Problems with Woodpecker Super Fence

[scott vroom]

I'm having problems with my Woodpecker Super Fence in an offset application (cabinet door finger pull edge bit with no bearing).

I set up the fences for the offset, tighten everything down well and begin to run my cabinet door against the infeed fence toward the bit. The problem is that the infeed fence moves inward just as the stock begins it's pass over the bearingless bit (you can imagine the result). I tried tightening the 2 black plastic knobs with pliers and got the same result....a slipping fence. I noticed the black knobs used white nylon washers, so I tried removing them thinking they were the cause of the slippage. Now when I tighten the black knobs without the slippery nylon washers, the infeed fence pulls itself out of parallel just as the knob begins to get real tight.

It's probably difficult to envision the problem from my meager description; I was hoping someone with the the same fence would know what I'm describing and perhaps could suggest a workaround.

I have a call into Woodpecker; their tech guy was off today and is supposed to call back tomorrow. I believe this is a design problem and will requires a workaround of some sort. I'm going to check out some other brand fences to see if I can find a better design.

[Steve Wurster]

I have the Super Fence but haven't yet used it in offset mode. Since the outfeed fence is placed further from the base in offset mode, have you tried starting with both fences against the base and just moving the outfeed fence outward? That way the infeed fence won't be able to move. Of course that doesn't mean the outfeed fence won't move just as the infeed fence did.

Note that you might have to move the adjustable fence bracket to the outfeed side to get into this configuration. I think the fence is shipped with the fixed bracket on the outfeed side. I swapped the brackets and basically ignored their recommendation to use that spacer when setting up the default fence position.

[glenn bradley]

From the pictures it looks like the brackets would provide inadequate support for much stress being placed against the fence. You shouldn't need a death-grip on your material. You could try a lighter touch with a piece of scrap. Another idea might be some parts out of the jig box to fiddle together an additional support between the bracket and the dust port(?). Maybe just a little more support would be all you need. Could be worth a try.

My solid and very simple Rockler fence uses separate faces that can be shimmed from behind. The overall fence though is one piece. If the fence is not suitable for your application and is in new condition, you could talk to Woodpecker about returning it for something different. If using your router table in this manner is only an occasional thing then a workaround probably makes sense.

[scott vroom]

Gents, thanks for the responses. Yeah I figure I'm going to need a work-around solution. I guess what really gripes me is that I paid $200 for a "super" fence, supposedly designed to handle offset routing yet requires bandaiding to work in that capacity. The fence locking system needs to be redesigned with a more robust locking mechanism, something other than slippery plastic knobs. It'll be an interesting conversation tomorrow with Woodpeck tech support :)

Sliding the infeed fence back against the dust port block works with the edge trim bit I mentioned in the original post, however when I changed over to a large coving bit this afternoon the bit hit the rear of the fence deck forcing me to move the infeed fence forward away from the dust port block. A weak design in my view.

[Chip Lindley]

I find split fences for this kind of work pretty useless. (especially flimsy ones) One thinks they should work, since profiles come out the other side more narrow than they go in, and the split fence can be adjusted accordingly. It does not work well in reality.

An outboard fence provides solid support to the backside of the piece while the opposite edge is profiled by the cutter. A featherboard or other spring-loaded hold-down is used in place of the infeed fence half to hold the workpiece firmly against the outboard fence. The outfeed-half of your fence can remain, to guide the workpiece as it exits the cutter. Running workpieces against an outboard fence guarantees the profile will be consistent with no bobbles. Search this forum for outboard fence and see how it's done.

I use this configuration on the shaper, where, IMO, split fences are only useful if the machine is used as a "jointer". It will work the same for a router table.

Another solution is to use a sturdy solid fence like the JessEm Mast-R-Fence II, which adds thin shims to offset the outfeed side. Once the bit is lined up with the offset, this should work in theory. But, there is always the possibility of a bobble as the last part of the workpiece passes the cutter.

[Herbert Mulqueen]

I have been looking at a number of router fences. Okay, really having a decision problem. The Woodpecker "Super Fence " was was leading choice with an "Incra" position-er.

Should I be looking at an all Incra system. Note 1. do not intend to use the router fence for dovetails, Note 2. Already have an woodpecker phenolic 27x43 table top.

Be nice to know if Woodpecker technical gets backs to you with an answer.


Would a power feeder reduce the problem?

This forum has so many interesting and helpful subjects.

Herb

[Tom Walz]

Mr. Vroom;

I just spoke with Justin at Woodpeckers. He will contact you about your problem. Woodpeckers is extremely good about customer service which is just one of the many reasons we sell it.

If you can't get satisfaction from woodpeckers or from the store where you bought it we will be more than happy to stand behind it. This truly is a sincere offer in spite of the fact that the chances that Woodpeckers would refuse to stand behind a product are about one in 1 million.

Tom Walz

Carbide processors

[Tom Walz]

Justin at woodpeckers said he contacted you and explained the part where the directions were confusing.

Did his explanation solve your problem or do you need more help?

Tom Walz
Carbide Processors
www.carbideprocessors.com

[Carl Babel]

Scott,

I have a Jointech SmartFence. I actually have the whole SawTrain set-up. This fence supports exactly what you want to do: incremental, repeatable offsets.

I have been very happy with the whole system. I should mention that the company is now owned by iTools corporation. I do not know how their customer support measures up.

[glenn bradley]

This fence supports exactly what you want to do: incremental, repeatable offsets.

I believe Scott is after an offset between the fence halves like a jointer, not incremental steps of the whole fence.

[Carl Babel]

Sorry, I guess I wasn't clear. From the Jointech website:
Infeed and outfeed sections can each be independently offset outward in positive-locking incremental settings to give the qualities of a shaper and a jointer without the high cost.

[Steve Wurster]

Any update on this? I would like to know what Justin said along with Scott's observation and implementation of that advice.

[Herbert Mulqueen]

I with Steve above in his comments-----

Can anybody think of a stronger router fence with equal or better features of the " Woodpecker Super Fence "?

Herb

PS---Tom Waltz ----Was impressed with your help, even if your not the original dealer-----Will remember you for future WoodPecker items. Very nice attitude.

[jim sauterer]

was this matter resolved.was looking to buy this fence.

[Tom Walz]

From Justin at Woodpeckers

Tom,

I'm having problems logging in.

The customer had the offsetting fence half on the in-feed side of the Superfence. It was supposed to be on the out-feed side of the Superfence (as the instructions suggest) where there is little to no pressure being applied to cause that slipping. He told me he was going to re-post on the forum with the results and call me back if he had any questions. Haven't heard or seen anything so I'm assuming it solved the problem or I would have heard back I'm sure.

Can you post this for me?

Justin
Woodpeckers, Inc
justink@woodpeck.com

Call Emily at 800 346-8274 and we'll get you one. 100% price match guarantee and 100% satisfaction guarantee.

Tom Walz
Carbide Processors

[scott vroom]

Tom, please forward to Justin at Woodpeckers..thx

Justin, when we spoke last week I had begun a large office cabinet job for a customer so haven't had time to run a test using the offset bit with the offset fence on the outfeed side.

You indicated that the instructions said to place the offset fence on the outfeed side. That's contrary to the instructions I received with the fence. Those instructions clearly show the offsetting fence mounted on the infeed side (see below pics of pg3 and pg1 of the Superfence installation instructions). Is this an error in the instructions, or am I missing something?

Thanks-
Scott

[Steve Wurster]

I'm a little confused about Justin's instructions as well. In my original reply I noted that Scott might have to swap the offset bracket from the infeed to the outfeed, as the fence ships with that bracket on the infeed side. And as Scott noted, that configuration (offset bracked on infeed) is what is shown on the instructions for "single offset" mode. Justin recommends having the offset bracket on the outfeed, which is actually how I setup my Super Fence since that seemed more natural and easier to perform offset cuts. So we have some level of contradiction here.

Also note that the instructions show a double offset mode, where an offset bracket is setup on both the infeed and outfeed side. If there is any chance of the offset bracket slipping, you could not eliminate that when using a double offset unless you removed the offset bracket from the infeed and went back to the fixed bracket. What is the recommendation from Woodpeckers for running double offset and avoiding bracket slippage?

[scott vroom]

bump......

[Tom Walz]

Dear Sir,

Please accept my apologies.

I believe, as does Woodpeckers, that the burden of communication lies on the communicator. In other words it is our obligation to express things so that the customer gets a accurate and practical description that is immediately useful.

In this case, I think it is more than evident, that Woodpeckers we did not do that as well as they could have. Thereby proving, once again, that you can be extremely good at something without being quite perfect.

Thank you again for bringing this matter to light.

As Justin is still having e-mail problems I will be more than happy to forward your comments to them as requested.


Sincerely,
Tom Walz
Carbide Processors

[Tom Walz]

Dear Sir,

Please accept my apologies.

I believe, as does Woodpeckers, that the burden of communication lies on the communicator. In other words it is our obligation to express things so that the customer gets a accurate and practical description that is immediately useful.

In this case, I think it is more than evident, that Woodpeckers we did not do that as well as they could have. Thereby proving, once again, that you can be extremely good at something without being quite perfect.

Thank you again for bringing this matter to light.

As Justin is still having e-mail problems I will be more than happy to forward your comments to them as requested.


Sincerely,
Tom Walz
Carbide Processors

[Justin Killebrew]

Sorry for the confusion. There is a more updated version of the instructions. We really have not heard of any slippage issues with the Superfence since we brought it out 4 years ago. The new version of the instructions show the offset bracket on the out-feed. The only reason for the change was to provide an easier and quicker way for the user to set the offset.

Scott,

Sorry again for the instruction problems. I did not realize you had the older set of instructions. I strongly encourage you to contact us directly when you have any issues with our products. Posting on the forum is helpful in some cases, but in the end, we are the pro's....at least with Woodpeckers Tools. I have the link to our website below where the current set of instructions can be downloaded. Thanks again and let me know if you have any questions.

http://www.woodpeck.com/superfence.html

[scott vroom]

Justin, thanks for the response. BTW I normally call the vendor before posting, in this case it was late in the afternoon and your office was closed...I needed answers quick.

[Phil Thien]

Maybe I'm missing something (I don't know anything about the WP fence), but isn't having the offset fence on the infeed akin to having your outfeed table on your jointer lower than the infeed table?

[scott vroom]

Not exactly. The offset fence can be moved back if on the infeed side or forward if on the outfeed side. Not the same dynamic as a jointer table.

[Phil Thien]

Not exactly. The offset fence can be moved back if on the infeed side or forward if on the outfeed side. Not the same dynamic as a jointer table.

Okay, thank you for the clarification.

[Tom Ewell]

I with Steve above in his comments-----


Can anybody think of a stronger router fence with equal or better features of the " Woodpecker Super Fence "?

Herb

PS---Tom Waltz ----Was impressed with your help, even if your not the original dealer-----Will remember you for future WoodPecker items. Very nice attitude.

The Woodpecker unit looks to be a nice setup and haven't used one but I have used the Incra Wonder and am currently using the Kreg.

Both the Kreg and the Incra have adjustable faces backed up by a full length extrusion. Kreg uses shim rods to offset the outfeed fence, Incra uses their wedge system to adjust the offset and both units essentially "clamp" the faces directly to the full length extrusions, the only way the fence faces can move would be parallel to the feed (assuming that the entire fence is stable).

The Woodpecker apparently depends on brackets and T bolts to tie the fences to the long extrusion. Any potential slop in the Woodpecker could be found at the two T bolts keeping the offset bracket tight to the long extrusion, more of a shearing action especially with those nylon washers, the potential for the fence with the outfeed bracket to slide perpendicular to the feed is there.

One could insert shim stock between the outfeed fence and the long extrusion to prevent that potential slippage but looking at the beef of the unit, you wouldn’t think that would be a problem.