Micro Fence Micro Plunge

[Julie Moriarty]

Does anyone here own a Micro Fence Micro Plunge? I was just wondering what your impression of it is. I'm curious how good the light is on it and how well the dust hood picks up dust. And does the dust hood interfere with seeing what you're doing?

[Mike Henderson]

I don't have one but I'm interested in it for veneer inlay work. I'll be interested to see what people say about it.

Mike

[Bruce Page]

I can answer your light question, I bought two for a plunge base that I made. They work very well - bright and they stay where you set them.

[Kent A Bathurst]

I can answer your light question, I bought two for a plunge base that I made. They work very well - bright and they stay where you set them.

OK - two things:

#2 - source for the lights?
#1 You made that base? Photos of the entire thing? You sell them?

[Bruce Page]

OK - two things:

#2 - source for the lights?
#1 You made that base? Photos of the entire thing? You sell them?

#2; http://microfence.com/ledbrbhelps-eliminate-shadowsb-p-34.html
#1; http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?29281-Shop-made-micro-adjustable-plunge-base
I don't sell them, this was a one off.

[Michelle Rich]

Hi Julie: I have the plunge base. The lights are wonderful..bright light and can be aimed exactly where you want illumination. they stay put, too. I do not have the dust collection, so i can't help there.

[Julie Moriarty]

Thank you, all, for the replies. I ordered the Micro Plunge (for a Dremel) about a week ago. I was told it would be 3-4 weeks for delivery and the parts were in production. :( I've been considering this for a while and was a bit disappointed they didn't carry any in stock. Curiosity about how the product functioned was getting the better of me.

Bruce, that is some amazing work! Can I come over and play in your shop? ;)

Michelle, what kind of work do you do when using the Micro Plunge? I bought it mostly for the lights and dust collection. I'm trying to learn inlay for musical instruments and my two biggest obstacles have been in seeing what I'm doing while routing freehand. Insufficient light, coupled with dust buildup, have been problematic for me.

I added a second light and the dust hood to my order. In the pictures on the Micro Fence website, it looks like the lights and dust hood can be used together but I don't know how well one will be able to see through the clear plastic dust hood. If seeing the line you are cutting to is a problem, I may have to cut away the plastic at the opening.

[Shawn Pixley]

Bruce, excellent work. Most impressive!

[Michelle Rich]

I do inlays and small joinery with a bosch colt in mine. Your little dremel & bits won't kick up as much dust, I would guess, as bigger bits would do ???? I have a love/hate with dust collection on handtools..dragging the hose around irks me..catches on stuff, etc. I have no dedicated space for the work, so getting the hose set-up & out of the way, plus giving me agility while I work, is problematic. All I can suggest is, give 'er a try hooked to a vacuum..if it works, well bob's your uncle. :-) Have fun & when you get to using it, give us a report.

[Bruce Page]

Bruce, excellent work. Most impressive!
Thanks Shawn, it was a fun build. How's the neck doing?

[Jim Becker]

I don't have that particular product from them Julie, but I do have some MicroFence stuff and it's top-top-notch in precision and quality. Good folks.

[Larry Edgerton]

I don't have that particular product from them Julie, but I do have some MicroFence stuff and it's top-top-notch in precision and quality. Good folks.

What he said.......

[Julie Moriarty]

The Micro Plunge base arrived yesterday. I didn't have much time to check it out but I did put it together and spent a little time trying to see how it will work with fretboard inlays.

http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab233/jules42651/Woodworking/Tools/MicroPlunge_01_zpswmaqyqc1.jpg
I purchased an extra light and their dust collection hood. This is what came (less the Dremel). I really like being able to plunge. This makes the Stew Mac base seem like a kid's toy. Depth settings are very easy and the plunge works well.

http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab233/jules42651/Woodworking/Tools/MicroPlunge_02_zps38cc8e8g.jpg
I found once you install the dust hood, you lose the ability to install the second light. BTW, you have to remove the key ring (as seen on the one on the right) before you can insert it in the hole in the base.

http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab233/jules42651/Woodworking/Tools/MicroPlunge_03_zpsdkb5uyy0.jpg
When I went to see how it might work, I found it difficult to get the light directed properly. It wasn't the dust hood but rather the height of the light base that was the problem. If the goose neck was longer, then maybe you could get the light directed to where you're routing. I found it very difficult to get the light directed properly once I plunged the tool. If you have to plunge deeper, you'd eventually lose the light completely.

http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab233/jules42651/Woodworking/Tools/MicroPlunge_04_zpscvbyvxcs.jpg
As a work-around, I laid the light base horizontal and I was able to get the light where I wanted, though I don't know if this will block my view when routing. I was thinking double-sided tape to keep the light in place.

After spending about 30 minutes looking at the possibilities as how to best get the light to be most effective, I think maybe drilling holes in the dust hood as ports for the heads of the light to go. The short goose neck does present some challenges in making that idea work. When I have time, I'll toy with it some more and see if I can come up with something that works better.

[Bruce Page]

Julie, maybe you could lay it like you have it on the upper plate and tie it down with string? I'd try using a piece of soft foam rubber underneath it to keep it from squirming around. Kind of hokey but it might work.

[Julie Moriarty]

Thank you, Bruce. I've toyed with the light thing some more. I'm finding those little lights that came with the base aren't what I'd hoped for. For what I need, they don't work very well. The base is beautifully engineered and built but the lights fall short of the same attention to design they put into the base.

Yesterday I took some time out to do some inlay routing on a piece of ebony. I'm making a logo emblem for an old turntable I recently brought back to life. When I said the Micro Fence plunge base makes the StewMac base look like a toy, I had no idea that it would perform even better than that against the SM base in operation. The ability to plunge to an exact depth, lock it, rout, and then release it was a pleasure. With the SM base, you set the depth, try to lock it in place, angle the base and bring it down until it sits flush on the surface. And don't forget to lay the router on its side when you're done! With the MF base, the operation is the same as with all plunge bases - easy.

Next peasant surprise was the efficiency of dust collection. It cleared out the waste as fast as I could rout, leaving a clear view to the cut lines. The lack of sufficient light was the only problem in seeing those lines. I supposed if I scored them, I might have been able to more easily seen them. Anyway, this was my point of view:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=313763&d=1431949769

The camera increased the actual brightness of the light but you can see what I was able to see while routing. The dust hood does impair the view a bit, but I didn't find that a big problem. I had to be careful not to rock the base while routing. If I had other pieces the same thickness, that wouldn't have been a concern. I'm still considering cutting away some of the dust hood in front to open up the view.

With the dust being completely cleared as I routed, I was able to move pretty quickly through the work. And there was no need for a respirator. :D I have this hooked up so when I press a floor pedal, the Dremel turns on and that triggers the dust collector to turn on. All I need to do now is get the light thing resolved. Who knows, I may one day become skilled at inlay? :rolleyes:

[Jim Becker]

I admire you free-handing that work...it's excellent. Aside from the lighting thing you mentioned, I'm not surprised at the performance of the product, however. MicroFence has always strived to be top-notch in quality and functionality. One pays a little more for the "non-mass-produced" tooling like this, but over time, I find that kind of investment to actually cost a lot less in so many ways.

[Michelle Rich]

I just checked back in to this post..I'm sorry the lights aren't working for you..I supect it is because you are using a dremel vs. my bosch colt..The lights are super on mine..it must be the height of the two tools are different on the two as the dremel is small. Plus the bits are shorter shanked I would guess Hope you get it figured out.

[Julie Moriarty]

Thank you, Jim. The free-handing wasn't that difficult, outside of not always being able to make out where the line was. It came out a bit sloppy and I attribute that to a combination of lack of experience, not creating easy-to-see cut lines and insufficient light. I think if I had two of those three conquered, the results would have been much better.

Michelle, everything about the Micro Plunge is smaller, except the lights. Plus, you're using a smaller bit which requires you to plunge deeper. That's where the light problem begins. In the third picture down that I posted, you can see the location intended to hold the lights becomes useless when plunged to cutting depth. I love everything else about the Micro Plunge. It makes the Dremel a precision tool, though I wonder if I had gone the Foredom route, would the plunge base be as necessary, for me, anyway.

[Steve Jenkins]

Julie,
I'd suggest that you give micro fence a call and ask for Rich. I have found him to be extremely helpful and a very personable guy. He may have a solution to the problem as he personally uses his tools.