Ring Fence?

[mtr1]

Just wondered if I could get away with not having a ring fence, and just use bearings? There isn't any curved work in the pipeline at the moment, and they(ring fence) cost approx £360 for what is essentially a bracket with adjustable ring. Or is it a case of bearings for one job(I've never used them on a spindle),and a ring fence for another?

[sainty]

Probably best to wait until you have a job that requires one or the other then make your decision.

[mtr1]

I like that option, requires no spending I see your point stu

[mrgrimsdale]

I see a ring fence as a primary piece of essential kit, just like the straight fence. You can make your own easily if you want to save a bit (mdf, ply, or sheet metal if you are into metal work). They are much more adaptable than bearings to different functions and in the long term will be a lot cheaper.

[davyowen]

If you don't make your own, its unlikely that a ring fence will ever be cheaper than bearings. For £360, you could buy 10x bearings and every single guide ring Wealden sell (17) from 75mm - 150mm. And its unlikely that you'd need such a variety of sizes or need more than 1 or 2 bearings. I get by with just 4 at the moment + 1 bearing.

I know that Grim thinks its an esentional piece of kit, but obviously manufacturers don't, because most machines don't come with one as standard any more, yet they all come with a straight fence

[mrgrimsdale]

Bearings would be no use to me at all because I've got to be able to micro adjust if I'm doing precise copying. Easy with a ring fence.
If i didn't have the right bearings/rings etc I'd end up waiting for new ones to arrive (assuming the size I want is available), or having them machined down a touch. Impossible. Could take days to set up instead of minutes with a ring fence.

[Mike Jordan]

Hi
I use both a ring Fence (home made) and bearings with various size outer rings. The least expensive way of trying out a guide bearing is to sandwich a bearing between two circular pieces of 18mm ply fastened together with screws, you can then alter the outer diameter at will.
Mike Jordan.

[nickw]

Mr G's need for micro adjustment is also no doubt caused by his use of home made cutters. For shop bought cutters, shop bought bearings will, most of the time at least, come in the right sizes. And anyway you can always adjust your template instead.

[mrgrimsdale]

Mr G's need for micro adjustment is also no doubt caused by his use of home made cutters. For shop bought cutters, shop bought bearings will, most of the time at least, come in the right sizes. And anyway you can always adjust your template instead.

If you are doing period detail reproduction there no 'right sizes' except the size of the sample in front of you, and no shop bought cutters are any good at all, except rebate blocks.
Not the fault of the diy cutters either; using a normal rebate block I might have to adjust from 5 to 7mm between runs. Takes about 2 seconds with a ring fence.

[mtr1]

Hi
I use both a ring Fence (home made) and bearings with various size outer rings. The least expensive way of trying out a guide bearing is to sandwich a bearing between two circular pieces of 18mm ply fastened together with screws, you can then alter the outer diameter at will.
Mike Jordan.

Thanks mike this seems like a good starter option.

If you don't make your own, its unlikely that a ring fence will ever be cheaper than bearings. For £360, you could buy 10x bearings and every single guide ring Wealden sell (17) from 75mm - 150mm. And its unlikely that you'd need such a variety of sizes or need more than 1 or 2 bearings. I get by with just 4 at the moment + 1 bearing.

I know that Grim thinks its an esentional piece of kit, but obviously manufacturers don't, because most machines don't come with one as standard any more, yet they all come with a straight fence

Having never used bearings on a spindle before, I didn't realise there were so many options. Having been trained on a spindle with ring fence 20 odd years ago, and the going into construction ten years after. I'm a little bit rusty when it comes to new tooling options, whilst they might of been available? Our workshop wasn't using them, and we did'nt discuss them either.

I see a ring fence as a primary piece of essential kit, just like the straight fence. You can make your own easily if you want to save a bit (mdf, ply, or sheet metal if you are into metal work). They are much more adaptable than bearings to different functions and in the long term will be a lot cheaper.

I will be making a ring fence jacob, theres tons of farm machinists round here who could help me make one