Customer Reviews

Delta BC50W 50-Inch Commercial Biesemeyer Saw Fence System

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have the Grizzly 1023S which is more then plenty of saw for most serious hobbiests. But the Shopfox fence, which was said to be a so-called "Beisemeyer clone" is far from it! The ShopFox is shorter in height, is spot welded at the seems(poorly at that), and does not stay solid when locked down. No matter how much I tried to adjust the fence, it would never line up true - and stay there! The cam handle is flimsy, and feels like it will snap off if leaned on.

The Biesmeyer (I have the Commercial BC50W Platinum edition) however is a dream. I didn't even have to change out the Shopfox rail, which also had to be shimmed to fit - just like most any 3rd party fence systems.

I just dropped the fence down, adjusted the seat angle so the outfeed offset is between 1/64 and 1/80th of an inch, and it has been solid ever since. The welds are solid and true. The cam is STEEL, not hard plastic.

The only complaints I have about the Beismeyer is the lack of pre-drilled holes to mount a alternative (sacrificial) rip fence. It takes a brave person to drill holes through such a pretty, and expensive fence. I'll have to eventually. (gulp!)
Alternatively you can buy the beismeyer extension fence... for a little more then a hundred dollars. This would be unlikely since I have 5 other sacrificial fences of varying hieght/widths to use for those special purpose cuts and jigs.

The other little gripe is the lack of micro-adjust knob - like the Vega. But, since I've always bump set fences anyway, it's no big deal.

Also - Few other fence that I've seen comes with a metric tape! Sometimes measuring in cm rather then inches is helpful. Especially if you are trying to follow a european project plans. Shopfox, nor Grizzly have the option for differnet tapes. (strange since ShopFox is a European company!) I've made it a habit of measuring from the blade to fence anyway.. but the tape helps get the fence to within 1/64th of an inch quickly.

After reading the only other review for this fence which was quite negative I was hesitant to buy this fence. Especially since I have a Delta Contractors II fence (circa '96-'97) like he did. I called Biesemeyer to order the bracket for the on/off switch when I order the fence from Amazon. The bracket arrived the same day as the fence so I didn't have to wait before assembling it. Assembling it was a breeze. I guess I lucked out and have a version of Contractor II that has the holes in the right place (not that drilling two holes would have been that big a hardship). I'd guess I spent 20 minutes assembling it. I also planned on building the extension table. I don't know what special brackets he was talking about. The only brackets the manual calls out (note that the .pdf manual on the web is better than the actual manual) are for the legs on the extension table. Since they sell the extension table and the legs separately I don't know why you'd expect them with the fence. I'm certainly glad they don't make me buy them too and jack the price another $100.

I do find it strange that the other review didn't mention how well the fence actually worked. Maybe he's still building the extension table? Anyway once mine was assembled the fence was perfectly aligned with the miter slot and the blade. Compared with the piece of junk that comes with the CII there is just no comparison. The old fence I had to constantly check as it rarely locked down parallel. The new fence (so far) is perfect. Reading the scale is so much easier than the CII. The CII has this magnifying lens that makes it really easy to see the lines but the view is so restricted I was never sure that I was on the mark I wanted. The new fence doesn't have a lens but you can clearly see the entire scale and there is no doubt as to where you are. Being a "micrometer brain" type of guy I'd like to see a reflective surface on the guide tube so that you can eliminate parallax when reading the scale. However for woodworking it seems to be overkill. I love this fence and I'm sorry I waited so long to buy it.

I purchased this system a couple of weeks ago and I instantly fell in love with it. I ordered a custom fence. I got a 24 inch left and 50 inch right rail. I did this because my saw is a right tilt and this allows me to make cabinet doors on the left side and avoid the chance of pinching under the blade. It is rock solid. I used the template to set the front rail and it was about an 1/8th of inch to low. Instead of redoing the whole fence, I added two furniture slides available at any home improvement store underneath the fence. It works wonderfully. I am very pleased with fence system.

I wanted this fence system for my own home shop, having just retired. I previously had used one in a carpenter/cabinet shop for about 14 years, so was quite familiar with its stability and accuracy. My saw is an older Delta contractor model. I built a 6' by 8' saw table and installed the fence on it with no problem at all. It did take me longer to get it than I had hoped(backordered at Delta) but it is well worth it now. It took me no more tha 2 hours to install it completely with only minor final adjustments. Did not need the rear mounting angle, but did not have the option to not get it since it is a package deal. Called Biesemeyer in Arizona for the switch mount and I received it before I did the fence. I think Grizzly would do good to give their customers the option of getting this system on there cabinet saws.

Excellent product, simple installation on my Delta Unisaw, pre-drilled holes lined up exactly!

Love this add on for my RIDGID table saw. Had to drill several holes to adapt the system to my saw, but was well worth it.

This is in my opinion the best fence availabe. It was easy to install on my older unisaw. All pre drilled holes lined up perfect. This fence very accurate and stable. Since intalling it I have checked several times and it has never moved. I highly recommend the commercial system because the 42" fence is great. I would recommend this fence to anyone for almost any saw.

Fence system is great, just what I needed to finish up the new top for my old 10" delta contractor saw. Works great easy to put together, got a fairly good deal on it. Watch out for shipping prices on 30" though! (it was much cheaper to get 50")
Experience with product excellent! wish I had gotten one years ago!
experience with Amazon about a d-

I read the review regarding the Shop Fox fence and was quite surprised since mine works just great. I just purchased the Grizzly Contractor Left Tilt 2 HP w/Shop Fox fence and found the whole set up to be excellent. I am sure that the Biesemeyer Fence System is terrific, but for my money I found the Shop Fox an excellent value. For perspective, let's keep in mind the fence is just one of the variables to accurate cuts. The key is whether the fence (any fence) is, or can be made parallel to the blade. Shop Fox has several adjustments for this purpose. I found the fence rock solid. And I must say that I think some of us are getting just a little anal regarding the fence set up. Go ahead and spend your money, if you have it on the Biesemeyer but for all practical purposes the Shop Fox is the same fence for about one third less money.

After hearing so many accolades from woodworking magazines over the years about the Biesemeyer fence system, I wanted one very much. When it arrived, however, the troubles began. There is a special switch mount extension required for my 10" Delta Contractor's Saw. It turns out that you have to call Biesemeyer and ask that one be sent. No problem, they sent it---but this added a week to the time required to get the fence installed and functional.

A more major problem was the fact that the mounting method given in the manual did not work. I had bought the fence with one of the primary reasons being their advertisement that my particular power saw required no holes to be drilled. However, the holds in my saw were apparently not at the locations required. The folks at Biesemeyer told me that my particular saw (a Contractor's II) was manufactured in Mexico and that an index registration slot had been made a bit off and that this was used as an index for the drilling machine for the holes in the fence rail---with the result that the holes were in the wrong place. Upon looking carefuly at my saw, however, I noticed the small decal saying "made proudly in the USA" (or words to that effect). a The only solution was to shim up the fence or drill holes. A big disappointment.

Another problem: I was intending to build the required extension table, but special brackets are required, and these brackets were not shipped with the fence. I tried e-mailing Biesemeyer at the address given on their web site, but my email came back because of an "unknown address."

Seems to me that Biesemeyer is about to go "belly up." Maybe this is what happens when a big outfit like Delta buys out a small, successful company.

I would not recommend this fence to anyone.