# The Ultimate Axminster TS-200 Fence Upgrade!!!



## Skyhigh_Arb (27 Aug 2010)

Well I recently purchased a Axminster TS-200 table saw, although I was very happy with my purchase I quickly realised that the rip fence was just not quite up to scratch.

So after a few days of researching every bit of information I could find on the internet I came to the conclusion that nobody seems to have fitted a real fence to these saws. I then made it my mission to find a way to fit a Biesemeyer T Square type fence.

As many of you will already know these are the ultimate table saw fences and really add a professional approach to ripping any material. The T Square design also allows many types of home made jigs to be used in conjunction with the fence.

My choice of fence was unfortunately not a Biesemeyer as these reatil for around £300 and instead managed to get a Delta T2 36-T30 as these are a clone and only cost around £100. It has received very good reviews in the United States and for the price its a bargain especially as Delta own Biesemeyer and therefore have built this fence along side them.

Here are some before and after photos. I also have a full set of photos of fitting my fence and will be making a guide on how to fit.















































I have not fitted a rear rail yet as I will be building a cabinet for the saw.


----------



## wizer (27 Aug 2010)

You Win! Well Done!! =D>


----------



## Skyhigh_Arb (27 Aug 2010)

Thank you, nice to know its appreciated. This modification has completely transformed the saw as the fence is rock solid and completely adjustable so I can cut in a straight line. Before max cut to the right 750mm now 1250mm!!!

Well worth the couple of hours in the cold fitting and fabricating it last night!!


----------



## liamscanlan (27 Aug 2010)

Hi there,

Looks very good. 
Could you tell us the source for the fence - did you import it?
Many thanks,
Liam


----------



## Skyhigh_Arb (27 Aug 2010)

Evening Liam,

Yes unfortunately the only way to get hold of a decent fence is to get it from the US.

Thanks Will


----------



## StevieB (27 Aug 2010)

Nicely done Sir! So where did the fence come from, did the £100 include the rails and did the £100 include the shipping cost and taxes as well or were they all on top? 

I have one of these saws now and would be interested in such a modification if it was all in for £100, but that seems a bit cheap to me!

Thanks for any info,

Steve


----------



## Skyhigh_Arb (28 Aug 2010)

Sorry fence and rails come as a package for around £100, shipping it over is about £150 or go for a holiday and come back with it. However its a very large and heavy package so which ever way you do it its going to be expensive.

I managed to modify the saw and fence to fit with all of about £10

Hope this helps. I will be doing a full guide into this, and next time I go over to the US I shall be collecting another fence. As they are worth every penny.


----------



## SammyQ (28 Aug 2010)

OOOOkkkaaaaayyy........what happens to the stability of the TS200 when you wack the Big B off to the right...an' the weight of the Big B is acting through the considerable moment of the distance (1250mm you said?). form it to the saw base ....an' that's some weight ..an' the end of the Big B is unsupported at the end away from the operator...Not bein' narky y'unnerstand, just really curious!!   

Sam 

PS I've got a smashing wee TS200 too, so I'm not being a hypocrite!


----------



## Mike.C (28 Aug 2010)

What a smashing job. If as Sammie says it becomes unstable, it would be an easy enough job to fit something like the blue leg on the sliding table.






My only worry would be kickback on that full length fence, did you buy the add on short fence that attaches to the long one?

Your a very brave man to take on what to me would have looked impossible conversation.

Cheers

Mike


----------



## Skyhigh_Arb (28 Aug 2010)

Hey, 

weight has not been a problem at all, I find that its sitting very stable at the moment however only just fitted so not been fully tested yet. 

As mentioned before I will be building a cabinet for it to sit on which will make it all that bit more stable.

I did originally think of fitting a leg or 2 at the end for taking that extra weight but if I get round to building my cabinet I wont need to worry about this.

Did not buy the additional fence as these can be knocked up easily for a few pounds, so cant justify the silly money that they want for them.

Once I have fully tested it I will be posting a full review and step by step fitting guide with full photos. It really was a very easy fit, the most difficult part is getting hold of a decent fence.

Thanks Will


----------



## StevieB (30 Aug 2010)

Skyhigh_Arb":guzhlm5s said:


> Sorry fence and rails come as a package for around £100, shipping it over is about £150 or go for a holiday and come back with it. However its a very large and heavy package so which ever way you do it its going to be expensive.
> 
> I managed to modify the saw and fence to fit with all of about £10
> 
> Hope this helps. I will be doing a full guide into this, and next time I go over to the US I shall be collecting another fence. As they are worth every penny.



Okay, so that about £260 for a decent fence. I guess for the price of the TS plus £260 you cannot get a much better table saw so looks like you have a neat solution.Well done!

Steve


----------



## wizer (30 Aug 2010)

StevieB":3fdjabi6 said:


> Skyhigh_Arb":3fdjabi6 said:
> 
> 
> > Sorry fence and rails come as a package for around £100, shipping it over is about £150 or go for a holiday and come back with it. However its a very large and heavy package so which ever way you do it its going to be expensive.
> ...



I agree, however, I can't really fault the upgrade I did with the bandsaw fence from Axi. You're welcome to come and have a look at mine.


----------



## Skyhigh_Arb (30 Aug 2010)

I do think its a lot of money to spend as a upgrade, at the end of the day its almost as much as the saw itself. 

However it really is worth every penny and anyone is welcome to come and see it in action. 

There are ways to cut costs it does not have to be expensive! If you or a friend is conveniently travelling back from America. Luckily I have family out there and we are all on flight concessions. We also get cargo allowance so I have a few ways of getting things over.

I know this will not apply to all, perhaps its time to take the family to Disney for a holiday? 

And its still a cheaper option importing it then buying the Incra system available here, not only that but the T Square system is far more versatile!

Thanks Will


----------



## Mike.C (30 Aug 2010)

£150 for shipping I missed that :shock: What company did you ship with? That's the trouble with p&p costs from the US, there is such a huge difference. I forget the exact figures but I had about $350 worth of goods shipped from Woodpeckers, and the cost I was given for shipping on their website was $300 using UPS, with 7 to 10 days delivery. So I emailed them asking if they could give me some quotes from other companies, and in the end I went with USPS at a cost of $54 with a 3 to 5 day delivery.

All the other quotes were around $70 to $110 which begs the question _Why are UPS charging so much?_ One thing that made the above costs better was the £ to the $ which at the time was very good, but you still have to shop about for shipping. I know that your fence is probably heavy, but I still thing you could have got it for at least half the cost if you had gone with someone else.

On the other hand, because you have made such a huge difference to your saw it still has to be well worth the cost.

Although I am satisfied with the fence on my 01446 SIP table saw, I am tempted to make the change. Do you think I would have any problems?

Cheers

Mike


----------



## Skyhigh_Arb (30 Aug 2010)

Afternoon Mike,

I looked into shipping a lot and was getting quotes of up to $450, I think the cheapest I found in the end was with DHL at around £75 plus vat plus fuel charge. I just allowed a little extra as you would also get hit with vat and import duties on receiving the item.

You have to keep in mind that the package in total is 1.5 M in length by 40cm in height and 15cm in width if I remember correctly and it weighs 23kg!!

Couriers get all a little funny about heavy and large items and like to stick a silly price tag on shipping them.

As for upgrading your fence on the SIP 01446, I have personally experience with this saw, therefore not the best person to comment on it. However if its straight and does what you want it to do I don't see any reason to replace it.

If it aint broken why fix it?

The only reason I changed mine is because I thought it was a complete waste of space and wanted something a hell of a lot better that I could adjust a make jigs for.

From the photos on the net yours seems fairly good but as I said I have no experience with your saw.

Many thanks Will


----------



## 9fingers (30 Aug 2010)

Xcalibur saws from Woodford in UK use an almost identical fence in their delta cabinet saw copies (the only saw I know of sold in UK that takes a dado head)
However I did find slight stress twists in the aluminium extrusions meant that the two faces were neither parallel nor at 90 degrees to the table all along their length.
An hour or so messing about with paper shims soon had it in tune though.

Might be worth a check on yours. The problem only comes to light edge grooving panels or when working with the fence to the left of the blade usually with the blade tilted.

Bob


----------



## Skyhigh_Arb (30 Aug 2010)

Hey Bob,

Thanks for the advice, the rails on mine are mild steel not aluminium so a little heavier duty. Have not fully set it up yet however at the moment from basic set-up its already pretty good. 

Thanks Will


----------



## 9fingers (30 Aug 2010)

Will,

I was talking about the fence FACES and those look just the same as mine and are aluminium extrusions.

Your might be fine but worth a check rather than leave it until you are in the middle of a job to discover a problem.

Bob


----------



## Skyhigh_Arb (30 Aug 2010)

Agh with you now Bob, will have to check seems ok but must admit I have not paid too close attention yet.

Will


----------



## llangatwgnedd (30 Aug 2010)

Proper job, and somewhere to hang the router table.

http://premium1.uploadit.org/Llangatwgnedd//Image006.jpg


----------



## Skyhigh_Arb (30 Aug 2010)

Sounds like you have been reading my mind, plan to have a router with a router lift eventually! Need to get a little time to tackle the next phase of this project.


----------



## Skyhigh_Arb (30 Nov 2010)

Quick update, ended up not having to pay customs duty, however did have to pay import tax at a cost of £24.95

However in my opinion this is still money well spent as the fence has completely changed my saw.

Thanks Will


----------



## Hudson Carpentry (30 Nov 2010)

Great mod and fence.

I also planed to get this fence but to keep me going i brought the axminster bandsaw upgrade fence. In the end though i ended up buying the AW10BSB2 Axminster table saw. This comes with an ali T type fence and to my surprise its the best ali fence i have ever used. There is no visible deflection and getting the fence to deflect on purpose takes all my weight (15st) pulling at it. There is a fine adjuster, comes with an auxiliary fence and is quite thick for using home made jigs. The table saw is around the 1k mark but maybe ordering the fence parts as spares maybe away to get a cheaper one in england that works well.

All in all after being so impressed with the stock fence i no longer felt the need to get the delta fence.

Oh the bandsaw fence upgrade got put on my bandsaw as the fence that came with the saw was pants!


----------



## sebastian123 (17 Feb 2011)

Hi Skyhigh_Arb,
I have the dreaded TS200 as well and get really depressed everytime I try to use it, because the fence is so bad. Could you tell us how you affix the new rails to the cast iron bed? Are there pre-existing holes in the TS200 that line up with the Delta Fence, or did you have to drill new holes?

Thanks!

SG


----------



## Skyhigh_Arb (17 Feb 2011)

Hi SG,

Perfect timing as I shall be placing a full review on the fence within the next few days now that its finally fitted, fettled and been properly tested. No need to drill holes in the saw just use whats there.

Thanks Will


----------



## siggy_7 (25 Sep 2011)

Hi Will, I am looking at buying a TS-200 in the near future (need to go and have a look at one in the metal first to make sure it's what I'm after) and if I go ahead would be very interested in a fence upgrade such as the one you have done. Did you ever get around to posting the full review/installation process, I can't get the search function to find it if you have! I'm also interested in the maximum cross-cut width of 1250mm (50"), according to the manufacturers details the Delta T2 36-T30 rails are 57.5" but provide for a maximum 30" cut to the right - have you offset the rails much further to the right than the recommended installation configuration? I may well consider building in a router table to the right of the saw, have you done this and if so how do you find the fence for use in a router table?

Thanks,

Chris


----------



## Lord Kitchener (26 Sep 2011)

Surely the actual ultimate fence would be the Incra that Rutlands sell? £500 but if you really want accuracy then I don't know of anything better. I have one on a 10" SIP saw and it really is very good, thoguh like all fences you have to be careful both in setting it up, and operating it.


----------



## TomGW (14 Nov 2014)

An old thread I know, but I've just bought one of these for my table saw at an "all-in" price of £189 from eBay seller "unikoin", who offers a shipping and pre-paid import tax option. It worked out at £189.07 via Paypal, which I think is reasonable. 
This is just a heads up in case anyone has been put off by high carriage costs + potential import charges. Now I will have a complete fence system from my SIP 01332 available once I get the new Delta fitted.


----------



## jp24 (18 Dec 2014)

Hi All,

I have a TS-250 saw and have taken the plunge and brought a Delta rip fence. It looks really good, although I could do with some advice on how people fitted theirs? I am thinking I need another steel angle to mount from the existing holes to the fence's angle bracket.

Does anyone have any pictures of how they did it?

Many thanks,

John


----------



## Marcjwebb (12 May 2015)

bravo.

how did you attach the angle iron to the saw as they have a silly lip dont they?


----------



## jp24 (12 May 2015)

Hi, 

Not sure if I have done it the best way, but I couldn't find out how anybody else had done it so I had to make it up (badly). 

I used 2 pieces of angle (50x50, 5mm thick 1350mm long) to attach the supplied angle iron brackets to the front and back of the table.

The bottom of the L profile of the steel I brought can be then fitted under the lip of the table. I bolted the supplied angle iron so that on profile they look like _||_ on the front and the same on the back, but with the supplied bracket upside down.

When you bolt the rails on to the table you will need to lower them to make them the right height for the fence to fit. This can be done by either getting a better size of angle and being more cunning than I have. Or shim it by using some steel bar or big washers. 

I have probably done a rubbish job of explaining it, if you want some pictures then let me know. 

John


----------



## Marcjwebb (12 May 2015)

Yes please. Would greatly appreciate some pictures. 


Thanks for the explanation. I am slightly confused lol.


----------



## Steve Maskery (12 May 2015)

I shall probably get my wrist slapped for this, but I can't watch so many people try to re-invent the wheel without offering a pointer in the direction of a superb, EIISSM, solution to the problem of creating a top-quality aftermarket rip fence for any tablesaw. I'm not allowed to advertise, but I think there is nothing to stop me from pointing you all in the direction of another thread....

post965239.html#p965239

It's excellent and you don't have to make all the mistakes I did along the way.


----------



## jp24 (13 May 2015)

Hi, 

I will get some pictures up when I get a chance. Not at home at the moment and it might be a while. Might be able to knock up a basic sketch up drawing instead.

Steve, I don't think buying a fence and fitting it to your table saw is really reinventing the wheel compared to making it all by yourself. I was tempted to have a look at your videos, but I thought the Delta fence would require less work to get it up and working. The Axminster table top is not very standard a fitting so it does require a bit more metal and some drilling, but that only took me an hour to sort.

I am sure your plans are the right way to go if you want create your own fence though. 

John


----------

