Homemade Table Saw Fence Mechanism

In this instructable you'll see: How I built an easy, quick, simple and really steady homemade table saw fence mechanism, made of MDF, OSB, Pinewood, Plywood and a pair of ball bearing drawer slides.

Firstly, I cut these pieces for the fence, which are made of OSB.

Because I didn’t have a single big piece of plywood, which is a really good wood for many uses & constructions, I made this project from woods I found in my workshop like (MDF, OSB, Pinewood & Plywood).

Because OSB leaves splinters, I had to sand every surface of the wood really well.

I assembled these pieces of the fence in order, from the biggest, to the smallest.

The big piece is 60 by 7cm, the middle one is 40 by 7cm and the small one is 20 by 7cm.

I repeated the same process for the other piece and then I rounded all the edges with the router.

Now for this part of the fence I cut a big piece of OSB, with dimensions 1,2m by 10cm.

In order for the pieces of wood, that I will later cut, using the table saw, to slide smoothly on the fence, I also glued a piece of plywood 4mm thick over the 15mm OSB piece.

I clamped them down together and let the glue do the job.

For this part of the fence, I cut 4 pieces of 91,8cm by 7cm, the length depends on the thickness of the drawer slides and the width of the surface of the cabinet I’m going to make.

I used this piece of OSB to find exactly the center of the other piece of wood and then I drilled holes on all 4 sides.

Then with a countersink bit I drilled all the holes again, so that the head of the screw that I will later place, can go under the top of the wood without splitting it.

I sand it very well and rounded all the edges.

Then I cut this part of the fence which consists of two 8,5 by 8,5cm pcs of plywood.

Nailed them, drilled them, countersink the holes, screwed them, sanded them and rounded all the edges.

Now, under the top of the table saw there is this piece of OSB, which consists of one piece with dimensions 70 by 7,2cm and two pieces with 70 by 4cm.

...and I repeated the same process... nailed, drilled, countersink the holes, and screwed.

Also, under the top of the table saw there is this piece of plywood with dimensions 7 by 7cm, that is going to slide into the slot I previously built.

After the piece of the fence has dried, it’s time to cut the extra piece of plywood.

Now, for the top surface of the construction, I used MDF: 1,2m long, 80cm wide and 2cm thick.

Then, I made exactly in the center, a slot using the router, in order to be able to move the fence with the bolt and tighten it at whatever length I wish.

Then I cut some pieces of pinewood in order to keep the whole MDF surface straight and so that I will be able to install the drawer slides later.

The width of these pieces are 5cm.

Nailed all the pieces together and marked the framework on the MDF, in order to make the drill for the screw, exactly in the center.

I made all the holes perimetrically, placing under the MDF this small piece of plywood, in order to avoid any damage on the other side.

I flipped it over and with a countersink bit I drilled all the holes again, in order to keep the head of every screw under the top of the surface.

Then aligned and screwed the framework in place.

I flipped it over again, and put the piece I made before exactly in the center.

Measured it, marked it, drilled it, countersunk all the holes, put 2 nails to keep it in place and screwed it down.

I put these two extra pieces to prevent the wood from breaking.

At this point, I put in place the piece of wood that I made before, marked it and cut the MDF piece.

You will see later why I did that!

I used these two 1mm spacers and placed them together with the piece of plywood I cut before into the slot under the table saw, in order to mark the center of the wood and put the nut on it later.

I measured the thickness of the bolt and I made a 1cm hole but at first I used a smaller drill bit.

I also measured the nut of the bolt and I opened a hole equal to the width and thickness of it.

...and now we are ready to install the nut into the wood.

Then, I placed it into the slot under the table saw and it’s ready!

Now I measured the length needed and I removed the head of the bolt.

I screwed the bolt into the plastic handle and then drilled them from one side to the other, to make them one solid piece.

I put a nail into the hole, bent it with a hammer and then wrapped it with a pvc tape.

Also, I opened a 10mm hole to the other piece of wood.

Now it’s time to install the two heavy duty 60cm ball bearing drawer slides, on the two pieces of OSB.

I clamped a straight piece of wood in order to install the slides correctly.

I found these hinges in my drawers but for better stability you can use heavy duty stainless steel door hinges.

Then I installed these two pieces on the side of the table saw surface.

Aligned them, marked them and screwed them, with precision.

Also, I screwed these two pieces of the fence together and installed them on the two pieces of OSB with the hinges on, that I built before.

I placed the bolt with the handle and the piece of wood I drilled before and tightened them together with the other piece with the nut, which is into the slot, under the table saw.

I aligned it and then installed the fence on it.

Now, I placed these two bolt safety pins, on each end of the fence, in order to keep it straight and steady, to prevent it from moving.

Because I didn’t have a drill long enough to make the hole directly, I made the right measurements and opened every hole separately and equal exactly to the diameter of the bolt safety pin, in order to fit in tight.