Mark Rios
03-20-2006, 3:32 PM
I got out my router table yesterday afternoon to get it ready to start making mistakes on these cabinets I'm making for my neighbor. :D As I was getting the fence (three year old, triangular tube, Woodpecker fence) down I noticed that the 1" MDF subfences were a little cupped. So, I said "Hey self, I'll just make some new ones with the mdf I have right here".
So I ripped two pieces of mdf, one 6" and one 8", 39" long, and I glued them up. I had my clamps busy with other glue up stuff so I screwed the two pieces together. It was getting dark so I couldn't see really, really good but I thought that I got the two pieces together without any space/gaps between them. (As a reminder, I don't have a shop anymore per se. I have a huge trailer and a yard that I wheel my tools out to for woodworking, hence not very good lighting) Well, when I looked at the fence this morning it, of course, had gaps. So, I looked for threads here on planing mdf and saw that the general concensus was that it wasn't a good idea in the long run.
So, now I ask the REAL woodworkers. Should I go ahead and try it again but with clamps this time? If so, I would think that I would need to use some cauls of some sort. Do I make some box shaped, 6" x 39" cauls to clamp all the way across the width and length of the fence pieces? I need to laminate the mdf to allow width for the dado for the t-track. Should I use some other material? Or should I just give up and drive an hour (it's raining here today so no outside work) to Woodcraft and get new fence parts?
Thanks very much for your help and advice.
Sincerely,
Your frustrated bonehead,
So I ripped two pieces of mdf, one 6" and one 8", 39" long, and I glued them up. I had my clamps busy with other glue up stuff so I screwed the two pieces together. It was getting dark so I couldn't see really, really good but I thought that I got the two pieces together without any space/gaps between them. (As a reminder, I don't have a shop anymore per se. I have a huge trailer and a yard that I wheel my tools out to for woodworking, hence not very good lighting) Well, when I looked at the fence this morning it, of course, had gaps. So, I looked for threads here on planing mdf and saw that the general concensus was that it wasn't a good idea in the long run.
So, now I ask the REAL woodworkers. Should I go ahead and try it again but with clamps this time? If so, I would think that I would need to use some cauls of some sort. Do I make some box shaped, 6" x 39" cauls to clamp all the way across the width and length of the fence pieces? I need to laminate the mdf to allow width for the dado for the t-track. Should I use some other material? Or should I just give up and drive an hour (it's raining here today so no outside work) to Woodcraft and get new fence parts?
Thanks very much for your help and advice.
Sincerely,
Your frustrated bonehead,