Fitting a fence upgrade

[lazy_pete]

I'm in the process of creating a unit for my TS-250 to go on, having got fed up of using it in the floor and with only the little top to work with. Also got irritated enough with the rip fence to buy the Axminster Upgrade Fence, which on first inspection I'm pretty impressed with.

I've worked out how to fit it (hardwood spacer block the drill and tap table edge for brackets), however I'm unsure where to mount it. The manual suggests placing the brackets as garage apart as possible, but I think that's based on a bandsaw and would limit the advantage gained in terms of length to the right of the blade. Is there a general consensus on where the left hand end of a rip fence support rail should go in relation to the blade? What's the advantage (if any) of being able to move the fence to the left of the blade?

Looking forward to the expert advice that always comes from UK Workshop !

Cheers,

Pete

 

[Steve Maskery]

The advantage of moving the fence to the left is that, if the machine is configured such that the blade tilts to the right, as is historically the case, it is safer to use the fence on the left when bevel-ripping, so that nothing can get trapped between the table, fence and canted blade.
Some modern saws have the blade tilting to the left, in which case it is not necessary to reposition the fence.

 

[lazy_pete]

Thanks Steve, that's exactly what I needed to know. Will line the left end up just to the left of the blade, to give enough bracket width for stability.

Cheers,

Pete