curiousgeorge

There have been a few recent questions about router table fences so I thought I would post a few comments. For those looking to buy a fence I would suggest building your own. In doing so you will be able to include all the bells and whistles you would pay through the nose for on the commercial models. All you have to do is look around at all the fences available for sale and do a search on this forum to look at what others have done. Bj has some great ideas as well as a lot of others on this forum. You will find some things not available on the commercial fences.
I have included some pics of the fence I made. It is just some 3/4" MDF for the base and fence with 1/2" MDF sub-fences with T-slots cut in the back to make them adjustable. I put a T-track above the sub-fences to accept stop blocks, finger guards, etc. The whole thing was assembled with pocket screws and the base is simply held to the table with clamps. Then, of course, no fence is complete without some kind of dust collection system.

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George
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Dr.Zook

Nice George. Simple but functional. You can even make a second left side with some laminate on it or drop in a couple playing cards, and use it as a jointer. Cool.

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curiousgeorge

Thanks Dave,
The left sub-fence bottom is chamfered for that exact purpose and later I plan on using Bj's idea of a T&G insert for specific bits. There are any number of things you can do with replaceable sliding sub-fences.

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harrysin

Nice looking set-up George but the absence of sawdust suggests that it's only for you to sit and admire,prove me wrong and post some pics. Harry

curiousgeorge

Thanks Harry,
I have been working on the table for about a month and just finished the fence late yesterday evening... you should have seen it before I cleaned up and took the pics. In the winter it's sometimes hard to work in a freezing garag... er shop and yeah you got me on the sit and admire. I enjoy doing that almost as much as the work/play itself. The top isn't attached to the cabinet yet and just got the DC hooked up, but I have been using it... I made the drawers and fronts with it.
PS, If you look close in the first pic you can see some dust I missed just in front of the plate.

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bobj3

Hi George

I see you are using two clamps to hold the fence in place ,they do work well but a pain to use.
Here's a tip,,,,,, and a easy way to lock it down.

Put a slot in the fence base and one hole on the other end and use it as a Swing Fence, it's a easy way to lock it down and easy fix.
90% of the items you do on the router table will use the fence right next to the bit or to say right in front of the edge of the bit.
But you can still use the clamps when you put in a dado that's about 6" from the fence.
When you want to change the bit you just unscrew the one on the right and just unscrew the one on the left just a bit and swing it back out of the way,make the change and pull it back and lock it down.
You can make a stop block for the back side of the fence so you can get it right back to the same spot when using match set of router bits and the same bearing on the bit.
Right back to the zero point on the fence.

Or if you are poping the router table base out to change the bit like Bob & Rick do this also works great for that also,just slide the fence back and pop it out then pull back and lock it down all without any hand screw clamps

See small drawing below quick and easy one to install and cheap.

Just a Note about the Tee Nuts,,,I aways cut the sharp point off the tee nuts and glue them into place,this way they will not drop out of place and the ponts will not split the wood. (if I recall the bit size for the 5/16" tee nut is a " N " drill bit and must be right for the barrel size for the tee nut) you want it just slide in with out nailing it will a big hammer, just a small tap should do it.

Plus a snapshot or two on the fence I have on one of the router tables ,I use a snap pin on the right side of the fence, it's spring loaded and I just pull it up and turn it a 1/4 of a turn and it locks in place then I can just swing the fence out to the left side and do what I need to do then just pull it back and let the pin drop back into the hole, I also have two holes on the right side of the table top so I use the BIG bits like the 3 5/8" panel bits, the 2nd hole moves the fence back about 1 1/4" from center.




Bj

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Bob J.

Joe Lyddon

Golly, I never gave it much thought!

After watching the Router Workshop so much & seeing how simple it really was, I just grabbed a piece of oak that had a nice straight edge and started using it... just like Bob & Rick do...!

All of these mentioned, also look good to me...

I guess it depends how "Pure" you want to be?

kenadian

I noticed the Shopsmith in one of the pics... I have my grandfathers old 500 with the jointer and old scroll/jig saw attachments. Do you use yours? I had to get mine basically re-built since it sat in an unheated basment for years, then at camp in a shed for a few more years before I got hold of it..

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curiousgeorge

Thanks Bj,
Looks good to me. I will give the swing fence a try. I hope you don't mind if I saved a copy of your attach.

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curiousgeorge

Hey kenadian,
Yeah, I use it a lot. I just got my 510 last Nov. and am still learning all the ins and outs. I wouldn't mind having the jointer and planer attachments but can't afford them right now. Shopsmith stuff aint cheap, as you probably know after refitting yours. Hope you are enjoying it. Happy sawdust to you.

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