Replies

1. 
   sschefer | Jun 21, 2002 09:40pm | #1

   Dave, it may not be your fence. I've had the same problem. I'm probably gonna get yelled at for this but it works fine for me to setup a guide stick on the oposite side of the fence and cutter. I then feed straight into the bit and the wood is held squarely in place as it passes. This works assuming your board is squared on both edges and the surface that is riding on your table is flag. It also requires that your table be perfectly flat so those Rosseau crowned router plates are out. Use an anti kickback device and feather boards to hold the wood down on the table.

   Steve - in Northern California

1. 
   Geovan3 | Jun 21, 2002 10:22pm | #2

   Dave, what is the advantage of using a guide stick rather than a feather board? Been told it never hurts to ask.

   George

1. 
   sschefer | Jun 22, 2002 06:04pm | #3

   A feather board will allow a certain amount of flex that when pushing long pieces through can be enough to make a wavy cut. I use the featherboard to hold the piece down flat and I have board buddies to help prevent the kickback. They also hold it down so it is a bit of overkill but what the heck, it doesn't hurt. The guide stick never moves so the piece (if squared) cannot move in any direction except the right one.Steve - in Northern California

1. 
   dhpascoe | Jun 22, 2002 09:28pm | #4

   Thank you for your responses. I just finished butchering an elaborate, large laminated maple and cocobolo picture frame. Heretofore I have not had problems routing until I migrated to using large profile cutters wherein just about everything I've tried to do now gets botched. My last frame ( a five footer) I routed by hand with the same bit, no problem, but my table has got me vexed.

   I'm pretty sure the problem is the fence. Its a 2" x 3" straight hardwood with adequate bit relief. I've checked every aspect of the table and fence an all is perfectly square and flat. So is my stock. My difficulty is the registration of the workpiece relative to routed and unrouted portions when passing over the bit and more than halfway along. It seems to me that I need a split fence that works similar to a jointer table where the infeed and outfeed tables are at different levels. Not only do I get a huge amount of sniping at the end, but any unfairness in initial passes is compounded in subsequent passes. This is because the workpiece surface against the fence is no longer flat and the workpiece will rock agains the fence. I can't find any solution for that.

   I'm presuming that with a split fence, setting the depth of cut as with a jointer, would eliminate this problem because the outfeed end will be properly registered with the fence, thereby eliminating the potential for rocking. In which case it would be beneficial for me to go out and buy the best table set up I can find, considering the value of the laminated wood I just wrecked.

   Can anyone tell if I'm right about adjustable split fences?

   Mad as hell and not gonna do shop-built router tables anymore.

1. 
   dhpascoe | Jun 23, 2002 12:25am | #5

   Well, after a few hours of anal - Lysis, I think I've figured this out. It was fun trying to observe what was happening as a 3 hp router is chewing up a 1/2" of stock. The new "router" bit I have is not really a router bit but a shaper bit, though it was sold as such. It's large and will completely cut away the registration edge of my stock, the same way a jointer does. My initial impression was right, that in cutting away the original registration surface, the work piece will rock and I end up with either gouges, splinters or a tapered piece with a sniped end. As the piece is machined more than half way along it's length, the piece begins to rock and results in a taper. Since these are picture frame rails, the result is unacceptable because the miters don't line up.

   So, I tried putting a thin shim on the outfeed end of the router fence with clamps. That solves the problem except for the clamps getting in the way. To successfully use this type of bit, one must have a split, adjustable fence so that the outfeed level equals the depth of material removed.

   Unless anyone knows of a better solution, it looks like I'll be building a new adjustable fence because I haven't seen any adjustable fences on the market.

   Dave

2. 
   Hempstalk | Jun 23, 2002 10:32pm | #6

   Freud makes a split fence for use on router tables.  It's very similar to the fence used on Delta or older Rockwell shapers.  You can find them at your local Home Depot.

3. 
   forestgirl | Jun 25, 2002 05:59am | #7

   Lot's of adjustable fences out there.  Veritas for one http://www.leevalley.com

   forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl   ;-)

4. 
   dhpascoe | Jun 26, 2002 03:43am | #8

   Yes, indeed there are a lot of adjustable fences out there. I just haven't seen one where the depth of each half of the fence adjusts independently, e.g the outfeed at a different position than the infeed side. Based on the bit I have, I need about 1/2" difference between the two to allow for the amount of edge it cuts away.

   Thanks for all your suggestions. Since I dropped and bent my Unifence bar some time ago, I'm using the old one, cutting it in half, creating a sub base and using thumb screws for adjustment on each half that slide in rabbets. I took my ideas from the Pat Warner fence shown in a FWW issue.

   Dave

5. 
   pockethole | Jun 27, 2002 03:16am | #9

   The INCRA WonderFence and Twin Linear are high quality, precision, split router table fences which will more than meet your needs.  Visit Woodpeckers, Inc. at http://www.woodpeck.com.  They have the most complete selection of Incra products and the best prices.

   I use the Twin Linear on my router table as well as their Table Saw Fence on my table saw.  Their fence adjustment system is very precise and repeatable to 1/32". An easy to use and precise micro adjustment mechanism is used when accuracy greater than 1/32" is required.