Mitre slots, which to buy

[Bionic Bulldog]

Hi, this may have been covered before, if so sorry before hand.

I am finally getting around to sorting out a decent router table for my worshop. I looked at making a base and buying just the top. But all the tops i found all come without the insert plates, fence etc, which would all need to be added to cost.

I have tried unsuccesfully in the past making a decent router fence, so have decided to just buy the darn thing with a top.Also since table saws in the uk dont take dado stacks, i have very crude jigs made for my router for box joints etc, which i woild

Now it seems that the triton twx7 router module top has pretty much everything with it, and gets decent reviews and seems a fair price. However i dont want the twx7 table itself as it looks pretty flimsy for the price they ask and i would prefer to make my own sturdier base on wheels.

I was thinking of getting this router top to go with my JOF001 triton router, buying a kitchen style worktop and inserting the router module into that. However i would need to put in my own T tracks as these were on the twx7 table and not the router module.

And this is where i cant quite decide and would like your help. I see 3 contendrrs at the moment on the web, UKJ, Incra and Kregg for buying rails.

UkJ from axminster appear to be 19mm and fittings for making jigs and such dont seem easy to come by unless you buy their full jig kit (expensive in my opinion)

Incra and kregg seem to be the US 3/4 style slots i believe.

If i want to install rails in my worktop, which would you recommend taking into account the buying of additional parts to fit the rails to make jigs etc. Or does anyone know of any other supplier of t track slots which also provide the runners etc to in them.

Hope that makes sense.

 

[MikeJhn]

T track slots are a nightmare due to the 1/4" imperial fittings needed with all of them, I have in the past been able to make my own fittings out of 5mm thick steel strip drilled and tapped and used metric bolts and handles for the fittings needed, once set up to do this there is no limit to what you can do with any of them, I would advise that when router a table top to fit a T track make sure its exactly the correct depth otherwise you will lift the track out of the table when tightening up your fitting and pull the screws out of the top, a dovetail track can help this, but can make the top proud at the track fitting if its not flush when slotted into the top.

Mike

 

[MikeJhn]

Alternatively a UJK T track and this fitting kit will do most things: http://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-11 ... kit-103409

I bought an Axminster compact router fence and fitted it to a cheap router table, it made a sows ear into a silk purse, well not quite, but you know what I mean: http://www.axminster.co.uk/ujk-technolo ... nce-508272

Mike

 

[Farmer Giles]

The woodpecker mitre and T tracks are good and strong, instead of drilling the t slot to fix they have an upside dow T track which you slot 1/4" bolts which are easily available on the bay or you can buy a bag of nuts for them from woodworkers workshop.

 

[Bionic Bulldog]

Mike, thanks for the reply.

I mainly envision the tracks for use as runners for mitre gauges and for sliding of my jigs back and forth, similar to slots on a table saw.

I am trying to steer away from wood runners like on my table saw sleds, as workshop is not heated and wood runners, no matter how hard you try, like to vary fom seaon to seaon☺.

 

[Farmer Giles]

Woodpecker do the combi track so it has a mitre and a narrower t track combined which makes it a bit more flexible.

 

[sunnybob]

Dont use kitchen worktop. It is not flat enough to be a good router table. My mark 1 and 2 tables were worktop and its no good. I'm currently using the mark 4 and its flat melamine.

Loads of threads on here and utube on how to build your own,
this is the newest one;
large-router-table-wip-t104699.html

I've used UJK T track and mitre track, purely because i can get it easy. I dont think its any dearer than any other make, and definitely cheaper than some. It also looks pretty!
Note that the mitre uses a different track to the T bolts. You cant clamp in a mitre track.
I bought the UJK fence micro adjusters too. Really pleased with my table now.

 

[user22161]

I used standard 3/4" T track from Rutlands but they appear to be out of stock at the moment - http://www.rutlands.co.uk/sp+woodworkin ... k2051pack4

 

[porker]

Dont use kitchen worktop. It is not flat enough to be a good router table. My mark 1 and 2 tables were worktop and its no good. I'm currently using the mark 4 and its flat melamine.

Loads of threads on here and utube on how to build your own,
this is the newest one;
large-router-table-wip-t104699.html

I've used UJK T track and mitre track, purely because i can get it easy. I dont think its any dearer than any other make, and definitely cheaper than some. It also looks pretty!
Note that the mitre uses a different track to the T bolts. You cant clamp in a mitre track.
I bought the UJK fence micro adjusters too. Really pleased with my table now.

Interesting about the flatness of kitchen worktop as I have an offcut of maia worktop (which I was told off for calling a laminate) and I thought last night I could use it for a router table top but just put a straight edge on and was surprised how much of a dip there was in the middle. Quite dissapointed

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

 

[sunnybob]

Rutlands? Out of stock? Who would have believed that?

 

[MikeJhn]

Peter Sefton at Wood Workers Workshop has the Inca T slots: https://woodworkersworkshop.co.uk/produ ... 4716175366 can highly recommend the company and integrity of Peter and his staff who go beyond what is normal to give exceptional service.

mike

 

[Farmer Giles]

This is the woodpecker combined T-track and mitre track also from woodworkers workshop that I'm using on my router table. I fancy one of their Incra mitres too, I shall see how much I raise with my barn clearout.

 

[Bionic Bulldog]

Thanks for all the replies.

I have been looking through the stock at the woodworkers site you linked and i have to say, after browsing, i am sorely tempted to cut out all the hassle a buy the incra router table top and wonder fence that he has listed on his site. I tnink the stand alone fence would do all that i need rather than the far more fancy LS one listed on the site.

Unlike some other bands i cant recall offhand of anyone moaning about the quality of incra products.

Only thing i am not sure of and i suppose i would have to confirm is whether the incra mounting plate is suitable for the Triton JOF001.

 

[MikeJhn]

There are lots of alternatives out there to choose from, what size router table are you looking for? full size? or compact?

Mike

 

[Bionic Bulldog]

Mike

The one on the woodworkers site i was looking at was the 24x32inch one. Looks like it would do what i need without takingnup the whole workshop.

Not looking for benchtop size, if this is what you mean by compact.

Want it to be able to accomodate the triton router i have as this has the above table adjustment on it.

 

[Hemsby]

I bought my kitchen worktop off cut from the local Kitchen fitting shop they were quite happy for me too “sort” through their stock. I took my straightedge to check my chosen piece for flatness.

Its almost 2 years since I made my router table and it has had the Triton TRA001 fitted all that time. Just checked the flatness and it is still fine.

The Incra plate purchased from Peter Sefton together with his cut out template, has worked very well for me. I have the Rutland’s track, (pity about the stock)

Link to my table build. May be of some use to you.
router-table-build-t90615.html

 

[Peter Sefton]

Thanks for all the replies.

I have been looking through the stock at the woodworkers site you linked and i have to say, after browsing, i am sorely tempted to cut out all the hassle a buy the incra router table top and wonder fence that he has listed on his site. I tnink the stand alone fence would do all that i need rather than the far more fancy LS one listed on the site.

Unlike some other bands i cant recall offhand of anyone moaning about the quality of incra products.

Only thing i am not sure of and i suppose i would have to confirm is whether the incra mounting plate is suitable for the Triton JOF001.

Thanks for taking the time to look through my tool shop web site, I will ask one of the guys in the shop to double check the Incra plates and the description just incase it's predrilled ready for the Triton.

Cheers Peter

 

[MikeJhn]

I have the UJK Professional router table which is the same size although metric LOL, : http://www.axminster.co.uk/ujk-technolo ... top-719240 my version has a Phenolic top which does not seem to be on the website now, with any of these you will have to buy an insert which will have to be drilled to take your choice of router, ensure when you align the Triton router that the height adjustment is accessible, unlike the Triton router table which puts the adjustment under the fence when flush with a bearing guided bit, you may also find that by positioning it far enough away it will not fill with shavings.

Wait for the Triton sycophants backlash.

Looking at Peters web site it says that the Inca insert can be supplied drilled for the Triton JOF-011 router, just a question of where it is drilled for the above table adjustment.

Mike

 

[Bionic Bulldog]

Many thanks for all your replies and also pointers. Noting some things said, i have taken a little step back and done some thinking

I was looking a seperate table saw and router,and was also looking to sort out fence issues with my ts200 saw. Been good saw but let down by some build quality imo. But its fairly quiet and served me well so far.

So after mike pointed me towards peters site, i have started thinking about killing two birds with one stone. Never really looked closely at the incra suff other than the mitre slots, and it looks qualityand better than anything else i have seen sold jn the uk.(i never understand why table saws are sold with such rubbich fences in the uk, since it is an important part of the sawcut in the first place....)

I have mailed peter this morning to see about pricing up various bits and bobs to sprt out both the table saw and router build at the same time...well lets face it, if i dont spend my spare cash quick on myself, wife is going to spend it in clothes, shoes, and gawd knows what else.......and if its a choice between some shoes and workshop... well, what would YOU choose ☺

 

[Lonsdale73]

I have an Incra LS, I bought it thinking it would make me a better woodworker. I'm still rubbish but the LS is great. If I want a 3mm rebate down the edge of a work piece I can do that easily and - more importantly - repeatably, especially useful when cocking up the first piece. If I need a groove precisely xmm in from one side I can do that too, time and again. It hasn't made me a better woodworker but it has enabled me to do some of the basics accurately and consistently which has given me the confidence to try other things and in turn that has lead to better quality rubbish. I too thought about using it in place of the fence on my table saw but after receiving a few pointers on here that hasn't been necessary. Woodworker's Workshop were selling off some Incra mitre track at the recent Midlands show so I added a length of that to my mitre table, using the LS to ensure it was parallel to fence. I have the smaller t-track running round three sides of my worktop which are great for clamping pieces vertically and also for adding temporary extensions to work surface, using 6mm bolts in the track, fed through holes drilled the extensions support rails and secured with knobs or wingnuts. I've recently bought some t-track plus, which comes with lexan scales, for use on my next project.