What Miter Gauge Fence Material To Use ?

[Tom Hurlebaus]

I feel a little foolish asking this, but …. for someone without a jointer or planner (to tune a flat miter fence), what would be my best choice for a TS miter gauge fence material. My first thought was ¾” MDF, but I’ve read a couple of discussions that recommended plywood. I’m thinking about either routing a T-slot or adding a metal track for a stop block and whatever else I might need.

I had permanently screwed my existing pine wood fence to the miter head, but I was thinking that having a T-slot across the back wouldn’t be a bad idea to allow for sliding it from left to right.

Any thoughts would be appreciated …. Tom

[Lee Schierer]

I just made one following a plan in a shop jigs booklet I got from one of the woodworking magazines. It has a t-slot on top for a stop block, and t-slots for the mounting so you can move it close to the blade when cutting angles. When I get to Rocklers it will also have a scale added to it so the stop block can be set to a dimension easily. The T-bolts were just 1/4-20 brass toilet anchor bolts from Lowes. It is made of two 5/8 thick piece of maple glued so the grain is opposing the other piece. Mine was 24" long and about 3" tall. So far I really like how it has turned out.

[Tom Hurlebaus]

Lee,

Thanks ... that sounds like exactly what I'm looking for. Was the article in a recent magizine ? Can I just use the store bought (milled) maple ? With the two 5/8" pieces, that would (???) produce a fence 1 1/4" thick ... sounds like it would be pretty solid.

Thanks again ... Tom

[Dan Forman]

Tom---You might be hard pressed to find an absolutely straight piece of any sort of wood in a store. I was in the same boat as you, without a jointer or planer, ended up getting an aluminum fence extension from Wood Haven, though many other outfits make them too. If you have a friend who could true your board for you, that would be another option.

Dan

[Dave Falkenstein]

I usually use 3/4" MDF for jigs and fixtures - flat and cheap. On my Incra fences, the 3/4 inch material works very well, as the Incra products have stops that will work with or without a 3/4 inch sacrificial fence. MDF works really well for zero clearance sacrificial fences on the router table too. I have used maple on occasion, and that also works very well, especially if you are making a permanent fence that will not be cut or damaged during use.