[MiniMe]

Yesterday I was trying to familiarize myself with my newly installed router and router table.
I used a round over bit on a left over piece of wood and that went OK
I would like to add a sacrificial board to my Incra 1000SD miter gauge and I would like that to have a T-Track installed on it for the area that is not in hitting the table saw blade
So I reused the same piece of wood and a straight bit set to the proper depth to try to cut a channel.
I did not realize that with the piece of wood sitting on top of the bit the dust won't be sucked in by the dust collection system that I have attached to the fence's dust collector port.
Is this an improper use case for the router table? I did this operation before for a cross cut sled that I was building but that was done manually with the router attached to the plunge base. I did not feel extremely in control of my router back then although there was a straight edge I was using. That was my first attempt to use the router. It worked OK but it was quite messy and dusty. Since then I built a dust collection system that I can now attach to the newly installed router table.

My question: Is there the proper way to cut a T-track channel in a table saw/ miter gauge sacrificial fence board ? How should I setup my router table for proper dust collection for this? The dust and debris was flowing/flying out to the left, channeled out by the very slot I was cutting.
I could see some videos where the fence guide workpieces named so in the below picture were pushed toward each other to close the opening for dust collection. That makes sense when you have an enclosure under the router table but my setup does not have that (see the second picture).

 

[MiniMe]

Thank you guys, all good advice
Yes my router came with a dust collector adapter but I thought that would be to be used with the plunge base. Of course I could try to install it under the table.
I also came across a youtube video showing how to build a dust collector box under that aluminium table top.... it does not look very complicated. The design require magnetic mounts and 1/2" plywood. I might aim for that as well. The co clusion is that for narrow boards it can be done either way, on top routing or using the table but in the se one case the dust collection must be done via the router insert opening from underneath. Will try that dust collector adapter that I already have. I will definitely try multiple passes.

It seems that I also need to read about router speeds and wood types .The first attempt burnt some wood/dust ..lowered the speed and I could see wood dust and debriseith natural wood color comming out of the channels and not brownish smelly stuff as before

 

[MiniMe]

Never enclose the router in a box to remove dust. Routers need fresh air sucked in by its own fan to cool the motor or it will burn up

Very good point I will reconsider.Probably I will use the adapter that came with it as bad as it is.

 

[MiniMe]

thank you guys but I am not looking for the ultimate routing experience or the best router out there
It is what it is and I have what I have and I need to make use of that

 

[MiniMe]

For dust collection I have the Harbor Freight dust collector and I am in the process of building the separator as well
using these https://www.amazon.ca/Separator-Cyclone-Barrels-Containers-Collector/dp/B071CL5MJN


I also have one these two for a face mask
-3M 7502 HALF-FACE RESPIRATOR - MEDIUM
-3M 2097 NUISANCE LEVEL ORGANIC VAPOR PARTICULATE FILTER P100

I will not do a lot of routing though so I am not extremely worried.
I do have the option to attach a 2.5" hose to the fence and a 4" hose under the table.
I do not understand those who say the router in an enclosure under the table does not have enough cold air for cooling
The DC system will suck lots of air from the box and more will come through the opening of the bit. The sucked air will also move whatever warm air the router generates within its own chassis especially if you cut an additional opening in the underneath box


Building just a partial enclosure/box (shown below) for the router could be another option
As far as I can tell the router cooling happens at the lower end there are some vents there

 

[MiniMe]

When your cutting channels/dados on the router table, there's only one place the dust can go. And that's down the cut channel/dado. Here's an idea that you may like Dust Right Router Table Dado Dust Chute - Rockler . You could also make it yourself.

I did consider positioning a dust collector hose at the outfeed end of the table -the only problem with this solution is that this does not prevent the bit from getting slowed down by the dust that accumulates around it during the cut

 

[MiniMe]

could you use a table saw, dado to cut the channel?

In my case I will have to buy a dado set just for this and I hate to toy with the tabe aw blades (swapping them, aligning them making everything straight square etc etc)

 

[MiniMe]

I just came across this one