Router Table Fence Design

[Neomorph]

As I'm in the process of building myself a router table I was thinking about designs of fences that I've seen. Most of them use a pair of T-Track embedded in the table and the fence is connected to these with two T-Nuts and lobe nuts. Looking at this setup it's obvious that it is virtually impossible to move the fence back in parallel.

Looking at the other end of the scale there is the Incra that attaches to the center of the fence but this looks like there could be a small amount of play at each end. Also the size of the mounting on the table means that it limits the amount of movement. that the fence can travel.

Contemplating this I tried to come up with a way to make the fence run parallel but allow full use of the depth of the table. I threw out several ideas as being to unwieldy but then I happened to glance over at a table that had some bits and pieces for another project I'm working on. There sitting in plain view was a full extension ball bearing drawer runner. :idea:

My idea is that the runners are embedded into the router table top and there is a central T-Track used to fix the fence at the desired distance. The runners will ensure the fence is kept parallel and if I can figure out how to fit an extender it could mean that I could even use the fence right up to and past the back end of the table top. This would mean it would be easier to run dados on panels.

 

[Anonymous]

Looking at the other end of the scale there is the Incra that attaches to the center of the fence but this looks like there could be a small amount of play at each end.

I have owned the Incra ultra for over a year now and there is absolutely NO play what-so-ever at any end or at any point, so don't write it off for that reason neo.


When I was considering building my own, I bought some linear bearings form RS components to provide accurate and repeatable movement. Possibly this is a good approach to consider?

 

[Neomorph]

I have owned the Incra ultra for over a year now and there is absolutely NO play what-so-ever at any end or at any point, so don't write it off for that reason neo.


When I was considering building my own, I bought some linear bearings form RS components to provide accurate and repeatable movement. Possibly this is a good approach to consider?

OK... consider me corrected. :lol: Mind you I should have guessed it was superb considering the press it gets and the price it costs. For £260 it's gonna be good.

Now the main reason I was looking for a "budget" fence was that I'm building one for my brother in law's birthday present. I like him but not enough to spend £260 + the rest of the router table heh. The other reason is that I want to use my table for dado cutting but I suppose I could do that hand-held with a straight edge clamp. One thing I do want this fence to do is be able to allow for jointing distance on the outfield like some of the more expensive ones do.

I think I'm going to have a go and mock one up in Sketchup to see what will work. Trying to go for as accurate as possible while being as cheap as possible is my aim. Usually it's either one or the other but I still think I could knock one up that will do the trick.

 

[RogerS]

When I was considering building my own, I bought some linear bearings form RS components to provide accurate and repeatable movement. Possibly this is a good approach to consider?

Damn you, Tony :lol: :lol: Just when I thought I'd worked out all my alignment methods/tools and fittings you just HAVE to go and spoil it by introducing me to summat else to think about. :wink: :lol: :lol:

 

[johnelliott]

I make my own router tables, especially as I need to have one for each job (so as to avoid setting up time), so have three at the moment. I would like to offer these thoughts-
I wouldn't bother with the drawer runners as they are designed to allow for some out of parallel movement.
For cutting grooves parallel to the edge I think you are better off using the router hand held with a fence running on the edge. This is easy to control and you will end up with a groove of constant depth. This is difficult to achieve with a router table as the problem is to keep the material flat onto the table.
Maybe the easiest way to provide for the "jointing distance on the outfield" would be to use a shim made from plasticard, sold in model shops and of various thicknesses eg .5mm
John

 

[Neomorph]

John, I can guarantee you these drawer runners are exceedingly accurate as they are meant to extend the drawer out to the full and support 100lbs while doing so. I had my doubts like you John as I hadn't heard of anyone else using drawer runners so I did a quick test to see and connected two pieces of MDF and moved the floating piece back and forward. At all times the two pieces were perfectly at 90 degrees with no play at all. This means I can actually have a ruler at one side to measure the seperation.

The shim idea sounds ok but would mean I would have to have a shim for every amount that I want to use. Seems a bit of a bodge really but a good idea if you were only using one or two.

BTW.... THREE ROUTER TABLES???? Damn I'm jealous already... :shock: I hardly have room for one let alone three heh. What are the three different jobs? Horizontal, Vertical... and ????

 

[Nick W]

Now I'm going to duck as I say this, but does anyone actually use a router fence for jointing, and therefore need the outfeed fence adjustment :?:

I only ask because:
1) I never have
2) I can't imagine any situation under which I would

A router, although extremely useful, (and don't get me wrong I use them a lot and for some jobs there is nothing better), is noisy. I have a jointer and use that in preference as it is quieter. But this is always followed by the use of a hand plane. If for some reason the jointer is not available (or I can't be bothered to move it from its parking place) then I will use a hand plane on its own, as I would if I didn't have a jointer.

I may be missing something here :shock: but I just don't see the point.

OK, I will now retreat into my handy nuclear bunker, and await incoming fire.

 

[Nick W]

BTW there was a very fine router fence design in FWW No. 144. See here for details.

 

[engineer one]

i bought one of those ryobi cheap kits which included a table. nice casting, but the fence is a complete waste of space. it has lots of adjustments, but no real way to ensure that the travel is square and stays that way, the nuts do not seem to keep it very tight. caused me all kinds of problems with some panel doors i was making. finally had to cut them again on the table saw, since they were in mdf no loss no foul.

surely the way to ensure accuracy and tightness in channel is to use flat sided bolts which do not rotate, and springs to ensure tightness.

final thought. drill a series of holes in pairs from the back of the table to about 3 inches behind centre of router. next make your fence backing plate a flat piece of mdf about 4 inches deep. make sure that you have drilled holes in this the same width as on the base. now put a couple of square blocks on the lower piece. capture a nut horizontally in this.
and screw a nut into it. make the nut at least 1to 1 1/2 longer than the wood. now fix the upright fence in a couple of places with silver steel rods. then you can use a spanner to move the bolts in and out, and the fence will stay parallel.

can't be much "cheaper" than that, and should always be accurate, when it stops being so, replace fences.

haven't tried this on a router table, but on other things for metalworking, and it works so why not???
paul :wink:

 

[Nick W]

Oh, yes, and another thing... :wink:

I have an Incra fence, and it is great but (and you knew there was a but coming didn't you :wink: ) two things have persuaded me to replace it with a home-made one - when I get the time :roll:

It takes up a lot of room. The front to back depth is huge, particularly when compared with a conventional fence. In most workshops this will contribute to the ever present space problem.

It will set precisely to 1/32" increments. Now this is great until ... you start using metric bits. OK, so the fence can be adjusted to any setting using the fine adjuster, but this takes time, and leaves the fence out of adjustment for any other size of bit. You can get metric doofers to replace the imperial ones, but that only gives you the problem the other way round, and the increments are 1 whole mm so no good for bits with odd sized diameters (e.g. 15mm). Also the templates for all the fancy joints are only available in imperial, so they become useless.

If you plan to do a lot of imperial size joints, particularly the nested ones that the Incra jigs excel at, and have a tardis-like workshop, then there is no better jig (IMHO), go out and buy one. Better still buy mine when I have made my new fence.

However for more general, mixed use it has problems.

Now, about these linear bearings ...

 

[Neomorph]

Nick W.. I haven't got a jointer and have limited space and never even thought about using a router table as a jointer until his highness the :norm: mentioned it on one of his programs. Thinking on what John and you have said Nick I think you are right and only a shim will be needed.

And the nuke bunker??? nah... I posted here to discuss options and I'll take any and all advice given. I'm very much a beginner here and the experience people here have got a lot to offer someone like me. My main two problems are

1. Money (limited amount as I'm disabled and don't work) and
2. Space or more pertinant the lack thereof. I only live in a 1 bedroom flat with a small garden that has a 10' x 6' shed for my workshop.

Those two factors mean that if I can combine more than one function into a workstation then it saves both space and money. In fact my router table will also house an upside down jigswaw to make it a freehand shape cutter that would normally be done with a bandsaw. So the router table will be three things in one if you count the jointing function.

I've also told my friend that during the summer he can help function as a bobbing sander... I'll fit a drum sander to my drill press and he can raise and lower the drum while I move the work around it. 8)

Nick, what you said about the space the Incra takes up on the table is one reason I didn't like it... but when you add in that it's imperial... ugh!

Hold on... Imperial... That means America still thinks it's part of the British Empire??? I think it must be a punishment for dumping all that Tea... :lol:

 

[George_N]

Now I'm going to duck as I say this, but does anyone actually use a router fence for jointing, and therefore need the outfeed fence adjustment :?:

I only ask because:
1) I never have
2) I can't imagine any situation under which I would

A router, although extremely useful, (and don't get me wrong I use them a lot and for some jobs there is nothing better), is noisy. I have a jointer and use that in preference as it is quieter. But this is always followed by the use of a hand plane. If for some reason the jointer is not available (or I can't be bothered to move it from its parking place) then I will use a hand plane on its own, as I would if I didn't have a jointer.

I may be missing something here :shock: but I just don't see the point.

OK, I will now retreat into my handy nuclear bunker, and await incoming fire.

Like Neo I don't have a jointer and the router table is a good way of cleaning up the edges of MFC off the table saw to remove chip out...and you don't need to stand the panel on edge.

George

 

[Nick W]

George,

Ah yes, MFC (and other plastic-bearing wood substitutes :wink: ).

OK there's one. Any more for any more?

 

[Anonymous]

Now I'm going to duck as I say this, but does anyone actually use a router fence for jointing, and therefore need the outfeed fence adjustment :?:

Good question Nick.
When I made my first router table about 8-9 years ago, I made the fence so that it could be split for jointing. Never used it to joint.

When I got my second (purchased commercial model) router table, the fence was designed to allow jointing but I never did.

My third table uses the Incra and I can't joint with it - strangely, i don't miss the facility :lol:

 

[RogerS]

Now I'm going to duck as I say this, but does anyone actually use a router fence for jointing, and therefore need the outfeed fence adjustment :?:

Good question Nick.
When I made my first router table about 8-9 years ago, I made the fence so that it could be split for jointing. Never used it to joint.

When I got my second (purchased commercial model) router table, the fence was designed to allow jointing but I never did.

My third table uses the Incra and I can't joint with it - strangely, i don't miss the facility :lol:

Strange? Can this be the same Tony who in another post said

I have used my Ultra 24 for a year now and think that a split fence would be a great advantage. I might even make a wooeen facing for it to allow it to split

 

[dennyk]

Just to throw throw the cat among the pigeons

I have the Ultra Jig 24, on my homemade router table size 50" x 30",
I attach the Incra Intellifence to the Ultra Jig, as it is fixed to a base that fixes to the router table by way of threaded inserts, I can align the Ultra either across the table or along the lenght of the table, this gives me the choice to place it in the position most suitable to task at hand.

I have a Router lift fitted into the table in such a way that I can place wide boards on the table to allow for cutting dado's and forming moulding on the edge of table tops.

I also occasionally use the setup for jointing when I only want a midges taken off a piece of wood.

For all other planing I use my Tendo P/T

I also use my Utra Jig on my TS with the standard Fence for repetitive cuts

 

[RogerS]

Denny...you echo my thoughts exactly. Any pictures? Very interested in your approach to dado's.

Roger

 

[Neomorph]

Denny those inserts method sound excellent. Any chance you could get a pic and post it here?

 

[colinc]

Roger Phebey of Woodworkersworksop has just sent me details of what I believe is the newly re-introduced Incra 'Original' Jig. He stocks the other models too, and from my experience I'd say his customer service is second to none.

to quote from his literature:

"We're glad the Incra Universal Precision Positioning Jig is back. And if you want a tool that gives you fast, reliable, and repeatable fence positioning that won't cost you and arm and a leg, we think you'll be happy too. Remember that the original Incra Jig is available at Wood Workers Workshop for £90.00 and the price includes VAT and delivery by Business Post next day courier service."

If you want details I'm sure Roger will pass the document along:

CONTACT: Mr. Roger H Phebey
Sales: 0845 1659 244 Office: +44 (0)1491 629 699
email: [email protected]
url: www.woodworkersworkshop.co.uk

 

[Chris Knight]

Dunno what he means by the original. The original Original had no fine adujst and was extremely basic!