A fence for a table saw gives you plenty of options for a little creativity and the ability to add your own personality to your workspace. I’ve seen plenty of homemade fences, but some of my favorites are the ones that tell a story about the individual without impacting the performance of the fence.
I’ve had a friend that has been a long-time gamer, and one of the first fences he created was a Mario Bro.s themed fence. He essentially created a traditional T-square fence but added a few inlay cuts to create the design of one of the old-school Mario Brothers levels. While it was a simple layout and not the best work he has done, the Table Saw Fence Plan was perfect.
Now, I feel the best way to create a fence for your best table saw is to use what you have lying around the workspace. You can easily create a solid square out of plywood or whatever wood you want based on weight and strength. The key is to create a simple clamp.
If you want the clamp to look neat and clean, create it out of wood. This is going to take a little time and practice, but you essentially create a “fat” camp out of glued-together plywood. Use that to make sure it gives a tight fit, then create a tightening system with a few screws and a washer with a homemade simple tightening mechanism.
What I prefer, though, is something more like a lever. It takes a bit of work, but you can easily create a lever with just a few pieces that can tighten the entire fence with a simple flick of the lever. While most of the time, you are able to create the piece with about 99% plywood, you’ll need a few pieces of aluminum, such as shims, or for the same thing, you could use plastic.
Glue everything together, and you are good to go. There are plenty of detailed 1 to 1 plans online for how to create specific pieces, but creating the piece is easy enough. Use a polymer cover to create a smoother surface if you need and you should find yourself with an easy-to-use fence that is simple to store.
Just remember that while the wood can be a simple design, adding those special details can be important. Spend a few hours customizing it. Possibly put a quote on it that reminds you of why you do this work, or names of your family, r even a piece of art that you would like to have in the shop.
Woodworkers are constantly looked at as very technical people, but it takes someone with an immense amount of creativity to do this for a hobby or a profession, so make something that shows that part of you.