Shop Fox W1716 - Aluma-Classic Fence-Standard, 57-Inch

We have a 1970’s craftsman 113. The stock fence is trash, so we upgraded to this, it required a few extra holes drilled into the cast iron. The back rail is very large, but that’s ok. A slight downside is the weight of this thing is immense. Not easy to remove for cross cuts, but it’s got great capacity so I very rarely have to remove it.

Shop Fox W1716 Aluma-Classic Fence with Standard Rails (57-Inch)There are already a number of detailed reviews for the Shop Fox W1716 Aluma-Classic Fence so rather than do a deep dive I will try to highlight the bigger hits and misses. I purchased this to replace the stock fence on my 25+ YO Jet contractor saw (JWTS -10CW) which has served me well for over 2 decades but whose limitations grew tiresome and inconvenient over time. Pluses:• Amazon had the best price for this system that I could find anywhere.• The box arrived on time and in great condition.• The contents were well packed and complete.• The parts finish is very good, nice paint on the metal, decals in great shape.• The AL fence faces are true and smooth.• The fence lock up is rock solid; no deflection.• The mounting holes in the "L" brackets aligned with the preexisting OEM holes in my saw top.Minuses:• As many reviewers note - the instructions (mine dated 2015 with fence purchased 7/23) are not accurate, they contain a number of errors / inaccuracies making for unnecessary frustrations and work.• The included hardware did not match the threads in the top of my saw. This is understandable as there are so many saws that this fence could be mounted to it would be imposable to cover all the variations out there. For me it was not a big problem as I reused the old mounting hardware for the new system, easy-peazy .• The MOST VEXING ISSUE was mounting the 1.5" x 2 3/8" tube to the front "L" bracket. The instructions list the bolts as 1", 1/4"-20 bolts. I did a visual inspection of the holes and observed less than stellar threaded holes. I decided to run the bolts into the mounting holes before the installation to help ensure I that I wouldn't cross thread any during installation. In half of the holes the bolts would not start at all while in the others they were very tight which I attributed to paint in the threads. I decided to run a 1/4"-20 tap into the holes to clean out the paint and chase the threads. While cutting the first 2 holes I noticed that the tap was difficult to start and turn producing more chips that I felt it should have. Sensing something wrong I then got a thread gauge and found that the bolts were NOT 1/4"-20 but some slightly smaller and finer threaded metric version which I did not have a tap for. I took a bolt and carefully cleaned, aligned and chamfered the lead in threads with micro files to help with starting the bolts into the holes then proceeded to carefully run this bolt into and out of the remaining holes, not easy or fast but it worked. I was tempted to tap all the holes to 1/4"-20 and replace the hardware but the metal gauge of the tubing is on the thin side (albeit fully functional), this would have resulted in less thread engagement between bolt and channel vs. the originals so I opted to go the route I just described. This is really inexcusable. The instructions should accurately describe the hardware, also the threaded holes should have been in much better condition to start with.NOTES:The instructions do not mention this but I aligned the 1.5" x 2" tube to be parallel with the face of the saw top by fashioning a pair of identical spacers which I inserted in the intended gap between the "L" bracket and the tube at both ends prior to tightening the tube to the "L" bracket. The holes in the front "L" bracket are over sized which can result in the tube being oriented askew from the face of the table top, this ensured a parallel installation and I am sure helped with aligning the fence to the blade which in my case was dead on after this adjustment.I am considering replacing the rear fence support bolt (which rides on the backside rail) with a foot or skid made with UHMW/UHDPE mounted to the underside of the fence. Doing so would avoid interference with an out-feed table.My Overall Conclusion:I am happy with this fence and have no regrets at all about making the change or ultimately in my choice of fences. I do wish that manufacturers respected their customers more and vetted issues such as I have described before releasing their products. Some simple proof reading and better QC would be in order. This fence system is nicely engineered, priced, finished, and packaged sans the issues I have outlined. It is a shame because I can see where a less experienced or equipped purchaser would have had an unnecessary frustrating and negative experience with this fence.

The box arrived pretty beaten up. I believe this fence is shipped with two bags of hardware, one for mounting the rails, and one for the fence itself. There was only one bag of hardware in the box, so i was missing the knob for the fence and the back foot and the plastic clear indicator for the rule and its mounting screws. One call to Shop Fox and the missing parts were on their way, so I have to say customer service is good.Thanks to previous reviewers I was able to install the front rail on the front and the rear rail on the rear. As other reviewers pointed out the instructions have the rails swapped. The installation on my 1970 saw was not as difficult as I thought it might be. I could not use the threaded holes for the original rail mounts because they were too low, but it was easy enough to drill new holes in the cast iron edge flange and use the included nuts and bolts to mount the new rails. The only other problem I had was with the little screws sent to mount the clear indicator. They had the wrong thread. They were 10-32 rather than 10-24. I broke one off thinking the the resistance was due to the coating on the steal rail. Not the case. I bought some real 10-24 screws and they went in just fine.The fence itself is fantastic! It's solid, easy to use and trues up to a perfect 90 degrees every time with a push on the lever. The clear indicator is easy to adjust for different blades and works perfectly. No more fumbling around with the tape measure needed. A great replacement for the original fence.

This is a great fence. It is an aftermarket fence, intended to be installed on (mostly) any table saw. It is not a bolt-on product designed for a specific saw. As a result, there isn't really a 1-2-3 step installation process that would be valid for all saws. I assume this is the cause of several reviews complaining of poor instructions. I found the instructions to include all of the info I needed that wasn't specific to my saw. The process of fitting it to my saw (or any saw) takes a bit of ingenuity. In my case, I installed this on a Metabo job site saw (which is as close to a cabinet saw as my facility will permit.) The job site saw was definitely not designed with an aftermarket fence in mind, but with a little effort, I did get it installed. Before calibration, this fence was already more accurate than I could achieve with the fence that came on the saw. After calibration, it falls away by less than 1/64th, which is perfect.The shipping carrier wasn't kind to my box and, as a result, I was missing a few minor pieces. I emailed customer service, received a call within a few hours, and had replacement parts within a few days.

It might be a great fence if they ever s nd the right parts I’ll find out. One of the pieces of the the front fence was 48” instead is 57” and the rear fence 57” instead of 48”. I returned it and after a wait of several weeks they sent the same thing again. I am extremely disappointed. The instructions clearly state that both front prices are supposed to be 57” and the back 48”. I don’t know how a big company could make such a rediculous error twice. Very disappointed.