Thread: router bench protractor

Due to the overwhelming response to my last post I've had to do some research on my own

the more you look the more you learn and find,
being a retired plumber I've had to start from the ground up, hence the "protractor" inquiry

this is my new router table made from a kitchen benchtop with mitre slide and mitre (protractor) , woodpecker router plate and jessems fence all mounted on the triton router stand I decided to keep, I also adapted a kreg micro adjust which seems to work well too

its a big improvement from the RTA300 which I learnt a lot with, I still think they're a good unit

I'm enjoying using the new one and thinking of new projects constantly

cheers
Hodgo

Sorry I didn't see this thread earlier but it looks like your research elsewhere has paid off for you as the table looks very neat. The mitre track mounted in the top is exactly the way I have done my top.
I can understand what you mean by this setup being superior to the Triton, it would be more solid and more accurate. The micro adjust you refer to, is it on the fence or the router lift?

I should have included this shot as well

I wanted to use carbatecs adjusters but the dimensions weren't right for the jessems fence

I had to make a fitting out of a block of aluminium that fits over the back fence rail and adapt an 8mm unistrut spring nut minus the spring to the kreg micro adjuster as shown, a very good fit in the rail

I have an overhead winder model TRA001 that seems to work out well in the woodpecker plate

now I'm going to go make something

cheers
Hodgo

I showed my other half what I've been up to with my router table upgrade

I said it now had a wind up/down router with a wind up handle

she said "does that mean you don't have to plug it in anymore, where do you wind it up?"

I'm still chuckling

Hodgo

Did you buy the mounting plate for your setup? It looks different from what I see available at the moment as there are more holes in the top. Maybe yours is universal as the one I looked at is advertised for Triton.
How thick is your plate?

I bought the woodpecker plate recently from a member of this forum

you are right it does have additional holes that all seem to be predrilled including the winder handle hole
there are 3 holes arranged in triangular fashion and two for the starter pin as well as the triton ones
theres another hole at the back similar distance from centre to the wind up hole which I cant use at this stage because the limitations of the triton router table underneath

one could assume its a universal type, its just under 10mm thick and is very solid

Hodgo

I like the micro adjust mechanism. I can't see from your earlier pictures how the fence clamps to the table. Is it like some table saws that clamp just at one end? I guess what I am asking is how does the fence keep square when using the micro adjuster if it operates on just the one end? I've used a DTI on my table saw fence when needing fine adjustments for things like tenons.

There is a misconception that the fence needs to be square to the table to work correctly, but in fact it can be at any angle. The only time it needs to be square is if you are using it in conjunction with the mitre track for some reason.

Originally Posted by Treecycle

There is a misconception that the fence needs to be square to the table to work correctly, but in fact it can be at any angle. The only time it needs to be square is if you are using it in conjunction with the mitre track for some reason.

I was thinking in terms of Hodgo's micro adjuster. If you knew, for instance, that one division on the adjuster was 0.1mm but if the fence pivoted about its far end when applying that one division then the fence moved an unknown distance that was less than 0.1mm. Did I see another post where the poster was using one of those complicated Incra fences on his router table? They operate on the middle of the fence so you have a decent chance of machining exactly what you dialled in.

The fence has measurements on each side which are set by the user to show 0 with the fence being square
the way I see it, 1mm movement on one side equates to .5mm at the cutter point with the other side fixed, I thought about a second adjuster but really couldn't see the point

In saying that, the setup works really well when using the fence, virtually useless when using the mitre guide as treecycle has mentioned

looking back, I only ever used 1 micro adjust on one side with the triton rta300 to the same effect

Cheers
Hodgo