Router Table Fence

[Deb Malloy]

Hi,
Looking for some advice regarding a router fence. I'm in the process of "building" a router table although "cobbling together" might be a more appropriate term.
I have a table top I purchased from woodpeckers' a few years ago at one of their refurbish sales, and a recently purchased Jess'm router plate.
I'm considering 3 fences, and was wondering what the consensus was out there.

Woodpeckers LE Router Table Fence 32"

Freud SH-5 Professional Micro-Adjustable Router Table Fence

Rousseau 3301 Router Table Fence

Any advice would be appreciated.


Thanks,
Deb

[Dave Verstraete]

Deb
I have been pleased with the Woodpecker LE Fence.

Do a search for some recent threads on "router table fence". There should be a few

[Brent Ring]

I use the incra Ultra Lite Fence!

[Bill Wyko]

INCRA, anything they make.:D

[Ron Bontz]

I have been using a LE Fence (39" wide) for about 7 years now. I have made various fence jigs etc. as well as side cam slides to keep it parallel with the miter slot. Dollar for dollar it has been a good rugged fence. I have a freedom fence also. It sits. I prefer the LE. I think it really depends on how big your table is and what you are planning to do. Best of luck.:)

[Bob Hallowell]

For what I do the freud is great. I love the micro adjustmnt for the infeed/outfeed.

Bob

[Deb Malloy]

Thanks for the feed-back guys !

[Greg Hines, MD]

Deb,

I am sure that any of the manufactured fences would work well, though I like my home-made one as it does what I like.

That said, you might consider one of the various positioners, such as Incra, Jointech, etc. I do not have anything like that, but someday, I probably will upgrade to something like that.

Doc

[Jerrold Fernandez]

I too have been on the hunt for the parts to my first router table. I have checked out a couple of fences locally at Woodcraft, Rockler and my local woodworking supplier. I have been able to look at and play with the KREG precision router fence, the Jessem Mast-R-Fence, and the Freud SH-5.

For the Kreg (~$200.00), I like the fact the the entire fence stays parallel. It felt very natural when moving the fence into position, just like using your table saw fence. The quality of the aluminum and the fences seemed top notch as well. Fence offset for jointing or full edge routing is accomplished by various spacer rods that are wedged into the rear of the fence after loosening it with a screwdriver. This solution seemed like an afterthought to me. I think that they could have done something a little better for the price of this fence.

The Jessem Mast-R-Fence (on sale at ~$165 Tool-Corral.com) is nice since it can accommodate different table widths (24-32"). I liked the phenolic sub-faces and the rigidity of the setup. Jointing is accomplished by removing the fence with a hex tool and adding the supplied shims to the rear of the fence face. Still not a tool less solution but it seems more solid than the Kreg in my eyes. One thing to note is the dust port size of 2 1/4", most reducers I have seen go from 4" to 2 1/2" if you are going from a dust collector and not a shop vac. Probably not a big deal but something you'll have to account for nevertheless. Its also one of the "prettier" units I've seen. :)

Freud's SH-5 seems like a real bargain at ~$100 (amazon.com). It is solid cast aluminum and is a nice compact unit. The thing I really like about it is the micro adjust for both fences. They move smoothly and predictably with a total range of 7/8". This seems like an ideal unit for someone who is going to be doing a lot of jointing on their router table. What I didn't like were the included fence faces. They are MDF with laminate. I felt that there was too much deflection in the included faces. However, if I were to buy this unit it would be very easy to replace these included faces with either some extruded aluminum, laminated Baltic Birch, or phenolic (UHMW/HDPE). This would need to be factored into the total cost of the unit as well.

After looking at these units I'm leaning toward the Jessem. It seems that a compromise must be made, as there is no one fence that I can call "perfect" in my opinion. I like the length, the look and the price of the Jessem. I can deal with a nonstandard dust port size. Those are my 2 cents.


I have been using a LE Fence (39" wide) for about 7 years now. I have made various fence jigs etc. as well as side cam slides to keep it parallel with the miter slot. Dollar for dollar it has been a good rugged fence. I have a freedom fence also. It sits. I prefer the LE. I think it really depends on how big your table is and what you are planning to do. Best of luck.:)

Question: Could you explain this set up a little more what exactly are these "cam slides"? I really like how KREG's fence stays parallel, similar to a traditional table saw fence. However in my situation I will not be able to implement their fence with my router table.

I just know that if i dont come up with some way to do this, my OCD will kick in and it will bug the heck out of me to see a fence not perfectly parallel to the table. If anyone has any input on how to implement a parallel system using standard T-Tracks or otherwise, I would appreciate it.

[Wayne Cannon]

My choices of the fences I have, in order of declining preference:

1 -- Woodhaven -- fast & easy setup, very flexible T-track-based for after-market add-ons, modifications, positioners, clamps, jigs, etc. This is definitely my favorite. (http://www.woodhaven.com/pdf/catalog/8.pdf, http://www.woodhaven.com/pdf/202.pdf, & http://woodhaven.com/Category.asp?Id=7).

The new Woodpecker Super Fence (which I don't have) has similar characteristics to the Woodhaven, but I would definitely add MDF or HDPE sub-fences (not included) for zero-clearance to minimize chip-out). The Woodpecker Super Fence requires table slots to clamp it in position, or inconvenient below-table clamp knobs at the ends. (http://www.woodpeck.com/superfence.html)

2 -- Bench Dog ProFence -- fast & easy setup, has an excellent add on "riser" for taller fence, used it for years before switching to the Woodhaven
(http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_hi/103-5465399-4738221?url=search-alias%3Dtools&field-keywords=%22bench+dog%22+%22profence%22&x=0&y=0)

3 -- Sommerfeld's SO Fence -- Four-foot length is nice, has a retractable pivot-pin in addition to T-track end-clamps (that require T-slots along outer edges of table). Has a nice slide-in (dovetailed) zero-clearance inserts. It works nice with the big aluminum Sommerfeld table, but I wouldn't recommend it over the Woodhaven.

4-- Incra Jig Ultra -- space hungry, heavy, flexes (it has no end clamps), etc. It's great for uniformly spaced grooves (e.g., fluted columns) if you don't apply too much pressure against the fence ends, and for returning to previous settings, neither of which I do enough to put up with its weaknesses. I would not recommend this fence system.

[ron z johnson]

I would suggest going with Jointech. I love mine. I checked their site recently and the prices make it a hands down winner!

http://www.jointech.com/woodworking1.htm

RJ