[wingspar]

Not much of a woodworker (I’m a measure 3 times, cut with chainsaw kind of guy) but I decided to try and build a drill press table using T-Track for the fence to slide in. I had no tools to do this with, so after some research, I decided to buy a router bit rather than go thru the expense of a dado set. I finally got the router bit (Freud 04-140) and some T-Track. Using a scrap piece of 3/4" plywood, I routed in the channel. The router bit is a straight 3/4" Bit and the drawings for the T-Track measure 3/4" on the outside. As you can see in the photos, the t-track will not fit in the channel, not even when using a hammer and a block of wood so as not to damage the t-track.

I just measured the OD of the t-track and the width of the channel in the wood.

T-track 0.770 - inches
Channel in plywood 0.700
As most of you know, 3/4" is 0.750

I’m disappointed with the results and have no clue as how to proceed. Any suggestions?

While posting this, I thought maybe trimming off a few thousands with the table saw would probably work, but since I went thru the trouble of taking photos and posting this I’d go ahead and post it anyway.

 

[wingspar]

Not an uncommon situation, Gary.

With a shed full of tools, it would be easy for me to correct, using an adjustable dado jig.

What other tools, apart from a chain saw do you have?

I have a rickety table saw (Craftsman 113.295750) that I inherited from my father who passed in 1988 and a nice all metal circular saw that was his also. A recent purchase is a 12" DeWalt miter saw and a purchase of a Makita RT0701C router that I purchased a year or so ago. That’s about it other than the other normal stuff, hammer etc.

The chainsaw comment is something I use a lot, cause I tend to cut stuff too short a lot. I have no real wood shop, so most stuff like this is done outside on a piece of plywood for a table supported by a couple of saw horses.

 

[wingspar]

set your straight edge to the desired width and make another pass.
(it's called: trimming to fit). a/k/a woodworking & craftsmanship.

My straight edge was a 2x6 held on by clamps. I took 1/8" deep passes.

 

[wingspar]

I had to read the comments and digest them for a day or two. What I did was cut a very thin 0.070 thin strip of wood on the table saw. Took a few tries to get it done. I then placed the thin strip of wood up against the wood I was using as a fence, and made three 1/8" deep cuts, then removed the thin strip of wood and made another pass. Worked perfect. I doubt I would have figured that out if it wasn’t for this forum. A big thank you.

Now that I have the t-track channels figured out, I can begin to work on the real drill press table.

 

[wingspar]

One more thing. To set depth, I like this little gem. A router height gauge. About $12. https://www.amazon.com/Trend-GAUGE-...ds=Router+Height+Gauge&qid=1634526123&sr=8-15 View attachment 399868

That looks like a neat little device, but I wonder what the distance between the legs that are placed on the router is. It looks like it was made for a router table and too big to fit on my little Makita RT0707C.

 

[wingspar]

It's about 3 inches across the open part, about 5 across the full leg span. I don't know how wide your Makita base is.

The Makita base is 3-1/2" in diameter, so that tool won’t work for me. Looks like a neat little tool and gives me an idea for making one.