Charnwood W650 Router Table...

[devonwoody]

Well the slot is like having pound notes loose in your pocket or secured away in a wallet & back pocket with a button as well.

You get what you want.

 

[woodbloke]

The thing you need the mitre slot for is cutting the scribed tenons on the ends of frame sections when doing cope and stick frame joinery. I you don't do that, then fair enough, but I can't imagine how else you'd do it without the slot.

Ed

Just use a push pad like Rob's running against the fence with the workpiece in front, if the push pad has 90 degree corners then it will work the same as a mitre gauge, or if you have a few to do you can make another simple sled (same principle) with a holddown on it for added safety and accuracy.

Running off the fence renders a track and mitre gauge redundant for anything I've ever wanted to do and saves having to set the fence parallel to the track as well as in the right position relative to the router bit which could be a bit of a fiddle.

Cheers, Paul

You're absolutely right Paul and as Bob9f said earlier, the lack of track was amply demonstrated to the assembled multitude at Wizer's bash a couple of years ago. I've got a couple of angled push pads, the one shown in the pic is for smaller stuff like rebates in picture frames and I have a larger, square one:

...for doing things like panels, shown in this pic with assorted push sticks for other equipment. The pad itself is simply a bit of mdf with a sacrificial piece of oak glued to the side. There's no real need to make the closed tote handles either, but the essential thing is that they're angled inwards towards the fence, so that in use pressure is applied sideways and forwards at the same time - Rob :ho2

 

[devonwoody]

How does it go when you use a bearing bit and not relying on the fence?

 

[Mr Ed]

The thing you need the mitre slot for is cutting the scribed tenons on the ends of frame sections when doing cope and stick frame joinery. I you don't do that, then fair enough, but I can't imagine how else you'd do it without the slot.

Ed

Just use a push pad like Rob's running against the fence with the workpiece in front, if the push pad has 90 degree corners then it will work the same as a mitre gauge, or if you have a few to do you can make another simple sled (same principle) with a holddown on it for added safety and accuracy.

Running off the fence renders a track and mitre gauge redundant for anything I've ever wanted to do and saves having to set the fence parallel to the track as well as in the right position relative to the router bit which could be a bit of a fiddle.

Cheers, Paul

Good luck with holding a component against a push pad and then running the end grain across the cutter - I wouldn't fancy it, plus you'd struggle to keep it square.

This is the sled I use;

This allows the fixture to miss the cutter as it stops short of the fence. If you run on the fence you need a big sacrificial piece to avoid damaging your fixture on the cutter.

Each to their own, but in my view the slot is essential.

Ed

 

[devonwoody]

The thing you need the mitre slot for is cutting the scribed tenons on the ends of frame sections when doing cope and stick frame joinery. I you don't do that, then fair enough, but I can't imagine how else you'd do it without the slot.

Ed

Just use a push pad like Rob's running against the fence with the workpiece in front, if the push pad has 90 degree corners then it will work the same as a mitre gauge, or if you have a few to do you can make another simple sled (same principle) with a holddown on it for added safety and accuracy.

Running off the fence renders a track and mitre gauge redundant for anything I've ever wanted to do and saves having to set the fence parallel to the track as well as in the right position relative to the router bit which could be a bit of a fiddle.

Cheers, Paul

Good luck with holding a component against a push pad and then running the end grain across the cutter - I wouldn't fancy it, plus you'd struggle to keep it square.

This is the sled I use;

This allows the fixture to miss the cutter as it stops short of the fence. If you run on the fence you need a big sacrificial piece to avoid damaging your fixture on the cutter.

Each to their own, but in my view the slot is essential.

Ed

And if you have fence issues put a square to the front and end of fence to check square, so have a track as a luxury