Using a router table as a jointer

[V]

Hello everyone, I have a Bosch tabletop router table and have been trying for days to set it up to edge-joint 3/4 stock for edge gluing. No matter what I do the piece comes out sort of teeter-totterish. I have a split fence using a 1/16 shim on the outfeed side which I have tried flushing up with the bearing, or just a little shy. No matter what I do every piece of wood totters when I put it on a flat surface. (Tablesaw...) Anybody have any ideas what I'm doing wrong? I've tried everything but replacing the 1/2 shank Rockler straight-cutting bit! Thanks

[RicodJour]

What's your setup like? Are you using featherboards or are you doing it freehand?

R

[DanielMatt]

Have you used a real jointer before? I've never jointed on a router table, but I know on a real jointer you have to apply your weight on the infeed side of the jointer, otherwise you will get a taper. Not sure if it is the same for a router setup or not, but thought I would throw it out there just in case. Good luck though, I'll be having to do this soon, too; so I'm curious as to what else people come up with.

[dadiOH]

1. Don't make the shim shy of the bit/bearing, make it FLUSH.

1. Do the concave edge of the board. Depending on how concave it is, you will take off wood at the start and wood at the end but nothing in the middle on the first pass. Next pass will take off more at front and back, next pass more, etc. When you take off wood all along the edge you are finished.

I kinda suspect you have been trying to join the convex side. It can be done but is harder as you have to make a flat area first so the board doesn't rock against the fence; otherwise, you just perpetuate the convexity and wind up with the same teeter-totter board.

[pat]

[Upscale]

With everything being equal and assuming smooth operation pushing the wood past the router bit, my first inclination would be to suggest that the two sides of the fence either aren't absolutely parallel, or the shim you're using isn't the same thickness all the way along.

I've used a table mounted router to remove burn marks after ripping wood on my tablesaw and even from the get-go, never encountered the problems you're mentioning.

While it should work, 1/16" seems a little thick to me when routing on a router table. My first suggestion would be to try a shim a little bit thinner after again checking that your router fences are initially, absolutely parallel.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Use a jointed board as a sled on the table saw.

[Doug Miller]

Ummmm.... no, and no.

Applying your "weight" on the *infeed* side is guaranteed to produce a taper, and a substantial one at that. Proper jointer technique involves applying light pressure -- just enough to keep the stock on the table -- on the infeed side *only* until enough of the stock has cleared the cutters to allow that light pressure to be applied on the *outfeed* side, after which pressure should be applied *only* on the *outfeed* side.

[William McQuain]

You've probably already done this, but make sure you check whether the face of the fence is actually perpendicular to the table surface. I picked up one of the Bosch tables at Lowes last summer and returned it when I discovered the fence face was making an angle of about 80 degrees with the table surface.

[Lew Hodgett]

Forget the table fence.

Clamp a straight edge to either the piece or the table (piece is safer),

then use a pattern bit to get a clean/straight edge.

Have fun.

Lew