Building router fence

[freshwaterw]

Hello everyone! I've been away from the forum for a while due to a variety of reasons, but I'm back and looking for advice/help! I have a 10" Delta contractor saw with 52" table, Delta Uni-fence, router insert to the left side of the saw, and a 4x8 outfeed table. What I would like to do is add a router fence to the uni-fence that will have provision for dust collection and of course fine adjustment. I probably could cobble something together but there are, I'm sure, members who have been down this road before and if I can avoid making the same mistakes !! The outfeed table kinda limits access to the end of the router insert. Any and all suggestions will be greatly welcomed and pic/drawings appreciated.

 

[JimD]

I have done this but do not at this point. If I was better organized it might work but what I found is that when I had the router all set up I would need to use the table saw or vice versa. If you can possibly make the space for a separate router table I think that works much better. But if you want to do it, I also would not attach anything to the table saw fence. If you put some T-nuts in the wood side table where the router goes you can make a fence with slots in it and use knobs that go through the slots into the t-nuts. Works great and lets you do at least small things on the table saw while the router is set up. A little box around where the router bit will be will allow you to put a dust port onto the fence. I also put a box around the router under the table top so I could have suction there too. I put hanger bolts into the side table of the saw to attach that box with wing nuts. It all worked but I just decided a separate router table works far better. Mine is based upon an article in an old American Woodworker and has a tilt up top for bit changes and the big PC router motor is in a carrage that slides up and down on machined steel rods with a piece of 5/16ths all thread (1 revolution = 1/16ths of an inch) to move it up and down. I've had it for years and it works great.

 

[freshwaterw]

Thank you Jim! I had tried using some t-tracks in the router insert table but using them seemed a little "clunky". I had my hole in the base of the router fence and loosened wing nuts and slid the hold-down bolts to make adjustments - it worked....but. I also had the box for top dust collection but I will have to try the bottom also .... I have a lift on my router so I shouldn't need to access the bottom often.

 

[golfdad]

Where are you located Wesley? Im in Clayton if you want to look at mine. I have one in the tablesaw and also a dedicated router table

 

[Gboot]

I built this router fence years ago based on a Norm Abram’s design. This is the second table saw it’s been on and is attached when needed to the saws fence with clamps.

 

[Wilsoncb]

With the router table to the left of the table saw, it makes it difficult to attach anything to the TS fence. Maybe you already considered this but the router fence doesn’t need to be attached to the table saw fence. If you use T tracks or something like that to hold the router fence down the TS fence can just bump against it. You can still use the TS fence measuring guide and push the router fence with the TS fence, then just use the router fence lock down to hold the fence. You also want to be able to remove the router fence quickly to get it out of the way when you need to cut something on the TS

Also you can add a fine adjustment between the two. For example something as simple as a bolt or thumb screw that is threaded into the router fence. The process would be to position the RF by pushing it into position with the TS fence. Lock down the TS fence then use the thumb screws to make a fine adjustment by screwing them in or out.

Mine is very crude, but it works. The first picture shows the TS fence against the router fence, the second is with the TS fence pulled back.

 

[JimD]

I use the movable front face idea from Norm's router table fence so I can make the opening sized for the bit I am using. My movable faces are melamine covered particle board. Not the nicest stuff in the world but the melamine face is nice and slick and also something I can easily put reference marks on with a pencil. The design of my router table is in general also consistent with Norm's. I like the "drawers" which are really just thick trays with holes for the router bits. But I also included ideas from an old American woodworker article. I have a lift from that magazine article and I also made the top so it tilts up for bit changes which works really well. Especially as I get older I don't love getting down to see the collet under the router table top. The router table top is an old sink cutout with maple around it and backed up by a piece of plywood. The fence "attaches" with little 6 inch long pipe clamps which is very secure but I have to check the clamps to be sure they are pinching the top. It, of course, has suction from the motor compartment and the fence.

I've built 3 or 4 router tables over the years but I have no plans to upgrade this one. It works. I occasionally use a fairly expensive commercially offered router table at church where we have a little shop in the basement (I believe it was sold by Kreg). It isn't terrible but is much, much, more difficult to do things with. It lacks a lift, the fence adjustments are more difficult, bit changes require getting on my knees or taking the motor out. And the bits they have are all 1/4 inch shanks driven by a big 15A Porter Cable motor (without functioning speed control). Part of my problem is just that it was much more expensive than mine but is much less capable. Waste of money in my opinion. The best router tables are built, not bought.

You want slots for fence adjustment in the fence, not the router top. It weakens the top. Putting them on top also lets you easily clean sawdust out of them. That is a big drawback of using T-track. A knob that goes into a T-nut in a wood extension table on the saw plus a slot in the fence back side makes a very servicable fence system that costs very little.

 

[Rwe2156]

If at all possible, I would build a separate table and fence. I wouldn’t tie up another machine unless it was an absolute necessity.

IMO you’re much better iff with a dedicated router table. But whatever works, just thought I’d throw it out there…..

 

[holcombej]

JimD: noticed in your write up about the 5/16 all thread. 5/16 typically has 18 (coarse) or 24 (fine) threads per inch. If yours is the 18tpi, it may be giving you a head scratching moment since it moves less than a 1/16 of an inch per revolution. 3/8 does come with 16 threads per inch.