Also Sprach Linear Motion (A Router Table Project)

[Tom Dixon]

https://youtu.be/vtgYEhNnMCo

[David Buchhauser]

Please tell us more.

[Tom Dixon]

Please tell us more.

It's taken me months to design and build this beast. I'm traveling to a conference this week and I'll be spending my spare time editing the photos and writing up the build journey. I plan to unveil that story with parts list, cost and sources as an open source tool idea. I've given myself a deadline of 5/5 but I just couldn't help myself and I had to share this teaser to celebrate finishing the build portion. However, I did post the Sketchup drawing to the 3D Warehouse last night, and here is the link. Router Table with Rack and Pinion Linear Motion DRO Fence (https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/model/7541b407-95e6-4fc3-8af1-1a34ebb53f1f/Router-Table-with-Rack-and-Pinion-Linear-Motion-DRO-Fence)

[Matt Day]

Very cool! Nice work.

How much travel per rotation of the hand wheel? Is there a lock on the fence?

Thanks for sharing!

[Tom Dixon]

I'll have to get an exact measurement but it's more than an inch for a full 360 degree rotation. However the control is pretty fine. The lock is the two tall Peachtree Woodworking No. 1537 3/8-16 Easy Grip Knobs you can see in the brief video clip of the motion.

[Tom Dixon]

I did a check on the distance moved in one 360 degree rotation and the value I got on the DRO was 3.138 inches which checked out against the marks i made on the table at the beginning and end of the movement. That's more travel than I thought but it would take a much smaller pinion gear to reduce that. In any case fine adjustment is fairly easy with small movements of the 4 inch handle.

[Wayne Jolly]

Now all you need to do is get yourself a stepper motor, a leadscrew, some wire . . .


Wayne

[Tom Dixon]

Well I haven't had as much time to work on the Build document this week as I would like, (read that as none until today), so I'm going to have to post the build document in installments starting with what I have had time to complete today. I'll keep updating the PDF document as I make progress and posting updates here so the same URL should work on an ongoing basis. So here it is: Router Table with Rack and Pinion Linear Motion DRO Fence (https://www.dropbox.com/s/o17wdsmtkgl7kvj/Router%20Table%20with%20Rack%20and%20Pinion%20Para llel%20Linear%20Motion%20DRO%20Fence.pdf?dl=0) installment #1