Overheard a guy at the lumberyard complaining about his new table saw fence

I was grabbing some 2x4s yesterday and this older carpenter was ranting to the cashier about how his brand new saw fence wouldn't hold square after just 3 cuts. He said he spent $600 on it and already had to shim it with a beer can tab. Made me think about how sometimes you're better off sticking with a simple, proven design instead of chasing the newest thing. I've been using a basic Biesemeyer style fence on my jobsite saw for like 8 years now and it's never given me trouble once. Has anyone else had a new tool fail on them right out of the box like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

nguyen.morgan1mo ago

Man that's rich. A beer can tab to fix a six hundred dollar fence. Sounds like he bought fancy-looking junk instead of something that just works. New tools these days are all about looking cool on Instagram, not lasting through a real job. Reminds me of that old saying about buying cheap tools twice. But in this case he paid premium for trash once. Hope he kept the beer can because he's gonna need more tabs before that fence is squared up for good.

ivanbell1mo ago

Right? I couldn't even fix my own belt with a paperclip last week, so I'm definitely not judging this guy's MacGyver moment.

hayes.casey1mo ago

A beer can tab, that's nuts but also kinda genius in a pinch. The thing with these new "upgraded" fences is they're trying to solve a problem nobody had, like adding more moving parts that can wiggle loose. I've got an old Delta fence on my contractor saw that's basically a brick on a rail, absolutely dead simple, and it took a 2x4 to the face once and still holds square. Sometimes you're just paying for a fancier beam or a smoother finish on the extrusion, but the locking mechanism is the same cheap stamped metal from three factories ago.