Being asked about bandsaw fences, I

[Toolmaker51]

ran into recurring work where the job shop's ol' DoALL was acquired without the dang fence.
WTH? Great as bandsaws are, [ie] saving material and attaining rough outs within .020 or so, they kick butt with proper setups. In my book, setup means repeatable parts in group under current attention.
Better yet when you retrieve and use again. Consider. Any expenditure on the item, divide that by how many parts it processed on first run [X]. Put it the shelf, and IDGARA [referring to a small mammals posterior] what accountants manipulate, it's value could increase while cost been divided by X amount. New RFQ comes in, are we going to make them?
Well, tool # so&so is on hand,...New shop rate? Chach-ching. Bob knows how? Chach-ching. Know where I'm going with this?

That scenario never played out here. 2"Ø swing bolts 18" long of 4130. Not worst stuff to machine, but sawing the shank is 27" from material 4" wide. I've made them twice before; but they've done them for y-e-a-r-s, free hand no less! My first, they were rush order, pretty much the second also, prospect making 16 of these [= 432 inches, does 36 feet sound better, handsawn]? Second set I clamped different bars to table as stock guide, dreadfully tedious, NTM unproductive elsewhere. They get center drilled carefully as raw 2 x 4 x 18, both ends, for single point threading. 2" 4 1/2 TPI.

Online, the fence is just under $1000 USD. Not in local stock. DoALL isn't economical, but it's good. Real good. But's already Thursday afternoon.
My answer follows. 3 pics save 30k words? Does for me, case you haven't noticed.

Every bit is remnant or drop, except commercial hardware.

2 clamp knobs 3/8"-16 inboard of adjustment [squaring] set screws 3/8"-24 & jam nuts. Squaring register
is blade slot and my trained finger. Piece o' cake. Allow clearance; at least .025 to square up, and .010 minimum.
First mounted, factory holes not dead parallel of top, so slide bound up moving side to side.
Easy fix, easier to know ahead of time.

Front plate is separate from assembly. Configuration of machine,
a 3 wheeler, the guard for 2-wheeling impedes full lateral motion, left side of course, blade in the way.
All comes off instantly loosening the cap screws near top edge, keyholes for screw heads, slide over half an inch.
Bingo. Front rail remains a bit lower than flush.

Ultimately, will saw fat nose off on left side [taper] adding lateral movement.
There are details here and there; that I can answer questions,
just good engineering about fit and function.

Blueprint? rarely. Sketches? maybe, any demand? Helpful Advice? catch me if you can.
Lol. JK, sure I do.

 

[C-Bag]

Wow on top of all that the backside of the gage is radiused! Must have been a slow day at work? I don't even know how I'd do that kind of radius in my hobby hovel. Beautiful work as always TM51.

 

[T Bredehoft]

You obviously know what a Toolmaker is for...

 

[Toolmaker51]

Wow on top of all that the backside of the gage is radiused! Must have been a slow day at work? I don't even know how I'd do that kind of radius in my hobby hovel. Beautiful work as alway HM51.

Ummmm, errr, cough cough. That radius is remnant plasma cut aluminum.
Lol, used every fraction of length to insure good footprint past blade. Never a slow day, I insist they allow me finish jobs appropriately. It may not be same day; multi or staged tasking not a hindrance. It's a good arrangement, on hiring told up front I'm attentive and don't like being stifled.

 

[Toolmaker51]

You obviously know what a Toolmaker is for...

Thank you T Bredehoft. Believe or not, I still want to learn more about what we do everyday.
Never thought of taking up a different career. I jack up fast when cubicle monkeys like accountants demean work ethics, like categorizing Toolmakers as overhead. Not militant, just assertive.
And they don't cross that bridge again.

I've joined here to extend my mentoring umbrella. Some would declare "likes to hear himself". No; I like questions!

 

[hman]

I came up with a simpler (and probably less expensive) solution for a bandsaw fence, based on magswitches:

The one on the Craftsman (Parks 18") bandsaw uses two of the 30mm magjigs in a chunk of oak. I did'nt see any real need for precise perpendicularity - the blade is only about ½" wide, so any small error is easily within the "set" width of the teeth. So the kerf width prevents drag on the back edge of the blade. I just use a tape measure to set the distance from the blalde and "eyeball" the alignment. Note how it stores neatly on the side of the housing when not in use.

The one on the smaller (HF 14") bandsaw uses the smaller size magjigs, and does have a T bar to keep it perpendicular to the table. Haven't seen much difference in results from these two design.

 

[C-Bag]

I decided not to go the fence route after seeing Frank Ford's gravity powered auto feed sled I decided to make mine pneumatic. The sled base and backstop are scrap and 1/2" cylinder was used off eBay. I also had the air switch laying around. The backstop also works on the shaper and purposely made it work with the mill clamp kit. I also love magnets for holding tools like the specific Allen wrenches, a small crescent and clamp studs and chip brush.

 

[ThinWoodsman]

Giving me lots of good ideas here, guys.

I'm currently using a portaband mounted in a SWAG table, but I have the frame, table, and wheels of a benchtop bandsaw that I was gifted on the condition I use it as a saw and not turn it into chips. Hopefully be starting on that build soon, the SWAG mount is a bit of a hack and makes it difficult to keep things square. Actually that squaring register in the first photo might be something I could adapt bothfor squaring stock and forcing the portaband blade true to the table. Hmmm....

 

[Toolmaker51]

Agreed, magnetic fence is very satisfactory. His front rail achieves squareness, and stays in place, being notched for miter sled.
In my case, cutting ferrous material, magnets attract swarf. Again, blanking out 16 pieces of 2" steel wound up 36 feet of cutting. More than a big coffee can of tiny chips.

 

[Toolmaker51]

Wow on top of all that the backside of the gage is radiused! Must have been a slow day at work? I don't even know how I'd do that kind of radius in my hobby hovel. Beautiful work as always TM51.

Sure you do Mr C.; Lay out, scribe, band saw, belt sand, or lay out, rough with band saw and rotary table.
Even a little table can do bigger work, bolt on a plate sprinkled with tapped holes for milling clamps.