Router table glider

[gwyneth]

Here is something that was sort of adapted from/inspired by the dado sled in Bill Hylton's Power Tool Joinery.

Tom Hintz's mobile stand calls for a bunch of half laps. I'm using a bunch of thick, recycled oak that's slightly funky.

The half-laps at the ends of the pieces barely went ok for me with the All-in-one and router on its plate (my shortest all-in-one is 24" and whether I did one piece at once, two, or all four, it wasn't going well and my first try at the half laps in the middle of the pieces was grim.)

I sighed and put together the 21829's router stuff with the funky fence. It worked pretty well, actually, for evening out the end laps but I couldn't see moving the fence back at least six inches from the bit to do the laps in the middle and pushing long oak pieces across an unguarded bit.

Hylton suggests in passing that if you insist on doing laps in the middle on the router table, one way is 'the dado sled". I was looking at those plans, which involved a sheet of thin material with a slot in the middle for the bit, ledges that fit on either side of the table, a big fence in back, and an end butt piece "to prevent the piece kicking to the right", which then has spacers added to control the width (length?) of the lap.

As I was trying to figure out which thin material to use it dawned on me that with two slots on the BT/Craftsman's accesory table, putting the ledges on was completely unnecessary. Then I decided the sheet was superfluous, as well, its function being to connect the ledges.

This left the fence. I cut two little pieces of UHMW (cutting board) and bandsawed a crude arch in a long piece of oak for the bit to pass through. The UHMW runners are attached to the fence (and to small stabilizer blocks of oak on the back of the fence).

The thing at the far end of the first picture was my attempt to replicate the end butt/block. But its grip on the fence wasn't firm enough (as long as it was adjustable) and I was having second thoughts about loose spacers traveling happily along with the workpiece and fence.

I decided I'd have to made a sturdy L-shaped thing and figure some complex way to attach it. Meanwhile, power tool curfew was about to hit and I wanted to test the glider concept to see if it was worth it.

So I grabbed a strange, large plastic C clamp (two of them came with a collection of clothespin clamps) and used it to attach a workpiece to the glider.

What a happy accident! It secures the workpiece much better than Hylton's design (which involves holding in place against the right butt piece) and serves as a handle, too. My hands do not touch the workpiece in its travel across the table.

It worked so well that I was able to improve or start eight separate laps in the next fifteen minutes. The thing that was supposed to be the heavy-duty right hand butt piece is fine as a stop block.

Excuse the funky light--all the glass on the back porch sends strange reflections. The first picture shows the glider by itself; the second shows the strange clamp/glide handle holding a workpiece (if the fence looks a lot like the workpiece, it's because I've got a lot of recyclable oak.)

[cgallery]

Fantastic solution to your problem. Next time I would probably let the router bit cut the slot in the rear fence. That way it will match the profile of the bit exactly, and prevent tearout as the bit exits your workpiece and enters the fence.

BTW, I'll bet you use that contraption for a bunch of projects!

[LCHIEN]

If you have a lot of wood, then you don't have to cut the arch into the fence. Just let the router bit cut it when pushing the workpiece into the bit. It will prevent tearout on the backside of the workpiece. Eventually you may have to replace it if the hole is too large or tall, or you can leave it and have what you have now. No shame to cut into this type of fence.

Great solution to your problems... jigs are usually worth it the effort for any repetitive cuts.

[gwyneth]

Thanks, Loren and cgallery.

The reason that I didn't 'sacrifice' or use the router bit to cut the opening was exactly the same one that prompted me to make a jig: even with the bit barely sticking up, hitting thick white oak on the cross-grain is a hard reaction to control.

I discovered that trying to make the first workpiece without the glider.

If I were taller, had longer arms, and especially a few years more router table experience it might be different.

Without that experience, it's helpful for me to know when the bit has gone through the workpiece and lets me perfect one continuous motion across the bit.

Where I got really lucky was the clamp/handle. A 6" metal C-clamp would be way too heavy to use like that, and the plastic one has a quick ratchet button that makes getting it on there almost instant. A purpose-built handle couldn't be better--my left hand holds the C-part, and my right hand the actual clamp handle.

Not only is that a good way to make sure neither hand goes anywhere near that bit, with the workpiece clamped on the ergonomics are similar to the SMT's--predictable travel independent from the worker's manual judgement or skill (i.e., lack thereof).

Lgallery, I can already see this adapted to box joints and sliding dovetails.

The idea may also be useful for people with separate router tables who need to make repetitive cuts that would be far from the fence or cross-grain. Or for people with hand problems such as carpal tunnel syndrome or arthritis.

[JR]

Nicely done! I'll bet that setup will work like a champ.

JR

[LarryG]

The reason that I didn't 'sacrifice' or use the router bit to cut the opening was exactly the same one that prompted me to make a jig: even with the bit barely sticking up, hitting thick white oak on the cross-grain is a hard reaction to control.

The compromise solution that solves both problems: build the glider fence as you have it, and then back up the workpiece with a sacrificial piece of softwood or MDF (i.e., between the fence and the back of the workpiece).

Nice idea and execution. A couple years ago I was fooling with something similar for my router table, which has aluminum T-tracks at the outboard edges in which runners like your can slide. I think I was going to use it to cut sliding dovetails ... in the end, I must've found another way because I never got around to building it.

[eezlock]

router sled

gwyneth, not trying to upset your thread here, but I think what you are talking about basically is a version or variation of a coping sled used on a router table isn't it? eezlock

[RodKirby]

Looks good to me.

[gwyneth]

gwyneth, not trying to upset your thread here, but I think what you are talking about basically is a version or variation of a coping sled used on a router table isn't it? eezlock

I don't know. From what I can tell, most coping sleds seem to slide against the regular fence, are mostly for cope-and-stile joints on the edge of workpieces, and go up to the bit, not over it.

Hylton didn't mention his dado sled having anything to do with coping, but of course that's not conclusive.

The reason I say it's a glider, not a slider (aside from avoiding any confusion with the SMT)--the bottom of the fence doesn't travel on the table itself. The rails elevate it about 1/8th of an inch off the table itself.

There's nothing new in woodworking, anyway, only adaptations of one idea to a new situation. But that's a good thing--certainly safer. To paraphrase an old cookbook author, if you haven't found a tip suggesting that you tilt the saw on its side or suspend the drill press so you can use it upside down, there's a reason.