Router table Fence

[jim4321]

Hello Everyone,

I am in the process of making a router cabinet at the moment, I have made the cabinet and am now about to start the top and was wondering if anyone had any advise on the fence and what works for you.

Also, has anyone got any experience of the routalift insert from axminster. is it worth the £170. or are there any other products about that do the same thing.

Thanks

Jim

 

[Jaco]

Jim, have a look at what James did at Sawdustalley.

http://sawdustalley.co.uk/How-to/router-table/index.php

 

[Chris Knight]

Jim

There are dozens of plans for home made fences and some of them are pretty good but I would suggest you invest in an Incra Fence. These are not especially cheap but in my view they make the router table a precision tool that is more useful than almost any power tool in the workshop after a decent saw and planer/thicknesser.

The Incra fences provide repeatability (above all) and adjustment accuracy to one thousandth of an inch which may seem like overkill for woodwork until you try it. With a good router lift, they make the router table into a veritable milling machine for wood.

Tilgear supply them in the UK but I also recommend Woodpeckers http://www.woodpeck.com/

I bought the Wonderfence from them and am very satisfied with it.

 

[Noel]

Jim,

If you don't want to go with the Incra here's a simple run of the mill fence.
Just MDF with 4 right angle brackets to support the fence and a sliding sub fence of laminated faced ply.A 4" dust port set in an acrylic cover which is a big improvement over the more common shop vac size of port.
The fence assembly is clamped to the table with a couple of clamps and adjustment achieved by tap-tap-tapping...

Noel

 

[Dewy]

Jim, I cant understand how Axminster get away with charging £20 more for a routlift than the original rout-r-lift by Jessem from Canada that is approx £150

 

[Midnight]

Jim...

the 3 key aspects that a good fence has to have.... are dust extraction, accuracy and repeatability...

It has to be absolutely square to the table... it has to be adjustable to allow for different sizes of bits...

while the fence on my table has good extraction, is perfectly square and has tons of adjustment... it doesn't have repeatability; fine adjustment with is is a bear...

in looking for something that not only matched its strengths, but eliminated its weaknesses too, I came across one design that blew me away... you'll find it here...

http://www.patwarner.com/routerfence.html

Before I build my next scheduled project, I need to adapt that design to suit my table... there's nothing else I've seen that can match it for accuracy

As for a routerlift.. I'm in the camp that says you really don't need one provided you put the right router in your table in the first place... one that comes with a fine height adjuster that works...straight outa the box.. 3 years on I've yet to have a regret with that decision...

 

[Steve Maskery]

Well I've built Notm's table (rapidly becoming Industry Standard, I think) with an Axminster/Rousseau(£25) insert and a RouterRaizer(£70ish). Excellent combination. I've also modified Norms original fence to be fine adjusted too (with an M6 thread, one turn equals 1mm). It is excellent and I hope it will appear in a MNY soon (Mag Near You). The weaknes is that the Router Raizer is American and therefore in Imperial so height is in multiples of 1/64th inch and fence is in mm (easily 0.1mm accuracy).

I've got round this by making a template, like a dial which fits over my winding handle, which shows the mm eqivalent on a 1/64th" thread.

PM me if you want details.

Cheers
Steve

 

[devonwoody]

My Triton router doesn't need a lift.
The router collet rises by turning the handle on the side of the machine and then there is a micro adjustment to tidy up .
So anyone needing a router for a table this model is worth considering saves buying a router lift gear.

 

[jim4321]

Thanks Everyone for the replies,

Midnight, I had a look at the fence and it is very impressive, i think it will be a few years before i attempt to make or buy that one.

Noely, Thanks for the pictures, This looks exactly like the thing i'llI need

As for the setting the height of the router, I hadn't considered routers with fine height adjusters. I was going to treat myself to a new router when i had finished (using the Ferm router from screwfix at the moment) So will probably take this solution.

 

[Noel]

Mike might just agree that the Freud 2000 is the ideal canidate for a table and has excellent fine height adjustment. See his review with rather excellent pictures at
https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/view ... 72&start=0

Noel