Table saw upgrades

From cordless jobsite saws to large sliders, the term ‘table saw’ covers a lot of ground. But for most smaller shops, the reality is either a decent contractor unit or a cabinet saw. And the simplest and most immediately beneficial upgrade on a table saw is to switch to high quality, well-balanced, properly engineered, sharp blades that are specific to the material and cut.

The next step is to tune the machine and make sure it’s running true and making accurate cuts. There’s no joy in adding features to a saw that has runout in the arbor or a misaligned miter slot. There are numerous online tutorials that can help a woodworker complete a basic tune-up and once everything is square and reliable, it’s time to go shopping.

Years of daily use can cause wear and fatigue in T-style fences with friction bushings. But if the table is true and the motor is sound, a new fence can revitalize an old saw.

Harvey Woodworking (harveywoodworking.com) has developed the Big Eye rip fence system, which has a series of eight bearing-mounted rollers that are located between two hardened steel rods. The rollers replace traditional bushing style guides, and four of them are fixed while the others are adjustable. The Big Eye also comes with four built-in stops for repeat cuts. The fence lock is on the top, rather than in the traditional front location. Clamping force can be adjusted either at the front or back, and there’s a high-low plate that can be installed on either side of the fence. That plate can also slide toward the user to prevent kickback when using a miter gauge. There are T-slots on the top and sides. The Big Eye fits a wide range of table saws and comes in 36” and 52” widths.

Another interesting upgrade, the XT Xtender Fence from Bow Products (bow-products.com), comes in three sizes – 24”, 36” and 46”. But those aren’t ripping widths: they’re the lengths of the fence. And this isn’t a complete system with guide bars, but rather an auxiliary fence that can be added to almost any saw to add height and length to the existing fence. That can be a handy upgrade for a small jobsite saw being used to rip long boards or panels. The XT Xtender has T-slots on top and both faces for adding hold-downs and other jigs, and available infeed and outfeed supports for saw tables that aren’t very deep. Bow Products also make FeatherPRO feather boards and push sticks.

Woodpeckers (woodpeck.com) makes several proprietary upgrades for table saws, including the Rip-Flip fence stop system that’s designed for accurate repeatability. It allows a woodworker to limit the fence’s travel in either direction, so it can be used to rip stiles, rails, panels and even define dadoes. Micro-adjustment adds to the accuracy. Woodpeckers also makes a tapering jig, a spline jig, the Exact-90 miter gauge, and a ThinRip Guide for making multiple thin strips safely.

The WR750 fence from Wixey (wixey.com) is a professional upgrade that includes the company’s popular digital readout, and a micro-adjustment feature. It measures 36” to the right of the blade and 12” to the left.

VerySuperCoolTools (vsctools.com) makes a fence that works with cabinet, contractor, and sliding table saws. The company’s new Euro II model will work with both sliding and traditional cabinet saws and comes in either 42” or 48” lengths. The system uses a shop’s existing guide rails, and if those aren’t Biesemeyer-style, the company provides instruction to make and install the appropriate rails.

The Accusquare from Woodcraft Supply (woodcraft.com) is a square fence with T-slots that is relatively easy to install. Discouraging reviews on the retailer’s website are about shipping and bolts, but the fence performs well.

The latest Biesemeyer fence from Delta (deltamachinery.com) has a three-point locking system with twin hairline pointers, and a new and improved metal bar that flips down so the blade gets closer for smaller cuts.

Vevor (vevor.com) offers an inexpensive table saw fence system that can be added to many small saws and is a good option to replace a damaged or missing fence.

Vega (vegawoodworking.com) makes both professional and utility aftermarket fences, the former being for commercial shops with 10” or 12” saws that put in a full work week. Vega fences have been around a long time, which speaks to their durability and reliability. They come in a wide variety of sizes to fit most saws and rip capacities (up to 50”).

The TS-LS table saw fence from Incra Precision Tools (incra.com) is the answer for shops that need exquisite accuracy rather than high volume. It has automatic positioning, which uses a lead screw driven by a knurled knob to set a rip to within 0.002”. And it offers repeatability too, for switching between cut widths.

The W2005 Classic Fence from Shop Fox (grizzly.com/shopfox) is designed to fit almost all contractor and cabinet-style table saws. The 42” long fence has replaceable side panels made of HDPE plastic. The heavy walled rectangular tubing of the fence body is powder coated and locks positively into position with a cam-action lever, making one-handed fence adjustment a snap. The fence can be lifted off the rails anywhere along its length, and there’s 25” of rip capacity to the right of the blade.

iGaging (igaging.com) makes a digital readout, or DRO, that can be attached to the table saw and lets a woodworker see on a screen the exact setting between the fence and the blade. It can be used on fences up to 52” wide.

TigerStop (tigerstop.com) offers an automated fence that adapts to table saws and sliding table saws. Called the TigerFence, it has great adjustability and is accurate up to 0.003”. It allows operators to change dimensions without having to walk around the saw. The company notes that most users see up to 30 percent more productivity out of their saw every day.

The Rip-It Fence (rip-itfence.com) is a retrofit system that includes a motorized, touchscreen-controlled fence along with a rack rail and mount that attaches to a shop’s table saw. Just dial the cut width and watch the fence move quickly and precisely into place. Funded on Kickstarter in August 2023, the fence is currently available for pre-order sometime this spring.

SawStop (sawstop.com) introduced its new Revolution Miter Gauge and Scale Miter Gauge last October. The Revolution is set to an angle with the turn of a dial that’s connected to gears, and it offers increments of 1, 1/2, 1/4, or 1/10 degrees. The extruded aluminum telescoping fence has a maximum crosscut of 37-1/2” and includes a flip stop. The Scale has a protractor head with a pointer-and-notch mechanism that locks in 181 precise angles. It also has an adjustable miter bar, a heavy-duty extendable fence, and a micro-adjustable flip stop.

Woodhaven’s Deluxe Miter Gauge (woodhaven.com) offers several accuracy-related advantages, and its 7-1/2” width is ideal for table saws, larger band saws, shapers, and more.

Harvey makes the Compass MG-36 miter gauge that uses a spherical pin to lock the angles. It has a 36” crosscut fence, a clever trigger release, a premium eccentric block system to eliminate lateral play in the miter groove and overall, the kind of engineering one expects from a company that has access to the talents of John Economaki.

Woodturners in particular might be interested in the MiterSet from 12Kings Corp. (miterset.myshopify.com). There are two devices available. The first sets a miter gauge to any angle from 0.5 to 52.5 degrees. But the other, called MiterSet Segments, can cut up to 20 perfect segments for glue-up.

MicroJig (microjig.com) offers several versions of its Grr-Rip push blocks, a tapering jig, a splitter for saws without riving knives, ZeroPlay miter bars, and arbor shims that line up a blade perfectly with the splitter or riving knife.

Clear-Cut TS stock guides from Jessem (jessem.com) are well-engineered upgrades that hold work down and against the fence during cuts.

The Shark Guard (thesharkguard.com) is an aftermarket blade cover/dust extraction hood with a built-in LED light.

Most saw manufacturers offer replacement table saw blade inserts where the blade can be raised up through them to create a zero-clearance effect that eliminates the possibility of small parts falling into the void or jamming. And there are countless videos online that talk a woodworker through building a cross-cut sled, or one can be purchased from suppliers such as Infinity Tools, Rockler, Peachtree, Grizzly Industrial, Woodpeckers, Powertec, MLCS (online at hvalleytools.com), and more. Some of these outlets also sell segmented belts that run smoother and quieter than standard V-belts.

Some upgrades simply aren’t an option as an add-on to an existing saw. A good example is safety brakes. There’s no kit available, so the upgrade here is to invest in a new saw. Altendorf, SawStop, Felder Group and SCM all offer machines with this technology. 

This article was originally published in the April 2024 issue.