 Router fences and tables
Hi George, I like the pics of you're table, why don't more of the guys post actual photographs, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. I made my first router "table" in about 1975, it was an old radio chassis minus all components with a steel bar welded to the bottom so that it could be held in a vice. The router was a very basic Black and Decker. The fence was a 2" x 1/4" steel bar with 1/4" rods screwed into it to enable adjustment. At that time I hadn't seen a "real" router table and I did lots of work on it. I progressed to the first of the Triton tables which opened up a new world for me, and it was about this time that I met Template Tom and commenced routing lessons, so for a while the Triton saw few projects. However I became sufficiently router proficient to decide when an operation was best done with templates and when best to use the table so I progressed to the new version of the Triton which had a front sliding section which opened up lots of new possibilities so far as jigs were concerned. I eventually disposed of the Triton when I came across the heavy duty Chinese made table shown, complete with it's steel and aluminium hi-tech looking fence which turned out to be hopeless! The standard of my work deteriorated rapidly even after I made the two adjustable blocks at the top to reduce flexing. The first time this fence has seen the light of day was yesterday when I removed several years of dust to take a photo. I replaced it with the simple one shown, made from an old kitchen door! The height makes many operations a breeze and if the cut-out for the cutter needs to have zero clearance, I just clamp a sheet of thin MDF and pass the cutter through it. The photo. of the underside shows the simple modification to the height knob which makes for fast adjustment. I know that many of my posts are on the long side but I aim them at the guys (and gals) who are new to routing and I still recall the kind of questions that I had in the early days. Comments, even adverse ones are welcome so that I know which way to go on future posts. Harry |