Is a split router fence really neccessary?

[porker]

Hi,
I have a Charnwood part cast iron router table (different paint but basically the same as the Record Power one) and whilst I like the table and the fact that I can get at the router easily with a gas strut assisted top, the fence is not great in my opinion. It looks OK but for what ever reason doesn't work very well. The seperate halfs constantly jam and are difficult to adjust. Both halves are held together in a very flimsy arrangement.

Anyway I was thinking I would probably try to make my own but wondered in reality how important being able to adjust the outfeed is. I see a lot of people using their tables with a single piece fence and this would make it much easier to construct. Does anybody know of any plans or point me to a decent design, thanks.

 

[recipio]

As far as I know no one makes an aftermarket adjustable fence for small tables as they need a combination of precision and rigidity. You don't need one until you start routing profiles like a bullnose edge which will take a mm or two off the overall width. I tried to make one using a microfence router jig but locking it down was difficult.
I have a Veritas router table and even they sell shims of varying thickness to get around the problem.
The Jessem TA fence looks like a very nice solution for £400 + if you can actually find one for sale and own a Jessem sized table !
In general I find it better to have a dedicated 1/4 " router table as 90% of what I do can be done with 1/4" bits.

 

[Sgian Dubh]

I don't have experience of that router table brand, and can't comment on the functionality of the fence. I probably wouldn't give up on it in the short term and I'd try and puzzle out how to either use if effectively or improve it. Failing that, a simple straight fence is easy enough to fashion being, at minimum, no more than a straight piece of wood or similar clamped at both ends to the table. (You could alternatively attach such an additional piece to the existing fence.) I've rigged up several such simple fences over the years and adjustment was/is accomplished simply by loosening a clamp and nudging or tapping with a hammer one end of the fence until the right setting is achieved. As to the lacking offset on the outfeed side of a single straight piece fence this can usually be achieved satisfactorily by temporarily adding a shim to the outfeed side, e.g., a piece or pieces of veneer, high pressure laminate, etc.

Still, it wouldn't completely surprise me to find that the Charnwood made fence can be made to work satisfactorily, but I could be wrong. Slainte.

 

[Spectric]

Having a fence in two halves is really handy, you can space them apart and use a sacrificial fence to cut the router profile so a zero clearance fence, you can offset the outfeed fence when trimimg like on a P/T and as mentioned when doing any profile that changes the wood dimension so as it leaves the cutter it is unsupported then you can offset the outfeed fence to provide support. The fence on my Kreg table is in two halves but they are attached to a rigid aluminium extrusion to keep them in line, I use shims to provide the offset on the outfeed half. If you want an example of a router fence system that is really precise and offers much flexability then the Incra products are amazing, working on a new bench design that hopefully will incorporate one, it is just the space. Look at INCRA LS17 Positioner Super System with Wonder Fence 430mm (Metric) not a cheap option although if you want precise repeatable routing then this is the way forward.

 

[porker]

Thanks for the replies all. I will take a look at some of the options for inspiration although I wasn't intending to throw a lot of money at this. I will take another look at the existing fence to see if it can be made to work more effectively. I may also knock up a simple straight fence as I think this would be quite easy to make from what I have seen so far.

Not a great picture but this is what I currently have

 

[TheTiddles]

Have a look for Pat Warner’s old website, he uses a fence that goes up and down and it’s a great alternative, though the spilt fence also has its uses as does a sacrificial fence.

 

[powertools]

You don't need to make a new fence just fix a full length of ply or mdf across the fence you have,

 

[johnnyb]

I like the track clamps and a piece of say inch mdf or wood drill 2 holes in the top of the wood and clamp to your existing fence plunge through or cut a clearance hole.. the cam clamps are sweet but bloody pricy at £36 each from axi!

 

[johnnyb]

another good way is same as above but put thinner screw on fences with alternative cut outs on the first fence( once you've got a timber fence your away)

 

[porker]

Thanks Aidan, he did some very interesting designs. Googling found some very clear articles. Will definately have a closer look. Thanks @powertools that hadn't occured to me but that would be a very simple change. I guess I could just use thin MDF and make a zero clearance fence for whatever cutter I am using. Upcoming job is miles of trim for panelling so no rebate needing a different offset

 

[porker]

There are slots in the existing fence which take normal 10mm bolts (its how the profile is also attached at the back. I should be able to counter bore thicker MDF and attach that way

 

[Droogs]

Just attach a single piece of MDF to the fron faces with double sided tape and you will be fine for most edge profiling. Where the 2 piece adjustable fence is most oten used is when you are using the table to size stock. Just as if you were using a planer on its side, the out feed table is then used to support the trimmed wood as it passes through by adjusting it to protrude by the same thickness that you are taking off as you pass the wood over the cutter. Generallly when you are profiling you will be using a bearing guided bit and so only need a one piece fence as you are not removing any material from the width of the board

hth.

 

[mikej460]

I support the solid fence behind the existing split fence which is a fairly straightforward build using birch ply or mdf, with the split fence connected to the back (solid) fence T Track with two T track knobs, the two split fences sliding along the solid fence T Track. The benefit of a split fence is that you can adjust the distance between the two to narrow the gap giving you the ability to route smaller pieces, similar to but not exactly like a zero clearance fence. The downside is that the narrower the gap the less effective the fence dust extraction, so this needs to be factored in.

I built a solid fence and now need to add a split fence as I can occasionally get snipe on smaller pieces (where the front and/or rear of the piece is momentarily unsupported by the fence and dips towards the cutter, although this can be mitigated by using feather boards.

Hope this helps.

 

[porker]

Nice looking fence arrangement Mike. I'm tempted to copy your design. My table doesn't have any slots in it for the front to back adjustment rather I think 3 tapped holes so I would just make a slot in the fence similar to the existing. I want to run a big radius cutter to match trim profile in my house and the amount I need would prabably warrant making a dedicated fence just for that job and looking at the options provided to enhance the current one. Currently laid up post-op but hoping to get onto it soon!

 

[MikeJhn]

Or buy one of these if its wide enough: UJK Professional Router Table Fence no slots in the table needed.

 

[stuart little]

Or buy one of these if its wide enough: UJK Professional Router Table Fence no slots in the table needed.

I have one of these on my home made table, & the fine adjustment kit. Works a treat. I've replaced the adjustable 'cheeks' a few times & for planing I add shims to the outfeed.

 

[matkinitice]

I have one of these on my home made table, & the fine adjustment kit. Works a treat. I've replaced the adjustable 'cheeks' a few times & for planing I add shims to the outfeed.

Do those axminster fences use standard T bolts to attach the fence to the table?

I have an inset router table in an MFT and fancy one of these, but I wouldn't be using the black table attachments in those images.

It's not clear on the site on this part.

 

[stuart little]

Do those axminster fences use standard T bolts to attach the fence to the table?

I have an inset router table in an MFT and fancy one of these, but I wouldn't be using the black table attachments in those images.

It's not clear on the site on this part.

The UJK adjustable fence 'cheeks' have 'T; slots routed in them to accept 1/4" unc T - bolts.

 

[matkinitice]

The UJK adjustable fence 'cheeks' have 'T; slots routed in them to accept 1/4" unc T - bolts.

I wasn't clear. If I omitted the use of the fence cheeks (the black components in those images) - can you use the fence on it's own so to speak? Does the fence connect down to the table with a T bolt? Thanks for replying.

 

[Spectric]

I like @mikej460 's fence and table, well I suppose more of a shelf but it shows that not everyone takes the easy route and just buys components, this given time is what woodworking is all about and delivers a good compact solution with the bonus that you can say " I made that on the router table I also made".