shown below is a pic of the fence, with the standard pin. Also in the pic is the Monster pin I bought from Earl, (Lumberyard) a few years ago. For quick and dirty following a line it works well too. The two have allowed me not to have to spend any $$$$$$$$$$ to buy a fence, because I wasn't wild about the stock fence either.

[MichaelMouse]

I have an 18" Rikon bandsaw (model 10-345) and have always hated the fence that came with it.  Though I don't do a lot, I need something that would be appropriate for resawing only occasionally.  Would appreciate any thoughts on good options.

Thanks,
John

Can't get much simpler or cheaper that this.  I fence to the right so my clumsy hand has the simple task of holding to the fence, while my righ hand feeds.