Adding sliding cheeks to standard fence of Trend router table?

Hi all, The plastic fence that comes with the Trend router table may be modifiable. Although it looks quite chunky it's probably thin walled and hollow where I would want to drill for bolting on sliding cheeks. Can anyone offer any experiences with modifying one of these fences, or suggest alternatives?

Cheers, Richard

Reply to
treenoakio
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Not tried modifying my one. I have a feeling it is of a plastic encased dense foam of some description or possibly even a solid plastic / resin since it does not crush or deform when you apply clamping pressure to it in the way you would expect a hollow one to.

Reply to
John Rumm

Thanks, that's encouraging. In the hope that it is solid plastic I'll approach it more daringly.

Cheers, Richard

Reply to
treenoakio

You could drill a small test hole in the underside to find out.

Reply to
John Rumm

If you succeed please tell us. I have been eyeing up mine for just such a modification too. The apperture is too big for easily passing small items across the cutter using the fence.

Peter

Reply to
Peter Ashby

I've been puzzling over this too. I see the main problem is in keeping the function of the adjustable workpiece support on the outfeed part of the fence. There is very little space for any sliding cheek material between the cutter side of the workpiece support and the cutter itself. Also any design that allows for cheek material in this area, would be a design that prevented sliding cheek movement on the outfeed side, when the workpiece support was in use, as far as I can see.

Reply to
Mike Halmarack

I think that the only solution for this is to only use the sliding cheeks when you do not need the adjustable outfeed support. Any piece long enough to benefit from the outfeed support would not benefit much from closing the aperture.

I have my table legs screwed to a piece of mdf held in my workmate via a batten underneath. I am thinking of enclosing it and getting a Y-piece so I can extract from below as well as through the fence. Anyone done this?

Peter

Reply to
Peter Ashby

Pat Warner's precision router fence, which is described in an article in Fine Woodworking magazine (No. 144) has sliding cheeks, the outfeed one of which can be shimmed out to provide support. I suppose this could be done much less fancily by packing bits of card behind the material used for the Trend fence mods.

I saw a woodworking video recently where the man was using small pieces of card to adjust some very basic fences on table and band saws. The work he produced using this method was extremely precise by my standards. He advocated that others use this very effective method and spend the money saved by the non-purchase of expensive fences, on having fun (or was it on buying other tools, I forget now).

I have a similar setup but rather than develop more effective extraction I'm going to make the custom built router table that my Trend table was originally bought for. It's just taken me a lot of time to get around to it.

Reply to
Mike Halmarack

Yes, if you used long enough bolts there is no reason why that would not be a perfectly practical solution

;-) I have a softwood framed bench with an Mdf/ply sandwich top and two vices all nicely drilled for bench pups in multiple dimensions. I built it using the Wikes workmate the router table now sits on. Part of the reason was to have a stable, solid hand planing platform so I can use it to build a proper solid hardwood bench. I'll do that when I get one of those round tuits and SWMBO's ever lengthening list of things for me to do gives me time...

Been stripping, sanding and painting the walls, ceilings, skirtings, door frames etc of upper and lower hallways and the stairs. Finishing touches still to do, after I break into the bath drain and try and find this semi blockage. I also have these old floorboards part planed for a stool that won't fall over when I stand on it (the bruise on the bottom of my foot is gone and the scar is healing nicely). The first two SWMBO vetoed flared legs that would have given them stability on style grounds.

What I really need is some of these:

Maybe I can argue for them when the artex on the lounge ceiling gets stripped....

Peter

Reply to
Peter Ashby

Your lists and aspirations all put me to shame and make me go weak at the knees. You do manage to make it all sound like positive experience though, even the bruises.

Reply to
Mike Halmarack

These things are sent to teach us, in my case two things:

  1. don't stand on the Mark1 and 2 stools.

  1. don't leave large G-clamps lying around where you can step hard onto the ends of the screws in bare feet while falling off the above.

In the immediate aftermath I was too concerned as to how I was going to make it to the bathroom cabinet without dripping blood on the carpet. The dustcloth that was down (and hiding the g-clamps) helped in that respect.

I suspect the limping about with the foot was what caused me to pull my popliteus muscle (right behind the knee) when putting out the recycling. Decorating with a leg that goes stiff if I crouch or stretch has been, interesting. But I am on top of it now.

Peter

Reply to
Peter Ashby

Uncanny, that's what I did with mine ;-) (except it was ply rather than MDF)

I have seen it done, and it can work well since a fair amount of debris does fall under the table.

Reply to
John Rumm

Ouch! I can only suggest that you stay there as long as possible. The alternative seems excruciating.

Reply to
Mike Halmarack

I set out to do just that when I got home this evening but the test hole wasn't necessary. On taking the bolts out and turning it over there was a latticework of open box sections. So it's kind of hollow but with a lot of strengthening walls. I certainly think it will take a few new bolt-holes. I'd guest the best option will be a T slot in the sliding cheeks with wing nuts on the ends of the bolts sticking out back of the main fence.

Cheers, Richard

Reply to
treenoakio

Not as excrutiating as SWMBO coming home and saying 'You have only done that?' and 'Do you want to go for a walk this evening?'.

Peter

Reply to
Peter Ashby

;-) I like the height it gives, being unshort means much stuff is too low for my back, like kitchen worktops.

I was wondering if it was necessary to fully enclose the underneath for efficient extraction or if just the back would be sufficient. How was the one you saw done? if you remember.

Peter

Reply to
Peter Ashby

Yup I know that feeling! (6'2" and a bit ish)

On top of the posh workmate with all its legs down seems to be a nice working height though.

It was fully enclosed, with possibly a small vent toward the top. That way the dust gets caught in the airflow and collected. You probably want the vacuum outlet near the base.

I can't remember which video it was, but I was watching some of the examples here:

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one showed a good internal shot of his router table with under collection. You can see from the example videos on thing like the circle jig that it does do a very good job collecting

Reply to
John Rumm

Hi John,

I think it's this video (at the 5 minute 50 second mark).

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the lower portion of my router table is the best thing I've done to the table. The improved dust collection is amazing, and the noise is reduced significantly.

You really need dust collection above and below the table, depending on what operation you are doing.

Thanks, John Nixon

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Buffalo, NY

Reply to
johnwnixon

that you see what is going on in there. Where is your extraction port, actually on the base of the enclosure?

Yup, I had come to that conclusion... you look at the top shroud on my table, and think, yup that is getting most of it. Then you look under the table and on the floor and realise it wasn't!

Reply to
John Rumm

I have a couple of jigs using bolt heads riding in T-slots. Bear in mind that bolt heads are usually domed so allow for that extra height. It is the width of the slot the bolt shaft slides in that determines the sloppiness, all the head slot needs to do is not be so wide the head is able to turn.

Peter

Reply to
Peter Ashby

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