A few weekends ago I was lucky enough to attend the Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event they Hosted at the 3rd Ward in Brooklyn. I was able to talk tools and woodworking with many old friends and I made some new ones too. An old friend I met there was Matt Kenney of Fine Woodworking. Matt was there for the magazine. He spent his time working behind a bench and chatting with people as they came by.

Matt chats with an attendee while cutting dovetails.

Apparently, after I left Matt was called out for Cheating by an event attendee. For, Matt had committed the infraction of using a paring guide while cleaning out the baseline of the tails he was cutting.Cheating? No. As Matt told the event attendees, “There’s no such thing as cheating in Woodworking.” He does a great job of elaborating his point in a blog entry on the Fine Woodworking site.

Caught, red handed.

Cheating? Really? I don’t get the commenter. What makes woodworking so wonderful is that there’s no right choice to do anything. From how we cut a dovetail to what joinery method we choose in the first place, there are almost as many choices to accomplish the task as there are woodworkers. I’d hate to hear what the commenter would say of my drawers, jointed with 5 mm Dominos. And yet, they somehow work wonderfully.Thankfully, it’s not just me and Matt who think this of woodworking. From Todd Clippinger sharpening his scrapers with just a file to Shannon Rogers making everything by hand there is no correlation between the method a woodworker chooses and the results. Just practice the method with care and skill, and the results will be a wonderful piece.Want to see Todd cheat? Check out how he sharpens his card scraper.

Do you folk cheat?

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My Dad has Jet cabinet saw. He bought it used about 20 years ago. Its had the same Biesemeyer fence since he got it. A few years ago he had some workers at the house. They used the saw. Ever since the fence hasnt locked properly. First, hanging a 1 gallon can of polyurethane on the locking handle provided enough extra grip. Lately, my Dad has had to resort to using a Quick-Grip clamp to hold the fence in position.

The old Biesemeyer had served well, but lost its locking ability.

When I saw Marcs review of the VerySuperCool Table Saw Fence System I immediately thought of my Dad. The VerySuperCool Table Saw Fence System is an aftermarket fence that fits on standard Biesemeyer Fence guide rails. It also features an easily adjustable T-Square section and a fence made of extruded aluminum.I ordered the VerySuperCool Table Saw Fence for my Dad for Christmas. After a slight mix up with the order, Allan was very helpful. He went above and beyond to correct the mixup and even called me twice to ensure I’d ordered the correct Fence System (it comes in a set size for the Biesemeyer rail and in an adjustable size for alternate rails).Once the VerySuperCool Fence arrived, it proved very easy to install. It was just a matter of attaching the locking lever and fence to the T-Square section. From there I made a few quick adjustments to the set screws for alignment and we were in business.In use I found the VerySuperCool Fence to be a joy to use. It slides easily, locks tightly and is dead straight - all the qualities you want in a table saw fence.

Not too many pieces. Even I could assemble it easily.

These good traits are so strong, they easily outchoice the few negatives I found. The negative traits were the small gap under the fence which let ¼” plywood get stuck under it and the face of the aluminum extrusion which forms fence actually had a slight curve to each of the three (3) segments which make up the vertical face. Both of the these issues were completely remedied by adding a plywood face to the fence. The alignment marker ever has enough play to accommodate the 3/4" thickness of the plywood fence.

The assembly fence. VerySuperCool.

That small gap was an issue when cutting thin plywood for drawer bottoms.

It was easily addressed with a plywood face. Time dictated the clamps.
Well counter-sink fasteners soon.

One final thing I found about the fence, neither good nor bad in my opinion, is that there is side-to-side play in the T-nuts which attach the fence to the T-Square portion of the assembly. This is eliminated when the T-nuts are tightened and never impacted the use or performance of the fence. However, it should be noted that while the fence can be slid forward and back similarly to a Unifence, it will need to be realigned each time it’s moved forward or back.

After I set it up I used the VerySuperCool Table Saw Fence for the entire day to cut draw bottoms, draw side dados and build a clamp rack. It performed like a champ the whole time. I did well with my selection of Dad’s Christmas present.

If youd like to see the fence in action, heres Marcs video.

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