# Delta 36-T30 T3 Table Saw Fence System?



## SEMIJim (Nov 26, 2019)

Debating whether or not to use my vintage Delta 10" Contractor's Saw for a somewhat challenging cutting job. (See Cutting 1-3/4 in. Butcher Block? and 8-1/4" Circular Saw Blade For Cutting 1-3/4" Butcher Block? for background, if you're interested.

I long ago replaced the stamped steel wings with cast iron wings, flattened the table and aligned the saw using a _TS Aligner Jr._ I've been able to perform accurate cuts with that saw, but it always has been a bit of a challenge with the stock fence. And, as y'all know: If the fence isn't precisely parallel to the blade, Bad Things happen. I've never had kick-back, but the blade *has* occasionally bound a bit on what *should* have been a trivial rip--despite my taking great pains to get the fence locked-down right. There's no way I'd try what I need to do on that saw with its current fence.

So I'm thinking maybe upgrade the fence to that _Delta 36-T30 T3 Table Saw Fence System_. If you have a *T3* version of that fence: How has it performed for you?


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## DavidR8 (Sep 29, 2019)

Are you not able to align the existing fence?
Pictures of the saw and fence would be helpful. 


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## SEMIJim (Nov 26, 2019)

DavidR8 said:


> Are you not able to align the existing fence?


Align, or calibrate?

I calibrated it as best I could. The problem is it's not a t-square fence. It locks at both the front and back of the saw. So you have to be very careful, when setting it. And, even then, it may cock a bit when you lock it down. Short of painstakingly checking parallelism between fence and blade every time you lock it down, it's a bit of a crap shoot.

The other two problems are it's not particularly flat (it was abused in its former life) and it's not particularly rigid.



DavidR8 said:


> Pictures of the saw and fence would be helpful.


 Here's a pretty decent photo of the fence:


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## DavidR8 (Sep 29, 2019)

Ahh the beloved Jetlock fence. 
They are tricky to keep aligned but not impossible. 
The fence you are looking at will be fine. 


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## SEMIJim (Nov 26, 2019)

DavidR8 said:


> Ahh the beloved Jetlock fence.
> They are tricky to keep aligned but not impossible.


Ha! "Jetlock." Yes. I'd forgotten that was what it's called. And, yes: You nailed it. "Tricky but not impossible."



DavidR8 said:


> The fence you are looking at will be fine.


 Cool. Thanks!

I'll probably head on over to my favourite local tool store tomorrow and see what kind of price they can give me and how quickly they can have it in.

Lowe's has it on sale, right now, for the same as Amazon's normal price, but, as usual: Not in stock. Have to order. Amazon can have it to me in 2-3 days. Lowe's? A week. They lose a lot of my business that way--*despite* the fact I prefer to buy from them over Amazon.


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## bob493 (Nov 13, 2019)

I really wouldnt trust that fence with a 60"x30" solid butcher block counter top at all. I mean im sure you can make it work, but I'd still think the circular saw is the tool for the job here, unless you have some extra hands helping you out here.


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## SEMIJim (Nov 26, 2019)

bob493 said:


> I really wouldnt trust that fence with a 60"x30" solid butcher block counter top at all.


When you write "that fence," are you referring to my current fence or the fence I'm considering upgrading to?



bob493 said:


> I mean im sure you can make it work, but I'd still think the circular saw is the tool for the job here, unless you have some extra hands helping you out here.


 I can probably get a hand from my next door neighbour to one side, but I'm wondering if I'd even need to with the new fence, an auxiliary infeed roller and an auxiliary outfeed roller?

The fence upgrade was actually my wife's idea. When she wandered into the computer room, last night, I showed her the _Kreg_ circular saw guide we'd been talking about and she said "Wouldn't it make more sense to get a better fence for your table saw than buy another tool?"

That, of course, was before she knew how much good TS fences cost


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## bob493 (Nov 13, 2019)

Ah, I meant the one you have installed right now. 


Now if you're stepping into an incra LS.... thats a different animal lol. 


I make my own fences (usually), Is that delta one a true biesemeyer or does just "look" like a biesemeyer? Some import fences just have the look and not the function. Pic looks kinda chintzy for some reason. Is there a budget youre looking to hit here? Might be able to squeeze into something else a bit higher up.


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## SEMIJim (Nov 26, 2019)

bob493 said:


> Ah, I meant the one you have installed right now.


Oh, hell no. I'd never for a moment consider trying it with the current fence.



bob493 said:


> Is that delta one a true biesemeyer or does just "look" like a biesemeyer?


It doesn't claim to be a _Biesemeyer_. But, yeah, it does look like one.



bob493 said:


> Pic looks kinda chintzy for some reason.


The photo on Amazon's product page, if that's what you're looking at, does not appear to be accurate. There are a couple customer photos on Amazon and a couple YouTube videos that show it much more clearly.



bob493 said:


> Is there a budget youre looking to hit here? Might be able to squeeze into something else a bit higher up.


 Thing is: *If* the customer ratings on Amazon are any guide: I'd have to go all the way up to a $330-$350 _Vega_ to beat that _Delta_ fence. The family CFO would never go for that. I'm not certain even I could justify it.


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## bob493 (Nov 13, 2019)

Gotcha. I know the shop fox biesemeyers are good, my dad has one on his saw, never had an issue with it. 

What table saw is that btw (model number i mean).

Does the rear end of the fence HOOK or is it a linear rail thing?


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## SEMIJim (Nov 26, 2019)

bob493 said:


> Gotcha. I know the shop fox biesemeyers are good, my dad has one on his saw, never had an issue with it.


I'll take a look, but the budget is kind of constrained on this one.



bob493 said:


> What table saw is that btw (model number i mean).


It's a vintage _Delta Model 10 Contractor's Saw_. How vintage? The base has the old "claw" style feet 



bob493 said:


> Does the rear end of the fence HOOK or is it a linear rail thing?


The rear of the fence does hook over the rear tube. Without that the fence wouldn't be very useful. Compared to modern T-square fences, it's not especially rigid.


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## bob493 (Nov 13, 2019)

Those "hook" styles can usually tighten down like crazy, and that front cam looks reasonably beefy actually. Im wondering if spending some time on that and getting a piece of extrusion face might make that thing usable and save you some headache and a lot of cash here and still get you a reasonably decent fence. Installing biesemeyer rails is kind of annoying. (changing rails in general is kind of annoying lol)


I got a free table saw on the side of the road the other day (its garbage), but I *think* it has the same fence on it? Im pretty sure its a rockwell though, not a delta. Ill go check it out


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## DavidR8 (Sep 29, 2019)

bob493 said:


> I got a free table saw on the side of the road the other day (its garbage), but I *think* it has the same fence on it? Im pretty sure its a rockwell though, not a delta. Ill go check it out



If it’s a Rockwell chances are very good that it’s a Jetlock fence. 



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## SEMIJim (Nov 26, 2019)

bob493 said:


> Those "hook" styles can usually tighten down like crazy, and that front cam looks reasonably beefy actually. Im wondering if spending some time on that and getting a piece of extrusion face might make that thing usable and save you some headache and a lot of cash here and still get you a reasonably decent fence.


That was one of the options in acquiring a drill press, too. As with that: I have a lot of projects on my plate (five or six, depending). I'm disinclined to add projects to enable me to do the other projects 



bob493 said:


> Installing biesemeyer rails is kind of annoying. (changing rails in general is kind of annoying lol)


Apparently Delta has used the same hole patterns on their saws for a good many years. So the Delta fence I'm considering should just bolt right on.

I took a quick look at the _Shop Fox_ fences. There's one that's a bit over $200, but that's back to a front-and-back clamping system. Their T-square fences are beyond my means.

The _Jet Xacta_ fences look good, too. Again: Out of my price range.


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## bob493 (Nov 13, 2019)

By the sounds (and looks haha) of things, it doesn't seem like you use your table saw too terribly much? I think making "passable" might be more prudent than dropping a couple hundred bucks on something you may not use too much? You can do some cool stuff with extrusions and they really arent THAT expensive. 

As for the rail replacements, I meant those bolts can be an absolute night mare to change out. If ones stuck, or if its "awkward" at all and you dont have some helping hands, it can just be a pain is all. Not undoable by any means, its just getting really really cold out for that kinda stuff. (do you have an indoor or outdoor shop?)


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## SEMIJim (Nov 26, 2019)

bob493 said:


> By the sounds (and looks haha) of things, it doesn't seem like you use your table saw too terribly much?


That is correct.



bob493 said:


> I think making "passable" might be more prudent than dropping a couple hundred bucks on something you may not use too much? You can do some cool stuff with extrusions and they really arent THAT expensive.


I suppose I can, but, as I said: I'm disinclined to add another project to the pile.

Besides which: One of the problems with the Jet Lock fence is its front-and-back locking system. It's prone to pushing itself out-of-parallel when you lock it down, no matter *how* carefully you lock it down. Nine-times-out-of-ten it'll do what I want. It's that tenth time it doesn't that gets you.



bob493 said:


> As for the rail replacements, I meant those bolts can be an absolute night mare to change out. If ones stuck, or if its "awkward" at all and you dont have some helping hands, it can just be a pain is all. Not undoable by any means, its just getting really really cold out for that kinda stuff. (do you have an indoor or outdoor shop?)


 Noted. I'll take it under advisement in making my decision.

Don't get me wong, Bob. I'm not discounting your suggestions out-of-hand. E.g.: I've actually already considered trying to beef up the existing fence system. Problem is: There's little I can reasonably do to overcome its inherent weaknesses.

The Delta Jet Lock system is fairly well-renowned for those weaknesses.


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## bob493 (Nov 13, 2019)

Oh Im not discounting the delta at all; the reviews on it are great! I'll send you a pm real quick 



edit: I was expecting the actual fence part to be crappy thin walled aluminum, surprisingly some stout steel here. DEFINITELY not the best fence ever. 

Mine has a screw end instead of a cam, aside from that are there any differences?


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## epicfail48 (Mar 27, 2014)

If the Delta T3 fence is similar to what they have on the 36-725 saw, and im fairly certain it is, you wont be disappointed in the least. Ive got that saw, and the fence is absolutely fantastic


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## SEMIJim (Nov 26, 2019)

bob493 said:


> Oh Im not discounting the delta at all; the reviews on it are great! I'll send you a pm real quick


I tried to reply, but the system said it couldn't send the PM.



bob493 said:


> Mine has a screw end instead of a cam, aside from that are there any differences?


Can't really tell w/o pulling my fence off. I can do that tomorrow. It's getting late, now.


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## SEMIJim (Nov 26, 2019)

epicfail48 said:


> If the Delta T3 fence is similar to what they have on the 36-725 saw, and im fairly certain it is, you wont be disappointed in the least. Ive got that saw, and the fence is absolutely fantastic


 Hard to say for sure, but it sure looks like it's the same fence. Thanks for the info.

Meanwhile, Bob appears to have left the building?


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## Stevedore (Dec 28, 2011)

I have a 1990-ish Delta contractor saw. With careful adjustment, I never had any real trouble with the Jetlock fence. IIRC, it helped if I ensured that the rear locked tight at the same time as the front locked down. A tricky adjustment, but worth paying attention to. If not, it didn't take much lateral pressure to move the rear of the fence sideways. For no particular reason, I replaced the Jetlock with the Delta T2, which I'm very happy with. It only locks at the front, but it's very stiff. Periodic alignment is somewhat easier than with the original Jetlock.


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## TimPa (Jan 27, 2010)

i have the jet lock on my 30+ year old unisaw, and am fine with it. it is not tricky to align in my opinion, agreed it does not have allen screw tweak ability. i rarely have to touch mine, and i am ocd and want accuracy. maybe yours has some issue, don't know. BUT i would definitely give it a fair shake before paying $$$ for a new one.


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## SEMIJim (Nov 26, 2019)

Stevedore said:


> I have a 1990-ish Delta contractor saw.


I think mine's even older than that. I bought itsometime around 1995-1998 and it was well-used by the time I acquired it. I wonder when they stopped selling them with those old claw-foot stands?



Stevedore said:


> With careful adjustment, I never had any real trouble with the Jetlock fence. IIRC, it helped if I ensured that the rear locked tight at the same time as the front locked down.


I found, through experimentation, what seemed to work best for me, short of double-checking with a tape measure, was pressing the front of the guide firmly and evenly against the front rail before locking it down. But that was not a 100% guarantee, as witnessed by my occasionally getting binding against the blade, anyway.



TimPa said:


> i have the jet lock on my 30+ year old unisaw, ... i would definitely give it a fair shake before paying $$$ for a new one.


 It's been on the saw for the approximately twenty years I've owned it. I think that's a pretty fair shake .

Understand: I aligned that entire saw as best I could with a tool called a _TS Aligner Jr._. (Neither that nor the _TS Aligner_ are apparently produced any more.) That Jet Lock fence, its inherent inadequacies aside, had been sorely abused in its prior life. It was pretty beat up.

I made it work--most times, but there was no way I was going to try to rip a very-expensive-to-replace 60 in. x 30 in. x 1-3/4 in. thick butcher block top with *that* fence as a reference guide.


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