When I made my router station, I had this grand design for a graduated wheel in the back to accurately adjust the fence for fine cuts to hit a dimension. Well that did not work ( too clunky) and I have been just testing each cut with a scrap piece each time to get it to cut accurately. I had this Harbor Freight dial drop indicator on a magnetic base sticking on the side of the cabinet and decided to use it to make accurate fence adjustments. I use if for a reference. I clamp it down in the center of the fence right over the bit and set it to zero and then bump the fence . Now I can see how much it is really moving. This way I can measure the movement of the fence in thousandths and eliminate the need to be cutting a scrap piece after every move. I made it for a dovetail job I finished and it worked sweet!!!
I wanted to measure right on center so I made it into a bridge to clear the cutter. I was working across the T-slot channel in the table and thought I could use the T channel to hold it if I had a clamp for a great range of adjustment. That is where these 2 clamps came to be. They are aluminum with brass feet under the screws. The last shot shows them holding my feather-board. They are very handy!!
Cheers, Jim
Cheers, Jim ........................ Variety is the spice of life...............Learn something new every day
I also have a dial indicator but it spends most of its life stuck on my I beam. (and gathering both rust and dust by the looks!) I don't think I would even consider using it on my Router table (which is actually a spindle moulder but due to the fact I can fit it with 1/4 and 1/2 " collets I use it as a router table . Plus it has two thumb screws on the back for fine adjustments . Table saw yes siree its a must for setup.
Mainly if I am routing I adjust it by eye first up then use a test sample to fine tune it off the router bit profile. But to each his own its certainly a well designed gauge! In fact I think I have two dial indicators one I used on my thicknesser and Jointer when it had knives fitted, but time and technology changed all that with the introduction of tungsten inserts ( yee ha!)
I also purchased one of these at H F, used it when I had a countertop table saw, but it's been collecting dust since I trashed the saw some 8 or 10 years ago. Nice application on your part however.
Thank you all for the nice comments! I also have one set up for my table saw fence and another for the router table to measure the height of the cutter. The graduations on the woodpecker lift are not fine enough for micro adjustments so I have a drop down indicator to measure fine movement in thousandths. I have since changed the base to Corian and also used corian for the base of the height indicator. Here is what they look like today:
Cheers, Jim ........................ Variety is the spice of life...............Learn something new every day
I'm a big fan of dial indicators for setups. I use a mag base with one for adjusting the TS fence when I need exact width rips. Never been urged to put a t-track into a router table, never can be sure it is parallel to the fence. However by centering off the centerline of the bit I can see its utility for accurate adjustments. Just wish my table was metal so the mag base would work! 😀
My router fence is an older Incra and the fence adjustments are good down to a few thou, but with the larger aux fence attached I need to be mindful to push/pull as I adjust to keep the backlash out. Incra uses a spring in the adjuster so when pulling on the fence all it is doing is stretching the spring.
Either way, it's cut, measure, adjust, then get to work!
Thanks Bruce and Steve. Hi Bruce, I originally had an adjustment wheel in the center of the fence and attached to the back of the fence on the back. Backlash drove me nuts so I scrapped it and with this indicator I don't have to use a piece of scrap to check the next cut. It is there where the indicator says it moved to! The idea is not to use it to make a dimensional cut in the first place. It is used to make the adjustment to the correct dimension after making the initial rough cut.
Hi Steve. I do use this drop indicator on the table saw too. Sometimes I have to put a block under it if the blade is higher than its range
Cheers, Jim ........................ Variety is the spice of life...............Learn something new every day
Well done Jim. Accuracy on the Router Table!!! I like the Wooden Feather Board...I am a fan of feather boards....I only have the yellow plastic ones...They might be Kreg. I must have a go at making a wooden one.
