Thread: Ideal Fence Height?

Can't advise on what is the ideal height as I think everyone has different uses for their fence. My main fence is 100mm high and the sliding sub fences are 70mm and it works for me most of the time, but I do have a sub fence which is only about 20mm high which is used for certain operations in my boxmaking. My push blocks are made to suit the 70mm sub fences.
I don't have any tee track in my table and just lock the fence with clamps, but I will be adding the tee tracks in the near future. For what I do I don't believe I will need the clamps in the future.
Your cabinet looks great so far and you obviously have a good handle on Sketchup.

IMG_20210603_173853.jpg IMG_20210603_173941.jpg

It took me a moment to see what was going on with your clear insert. I couldn't work out why I was seeing the router base floating in the air.

You appear to be in the normal ball park height wise, and I am starting to wonder if I have drawn my fence too high? They are not too hard to make again if you find you've got it wrong, but with all the experience on this forum, I am hoping to get as close as I can with version #1. You've already raised a good point with your push sticks. I like the push down and forward style that you clean up and make a new hook when they get too shredded, and a high fence might make these unwieldly. I also like the rubber bottomed push blocks for the router.
Push Sticks.jpg

There's another thread about feather boards. I don't generally use them but I had to put a narrow piece through the router recently, and knowing we had a 'yellow' — I don't know the make — feather board in the draw, I made use of it and was impressed with how effective it was. I am definitely going to incorporate some sort of feather board into my table. The video for the Timbercon feather board was very convincing, but I guess it would need top be at AU$44.


I am not flash with Sketchup and get into trouble with anything that is not straight and square, but I do like to prove things on the computer and get a detailed cutting list to work from. I am much better with Photoshop (I'm an Adobe Community Professional which means I get all my Adobe software for free, and was invited to America to help teach at Adobe MAX in 2016).

Thanks for your help.

I have 2 T-tracks on my router fence, one 100 mm above the router table top and one at 200 mm

Lets me use feather boards on tall objects
feathers-1.jpg

And use tall jigs like this centre-less circle cutting jig..
AlCjig1.jpg

I love that circle cutting jig. Do you have to screw the side plates onto the workpiece? My background is as a toolmaker, and we have a well equipped metal shop at the Blenheim Shed, so I used a metal lathe and four jaw chuck to make the template for the table insert. Then used a t-slot bit to make the recess for the centre plates. I used Acetal because it has high tensile strength and is stiffer than most plastics, but it has not been a total success. I went with a Kreg like two grub screw in each corner, and also a central grub screw on thee long sides, but if I tighten the retaining screws it distorts the plate. I'm able to use it, but it took a lot of fine tuning to get the insert flush with the table.
centre hole template.jpg

Insert.jpg

As far as fence height goes, I am coming around to reducing the 140mm I have initially drawn it. I still want to keep it reasonably high though. I based my design on a YouTube fence that was clamped to the backside of a table saw fence, which gave it lots of rigidity. With my fence being free standing, and the big cut out for dust extraction, I am worried about it staying straight.

Something else that has come close to biting me on the bum is that I'm about to rout in the dado for the table t-track, and I realised that the pocket hole screws holding the table to the cabinet would foul the router bit. I didn't use glue for the table top in case I ever decide to replace it, but I have worked out a position that would require just two screws to be removed (from the central router chamber sides). So I'll remove those screws, rout in the dado, and if I can see screw holes either put 25mm screws in those pockets, or use the original 32mm screws and grind off the tips where they have broken through. Why is life so complicated?

Originally Posted by Trevor Dennis

I love that circle cutting jig. Do you have to screw the side plates onto the workpiece?

No screws. I just made it out of a couple of Al scraps I had laying around. That pic was my first use - I subsequently added thin suede leather jaws for a better grip.

I based my design on a YouTube fence that was clamped to the backside of a table saw fence, which gave it lots of rigidity.

That's how mine is made as well. I made it as a semi-temporary effort out of melamine and MDF and is now 15 years old. Don't use it much.

Watching a tool and instrument maker at work is what got me interested in tool making. He spent a lot of time preparing, measuring and setting up, to the point where it was painful to watch but the results were always impressive and well worth it

Originally Posted by Trevor Dennis

I love that circle cutting jig. Do you have to screw the side plates onto the workpiece?

No screws. I just made it out of a couple of Al scraps I had laying around. That pic was my first use - I subsequently added thin suede leather jaws for a better grip.

I based my design on a YouTube fence that was clamped to the backside of a table saw fence, which gave it lots of rigidity.

That's how mine is made as well. I made it as a semi-temporary effort out of MDF and is now 15 years old.
In the pic below you can see its now pretty beat up - n0t that I use it that much, but it sure is a handy gizmo to have on hand.

Watching a tool and instrument maker at work is what got me interested in tool making. He spent a lot of time preparing, measuring and setting up, to the point where it was painful to watch but the results were always impressive and well worth it

My fence is also quite wide/thick as I wanted to extract from the top using a 100 mm DC hose as well extracting from under the table
Routerfence.jpg

Personally I have not tall fence for a router table. About 4" tall. It's ok, but not perfect, that's why I'm considering to make a toller one. I think it povides safety and accuracy. Thinking about 8" fence next time.