Rip Fence - Right Side or Left Side

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 1:50 pm

Is there a correct/incorrect location for the rip fence (with respect to the blade) or is this strictly a personal preference sort of thing?

I had visitors last week and both of them have done a lot of woodworking. They both have nice shops and many years of experience but we got into several discussions where it soon became obvious that we don't think alike.

They were both appalled that I setup with the my rip fence to the right of the saw blade.

I think I learned to do that because the majority of the table top (on my SS) is to the right of the blade. I typically setup the extension table and a floating table there as well.

Also typical, for me, is to setup the jointer whenever I'm doing a great deal of ripping. That sort of forces all other activities to the right side.

I am especially interested in hearing opinions that are based in SAFETY. If this is just a habitual sort of thing and is not seen to be hazardous, I'll probably never change. If the general opinion is that this is UNSAFE, I'll try to mend my ways; which will be difficult after all of these many years.

For whatever it is worth, I have New Yankee Workshop videos with Norm setup both ways. All I think I see him doing is attempting to avoid being directly behind anything that is positioned between the fence and the blade (avoiding kickback hazards).

dwevans · Post by **dwevans** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 4:08 pm

I know of no safety reasons for setting up either way. My grandfather had the fence on the left side of the blade forever. When my dad upgraded the fence system it went on the right. I also use either side depending on what I need to cut and what support is needed and how much room I have. Long stock and crosscuts I cut with the fence to the left, on wide stock I tend to put the fence on the right as this just works better for me.

Great question, wonder what everyone else prefers

john · Post by **john** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 4:57 pm

Dusty:

I guess I'm with you, for most work, the fence goes on the right. also like you I think it became habit because most of the table is there. I have moved to the left a few times but cannot remember what prompted that.

Have fun.

John

james.miller · Post by **james.miller** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 5:00 pm

If you will look at the Powermatic table saws you will find that the extra large side of the table with the rip fence is on the right side of the blade. http://www.powermatic.com/OurProducts/i ... =2&CID=796 If this is how the cabinet saws are set up to use "most" of the time it should work just fine on our Shopsmiths.

Also a left tilt arbor is more common on the big cabinet saws according to the Delta Rep that was at the local Woodcraft store last fall. This is also the same as our Shopsmiths.

robg · Post by **robg** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 5:56 pm

My understanding is that it is personal preference, usually dicated by whether you are left or right handed. In the case of the shop smith, I always want to be on the left side of the blade (with teh fence on the right) b/c it's the only way I can get to the power switch without crossing the plane of the blade.

The most important thing, again in my understanding, is to not be directly behind the blade and to never "cross over" the blade while it's moving.

I would love to hear from a real expert about the issue.

reible · Post by **reible** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 7:59 pm

Hi,

I would say that 95% of my work I use the rip fence to the right. Sometimes just because of a previous set-up or for some other reason it easier I will use the fence to the right.

Hard to say if it is safer or if anyone has done a study on which side is used most often. At home the old saw had a rack gear that was primarily on the right side so that got me started that way. In school the saw was set the same way so my formative years were always to the right. The rockwell saw I had just before I got the shopsmith had more room to the right and again I used the right....

In terms of shopsmith design the old table 500 table had two saw slots and this favored the fence on the right as well. I think the MVII has that feature too.

As was mentioned you normally want the blade tilted away from the fence which again points to the right side on the shopsmith.

If you were to purchase an item like "board buddies" the anti kick back feature they use is to use a "wheel" that turns in only one direction. The set for table saws are shown with the fence mounted to the right. (If you don't know what they are just google them.)

If you happen to want to use the fence on the left side of the shopsmith and the distance is such that a floating table needs to be over the headstock another issue develops with depth of cut, by about 1-1/4" if I recall right.

That is about all I can think of now but I reserve the right to add more later if the mood strikes me.

Ed

Greenvilleguy · Post by **Greenvilleguy** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 9:10 pm

I've always (well almost always) worked with the fence on the right. I keep the jointer mounted most of time which requires the floating tables be on the right.

I'm always suprised in the SS ads for the 520 that the "fixed" extension table is on the left. I always mount mine on the right. Am I missing something????

Ed in Tampa · Post by **Ed in Tampa** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 12:50 am

If I may.

In the ancient past most table saws were right tilt and sheet material was in short supply. Since most people were right handed and they wanted to stand left of the blade and push with their right hands. Therefore it made sense to put the fence on left side of the blade. This insured that the blade never got tangled up with a tilted blade and they didn't reach across the blade.

Then two things happened, one sheet material (ply wood) became more prevelant and left tilt saws came into being. Tables and fences began to get longer to enable a user to cut at least into the middle of sheet (24+"). Then manufactures to increase sales increased the length so you could cut in the middle of the sheet length wise (50"). They put these extra long tables on the right side of the blade to keep the from making the user walk around them in the shop.

People got use to standing in front of the blade and pushing with both the right and left hand. Then they realized if they kept the fence on the right side to cut bevels the wood could get trapped and be kicked back. The Cry went up for left tilt blades again to minimize conflict with the fence and blade.

Now if you notice most people use the fence on the right of blade except those that are old school and the mitre on the left.

My old shop teacher would kill anyone standing in front of the blade or using his left hand to feed wood. You feed standing to the left using your right hand and your left hand if not needed to push the wood through was used to hold onto the fence or left table edge to insure you couldn't slip into the blade. The uncontrolled or cutoff piece was always far to your right so if there was any kick back it would miss you.

Today I feed using my right hand on the right side of the blade but I can still hear my shop teacher counseling me on the danger of placing my body in danger zone and not using my left hand to insure I could never slip into the blade. Or crossing the blade with my right hand (though I usually use a push stick).
Ed

scottss · Post by **scottss** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 10:07 am

Allmost all full size table saws the fence goes to the right more than the left. Yet in most shopsmith video's (sawdust therapy) the fence is set up on the left. I like some others here have set it up on the right and had my jointer set up on the left. But recently I made a router table and have it set up on the right and my ext table on the left. Also you can get a bigger cut I believe on the left. As far as safety goes that depends on if your left handed also.

Ed in Tampa · Post by **Ed in Tampa** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 10:37 am

scottss wrote:Allmost all full size table saws the fence goes to the right more than the left. Yet in most shopsmith video's (sawdust therapy) the fence is set up on the left. I like some others here have set it up on the right and had my jointer set up on the left. But recently I made a router table and have it set up on the right and my ext table on the left. Also you can get a bigger cut I believe on the left. As far as safety goes that depends on if your left handed also.

Scott
Not to derail this thread I would sure like to see how you did your router table. Got any pictures????
Ed