My take on Hylton's sliding fence

[Phil Thien]

In a thread about favorite jigs, someone mentioned Bill Hylton's book on router tables. Either in that thread, or some subsequent googling, I found the Bill Hylton sliding fence for router tables.

I made a variation that is actually a router table sled.

Basically two sides are joined by t-slotted plywood on the front and back. To make it snug, you just place both haves on the router table and pull them tight as you tighten the knobs.

I made a small half-lap joint to test the unit out, couldn't be more pleased.

I can handle workpieces up to about 12.5" wide.

I plan on adding some fences that I can use for making box joints, but have to wait for some t-slot nuts.

Everything was pretty much MOH (Materials On Hand). I had to purchase two more knobs, and a few screws for the base. But I spent less than $10.

The base is 1/4" tempered hardboard that is smooth two sides. If I find any room for improvement, I will probably build my next one out of 3/8" BB plywood. If I had the BB plywood on hand, I would have used it instead, just didn't have any. I will see how the hardboard holds-up.

The runners are 3/4" BB plywood, 1-1/4" wide. They are held to the base with machines screws and some washers and nuts.

The front and back "stationary" fences are 1" thick walnut. I had a piece that was about 30" long by about 4" wide that was just the perfect size. The walnut is held to the base with 1/4" FH machine screws and cross-dowels.

I have piloted countersinks that allow me a great deal of precision in drilling these countersinks. I got them at McMaster. I have one with a 1/4" pilot, and another with a 5/16" pilot. You could just as easily use wood screws and a smaller Snappy bit in place of my machine screws.

I thought the sliding fence was such a good idea that I purchased Mr. Hylton's book. Lots of very helpful information, I highly recommend it.

[frank shic]

very interesting. thanks for sharing that. i imagine that would be perfect for doing repetitive cuts like the box joints you mentioned or dovetails.

[Van Huskey]

I do an interesting little dental molding sometimes that that would be far more useful than doing it with a miter gauge based jig. Thanks for sharing.

[frank shic]

hats off to anyone who mills their own molding! i just don't have the patience...

[Rick Potter]

Which book Phil? I think he has several he wrote.

Rick Potter

[Phil Thien]

Which book Phil? I think he has several he wrote.

Rick Potter

The "Ultimate Guide to the Router Table" one.

[Alan Schaffter]

I do an interesting little dental molding sometimes that that would be far more useful than doing it with a miter gauge based jig. Thanks for sharing.

Of course you could cut them quite nicely with an I-BOX. :)

[Rick Potter]

Thanks, Phil.

I'll check it out.

Rick Potter

[ian maybury]

Thanks for the recommendation Phil. I've just obtained a copy and it's very good. Not rocket science but insightful, practical/user oriented, not expensive and obviously written by a guy who knows his field - with zero attempt to big up/hype the topic.

Re. the earlier thread - what's missing in the mags these days actually.

Another book with a similar feel that I like a lot and find a useful reference is Yeung Chan's 'Classic Joints with Power Tools'.

ian

[Phil Thien]

Added some stuff to the router sled this last weekend.

First was a box joint jig. Pretty typical affair, this one uses two t-slot nuts in the router sled's fence to slide left/right (for adjustment). Very easy to adjust for perfect results.

The t-slot nuts are actually weld nuts from McMaster. They have part # 98697A550 that works great, I just had to hit the sides on the belt sander to make them side freely in the slots.

The piece of hardboard on the bottom allows me to create box joints on very narrow pieces. I attached that piece with four 1/4-20 plastic screws. I drilled 7/32 pilot holes in the jig's bottom (I call it a jig but it is hardly more than a piece of plywood), tapped them with a steel screw, and then attached the hardboard with the plastic screws. I wanted to use plastic screws as I'm getting pretty close to the bit and didn't want to hit steel with the spinning router bit.

[Phil Thien]

The next addition is an indexer for routing grooves.

Routing grooves with a sled is a blind operation. How to align the jig to a mark on the workpiece? Let's see...

Oh, got it. Make an indexer. This is how it works:

(1) Route a groove in a piece of scrap. Make sure the scrap is aligned to the stop block.

(2) Now flip the scrap so the groove is facing up. Make sure the scrap is aligned to the stop block again.

(3) Now align the indexer to the groove you just routed, and tighten the knobs.

Now, I can place a mark on the back of a workpiece, align it to the indexer, and get perfectly placed grooves each time.

I plan on making a new indexer with finer graduations. This one is fine, but after making it I realized I could have laser-printed a label and applied that and I'd get super fine markings. So, why not?

[Alan Schaffter]

Looks pretty neat. You will have quite a tricked-out router table sled when your are done! Are all your mods from Hylton's book?

Nice tight box joints. You can't argue with success. Can you change the size of the guide pin to make different size fingers? What is your procedure for setting the bit-to-guide pin distance? That can be a pain with many jigs.

On your indexing set-up, other than because Bill might have done it that way, is there a reason why you are using a separate board with drawn or laser-cut markings to index the groove? Seems you could achieve the same result with a split fence or add-on split fence, using direct transfer of the groove size. To do that you would set your temporary stop, cut a groove in the scrap, flip the scrap over, like you do now, but then use the edge of the groove to set one half of a split fence precisely to the edge of the groove. Once one half of the split fence is set, hold or clamp the scrap to the set side of the fence, remove the stop and set the edge of the other half of the fence to the other side of the groove. That process works with any thickness stock and doesn't require a separate indexing guide.

You could also easily add a divider mechanism that would allow you to center the groove on a centerline. I often register grooves or sliding dovetails to a single line. I like doing it on a router table much more than with a hand-held router and straight-edge guide, so I set my table up to make it a bit simpler. Awhile back I used a centering bit to help me locate the precise center of the router bit collet. I also recently added a miter slot to my router table top, so used it with a miter gauge to assist me scribing a "bit" center-line in the laminate top. Now, using just a miter gauge with fence extension and my simple, new reference line, I can precisely align a groove or sliding dovetail to a single center-line or reference mark (transferred to a visible edge of the work of course). I recently used it to cut sliding dovetail sockets for the horizontal parting rails and vertical intermediate stiles in the face frames of two chests I am building. It worked great! The only caution, a spinning bit wants to make the work slide sideways, so clamps or a fence covered with abrasive is highly recommended. How do I know this? :eek:

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/2474/medium/IMG_4127.JPG

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/2474/medium/IMG_4133.JPG

[Phil Thien]

Looks pretty neat. You will have quite a tricked-out router table sled when your are done! Are all your mods from Hylton's book?

Hylton's book has a similar box joint jig. I had to make some changes because his book shows a sliding fence, whereas I really wanted to go the sled route.


Nice tight box joints. You can't argue with success. Can you change the size of the guide pin to make different size fingers? What is your procedure for setting the bit-to-guide pin distance? That can be a pain with many jigs.

No, it is actually pretty inflexible. I would need to make additional units in order to accomodate different size bits.

My current thought is that I could make a new jig that has only a 1/8" pin. The pin doesn't really NEED to be the width of the slot cut by the bit. As long as you remember to push your stock (in my case) to the right until the pin stops it, the alignment may be good enough (I haven't tested this yet).

But the problem that would remain would be zero-clearance. If I use a 3/8" bit, then going back to a 1/4" bit would be problematic.

I could simply make a second jig for 3/8" bits. I doubt I'd go any larger than that, anyhow. But I don't even OWN a 3/8" spiral bit, LOL. By the time I buy one of those, I may already own your jig!


On your indexing set-up, other than because Bill might have done it that way, is there a reason why you are using a separate board with drawn or laser-cut markings to index the groove? Seems you could achieve the same result with a split fence or add-on split fence, using direct transfer of the groove size. To do that you would set your temporary stop, cut a groove in the scrap, flip the scrap over, like you do now, but then use the edge of the groove to set one half of a split fence precisely to the edge of the groove. Once one half of the split fence is set, hold or clamp the scrap to the set side of the fence, remove the stop and set the edge of the other half of the fence to the other side of the groove. That process works with any thickness stock and doesn't require a separate indexing guide.

I don't think he had an indexer.

I think your proposal is a good idea, too. I sort of wanted something that would index off a center mark, or edge marks, but primarliy center marks. I find I start to hose things up when I start aligning to edge marks (cutting to the wrong side). Just a personal weakness, I guess.


You could also easily add a divider mechanism that would allow you to center the groove on a centerline. I often register grooves or sliding dovetails to a single line. I like doing it on a router table much more than with a hand-held router and straight-edge guide, so I set my table up to make it a bit simpler. Awhile back I used a centering bit to help me locate the precise center of the router bit collet. I also recently added a miter slot to my router table top, so used it with a miter gauge to assist me scribing a "bit" center-line in the laminate top. Now, using just a miter gauge with fence extension and my simple, new reference line, I can precisely align a groove or sliding dovetail to a single center-line or reference mark (transferred to a visible edge of the work of course). I recently used it to cut sliding dovetail sockets for the horizontal parting rails and vertical intermediate stiles in the face frames of two chests I am building. It worked great! The only caution, a spinning bit wants to make the work slide sideways, so clamps or a fence covered with abrasive is highly recommended. How do I know this? :eek:


My router insert actually has a line scribed (and black-filled) that is perfectly centered with the bit. I'd just transfer this to my fence, but my fence can move depending on whether I need to snug-up my sled. If you look at the pics of the sled, you'll notice the plywood fences (front and back) are used to pull both halves of the sled tight to the sides of the router table.

I can also replace the front fence with a longer piece, should I need to route longer pices (so I can use my stop block, to prevent the bit from pushing the workpiece to the side, like you mentioned).

So the indicator's purpose is just to prevent me from moving something, not realizing the mark on my fence is off, and then screwing something up.