Replacement fence faces for Bosch Router Table
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The original MDF fence faces on my Bosch RA1181 router table have warped beyond use after a couple of years in my unheated shop in the Pacific NW where the humidity is super high in the winter and super low in the summer.
Sorting through the options for the material in fashioning replacements and welcome opinions from anyone else that have replaced theirs.
1. MDF
2. Baltic Birch plywood
3. Hardwood (on hand, maple, ash and Qtr sawn oak)
Thinking given the environmental swings in the shop maybe hardwood is the way to go. Leaning towards the maple, but not completely sure what might be most stable. Face is 1/2″ thick, 12″ wide and 3.75″ tall.
Replies
I would prefer MDF. If they last for a couple of years that’s a good run. You could try sealing the MDF but anything that penetrates too much would distort the smooth, even dimensions that make MDF so suitable for the job.
You could also switch to 3/4” material to ease running larger bits. I actually have some 1-1/2" thick MDF faces for spinning raised panel bits on my style of fence. Melamine coating for MDF faces is pretty typical. Melamine coated particle board is easier to get at a home center.
I would expect the hardwood to react more than the composites. Plywood can work but MDF or melamine will be smoother. I shellac and paste wax the MDF. I do not have your humidity and have been running MDF/melamine faces for 15 years. There has to be some advantage to living in the desert ;-)
I made mine from a melamine shelf I got at the orange box. Nice and flat and slick to boot.
1/2" MDF is easy on router bits.... It's flat as well.
But, of course, that's easy for me to say now that I live in SoCal. Living back in Virginia, in high humidity summers, my old Ryobi table warped... The fence pieces on my Bosh probably would have as well.
One thing I have found with MDF, is that if I treat it with a thinned epoxy, or something like Minwax's Wood Hardener, heck, even just some shellac, it resists the negatives of humidity.
But, of your other two choices, I would vote for Baltic Birch over hardwood... less movement, especially warping.
Thanks, all.
MDF just doesn't hold up around here. All the excess pieces in my shop and my neighbor's are no longer flat. For two small faces buying sheets of the stuff and ending up tossing most of it seems wasteful (although could make the replacements and vacuum seal them for future use).
The Baltic Birch does better here than MDF for sure. But I have noticed that smaller pieces do tend to warp in our climate.
Had a perfect scrap of hard maple so whipped out a couple of faces from that so I could get to finishing what I was doing. Going to seal it to help stabilize it. They are 3/4" thick so might be able to plane out any movement if it occurs to get another couple of seasons out of them.
It'll be interesting to see how long the hardwood last. If not too long, I'll try the Baltic Birch.
Now about cast iron tables in the PCNW.....
My OEM fences would swell up from the year-round humidity, so instead of buying replacements, I designed one for 3D printing in case anyone needs it. Link here: https://www.printables.com/model/212511
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