Replacement Faces for SawStop T-glide Fence

The technology of SawStop (specifically their large cabinet saws) have saved "well over 10,000" fingers from amputation at present. However, I have found some of the accessories of these saws to be lacking in general production quality- such as the laminated plywood faces of their T-glide fence. Mine have delaminated and warped, making it impossible to get a straight cut.

I decided to fix my problem by reproducing the form factor of these faces out of UHMW- a high-contact bearing plastic. For someone with CNC experience, the hardest part of this is accurately measuring the faces for dimensions such as hole size and placement. It was impossible to find a template for this on the internet, so I made one. I've attached it here as a DXF file. It's the only really important part of this instructable.

If you feel confident in machining UHMW, grab the DXF and skip reading the rest. Depths of cuts and feeds/speeds are listed in step 2.

0.500 x 12.000 x 48.000 UHMW plastic

CNC Router & CAM software

1/4" Single flute plastic cutting CNC router bit

1/4" Allen key

3/16" Allen key

Remove original side walls from T-glide fence. These are keyed, so with the fence removed from the saw, the faces should be able to push down and out.

The cap screws take a 3/16" allen key, and the inserts take a 1/4" allen key.

Save the cap head screws and threaded inserts- these are an unusual size and will need to be reused.

I used Vectric Aspire after preparing my CAD file in Nemetschek Vectorworks.

In the attached DXF, the smallest circles will need to be pocket cuts at 0.330in depth.

The larger circles are inside profiles, 0.040in depth.

The outline is an outside profile cut, 0.505in depth (a through cut).

Feeds and speeds are shown in the attached screenshot.

I used a vacuum pump, but whatever hold-down method you like will work. Not that for mechanical hold-downs, tabs will be needed on the outside profile.

Cut with 1/4in single flute plastic cutting bit.

When cutting UHMW, it is sometimes necessary to keep constant pressurized airflow on the bit to prevent melting and ratsnesting. The chip load of 0.01 ipt should prevent much of this, but I prefer to keep a spray of air on the bit anyway.

The inserts can be a bit resistant to insertion in UHMW. I used an allen bit in a drill to get them started, then finished driving them by hand.

If the plastic bulges around the insert, it may be necessary to sand the area around each insert to flatten it back down.

The cap head screws can go in loosely, and then slot back into the keyholes of the fence. After it is attached, these can be tightened using a long allen key through the slots in the body of the fence.