Ive seen UHMW recommended as a router fence material so I looked it up
at McMaster, and they have 90 degree pieces, 3.5" on each leg and 1/2"
thick.
I was wondering if just using a piece of UHMW would provide enough
precision. The tolerances for the UHMW itself are listed on the site
(leg length and thickness tolerance are both .06). Its not the
cheapest material in the world (8.56/ft) but if it holds up better than
MDF, its almost a guaranteed "accurate" 90 degrees and pretty quick to
just make a couple slots in to turn it into a sliding fence.
Any opinions?
Thanks!
-Chris
my bet is you could start by going to the $1 offcut rack near the panel saw
at HD and then use a sled to make a 90 or four or five, 6 right angles from
plywood, then screw them together. Just make sure you use the same slots at
any later date. U probly wont need to.
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woops, ....for a piece of melamine. I made my sled this way. I may need
to loose it, and unscrew the parts if it expands too much with moisture, but
then again, maybe not. I waxed it and it glides like the wind.
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Ive never seen MDO at the borg-like stores. Unfortunately, thats about
all I have to shop at around here (without needing to buy lots of
material I dont need).
Looks like MDF wins! Which makes sense.......when I accidentally
destroy a fence its just a quick cut of MDF away from being fixed.
I was just worried about sealing it, but it looks like Shellac is the
answer.
Thanks!
-Chris
Does this also apply for the table itself?
Ive been planning on laminating with inexpensive formica, but if a
fence gets "slippery" enough with shellaced MDF, then why would the
table itself need to be laminated if its already MDF?
As long as shellac can seal out humidity, I should be able to get away
without laminating it, no?
Thanks!
-Chris
Swingman wrote:
> Yep. I much prefer mdf ... a router fence is going to take abuse; it's
> nice, hell imperative, to bury a bit in a fence on occasion, and a
> split fence, which comes in handy more often than not ... all
> easier/cheaper to maintain with mdf.
>
I agree with MDF over UHMW, but I'll also suggest MDO. The resin
coating makes it about as smooth as you could want.
--
It's turtles, all the way down
Check out Pat Warner's site. His router table has an MDF top finished with
Watco. That said, I have laminate on mine. Had some left over from a job.
Available and paid for. The fence I use is UHMW. That too, was free. Got a
chunk from work. 4 feet by 4 feet by 1.5 inches thick. Was supposed to be an
airplane part until the guy on the mill didn't clamp it securely and threw
it off the machine. After cutting out the bad parts, I have a stack of
fences that should be good for life.
<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Does this also apply for the table itself?
>
> Ive been planning on laminating with inexpensive formica, but if a
> fence gets "slippery" enough with shellaced MDF, then why would the
> table itself need to be laminated if its already MDF?
>
> As long as shellac can seal out humidity, I should be able to get away
> without laminating it, no?
>
> Thanks!
> -Chris
>
Sorry about the late-nite sarcasm .. it was a long day.
<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Thanks for the constructive reply!
>
> FYI - I dont believe it requires it, but you can probably get away with
> using a hyphen in that case.
>
> I find it funny though, some people would say a tolerance of .06 is not
> close enough. Thats why I asked the question.
>
<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Ive seen UHMW recommended as a router fence material so I looked it up
> at McMaster, and they have 90 degree pieces, 3.5" on each leg and 1/2"
> thick.
>
> I was wondering if just using a piece of UHMW would provide enough
> precision. The tolerances for the UHMW itself are listed on the site
> (leg length and thickness tolerance are both .06). Its not the
> cheapest material in the world (8.56/ft) but if it holds up better than
> MDF, its almost a guaranteed "accurate" 90 degrees and pretty quick to
> just make a couple slots in to turn it into a sliding fence.
>
> Any opinions?
Sure, it's as accurate as any piece of wood you'll put up against it. You
can also use your jointer to get a good square if it's not. The shavings
stick, but a router or jointer/planer will do a good job on it.
Me, I use the tape and stick it to fences made out of wood products. Slick,
renewable, and a lot cheaper.
<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Does this also apply for the table itself?
>
> Ive been planning on laminating with inexpensive formica, but if a
> fence gets "slippery" enough with shellaced MDF, then why would the
> table itself need to be laminated if its already MDF?
>
> As long as shellac can seal out humidity, I should be able to get away
> without laminating it, no?
Got a half-dozen years on my shellac-coated MDO table. Still slides nicely.
It could be +- 1/4" on any dimension and it would be fine. Straitness is
what counts. .060" out of strait would be a real problem. Being extruded
plastic, I wouldn't expect it to be any straiter than that.
<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Thanks for the constructive reply!
>
> FYI - I dont believe it requires it, but you can probably get away with
> using a hyphen in that case.
>
> I find it funny though, some people would say a tolerance of .06 is not
> close enough. Thats why I asked the question.
>
<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Ive seen UHMW recommended as a router fence material so I looked it up
> at McMaster, and they have 90 degree pieces, 3.5" on each leg and 1/2"
> thick.
>
> I was wondering if just using a piece of UHMW would provide enough
> precision. The tolerances for the UHMW itself are listed on the site
> (leg length and thickness tolerance are both .06).
Does anal retentive have a hyphen?
>Its not the
> cheapest material in the world (8.56/ft) but if it holds up better than
> MDF, its almost a guaranteed "accurate" 90 degrees and pretty quick to
> just make a couple slots in to turn it into a sliding fence.
>
> Any opinions?
>
> Thanks!
> -Chris
>
<[email protected]> wrote in message
> Any opinions?
Yep. I much prefer mdf ... a router fence is going to take abuse; it's nice,
hell imperative, to bury a bit in a fence on occasion, and a split fence,
which comes in handy more often than not ... all easier/cheaper to maintain
with mdf.
Just my tuppence ...
--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 12/13/05
Don't look to a piece of plastic to be an accurate anything unless you make
it that way.
<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Ive seen UHMW recommended as a router fence material so I looked it up
> at McMaster, and they have 90 degree pieces, 3.5" on each leg and 1/2"
> thick.
>
> I was wondering if just using a piece of UHMW would provide enough
> precision. The tolerances for the UHMW itself are listed on the site
> (leg length and thickness tolerance are both .06). Its not the
> cheapest material in the world (8.56/ft) but if it holds up better than
> MDF, its almost a guaranteed "accurate" 90 degrees and pretty quick to
> just make a couple slots in to turn it into a sliding fence.
>
> Any opinions?
>
> Thanks!
> -Chris
>
On 23 Feb 2006 08:26:37 -0800, [email protected] wrote:
>Ive seen UHMW recommended as a router fence material so I looked it up
>at McMaster, and they have 90 degree pieces, 3.5" on each leg and 1/2"
>thick.
>
>I was wondering if just using a piece of UHMW would provide enough
>precision. The tolerances for the UHMW itself are listed on the site
>(leg length and thickness tolerance are both .06). Its not the
>cheapest material in the world (8.56/ft) but if it holds up better than
>MDF, its almost a guaranteed "accurate" 90 degrees and pretty quick to
>just make a couple slots in to turn it into a sliding fence.
I don't know that I'd necessarily use it as fence material, it seems
like overkill. It's a lot easier to just use MDF or MDO, especially
since you're going to likely use sacrificial pieces for zero clearance
and you don't want to go chewing up your expensive UHMW. I don't know
that you need something that slick for a fence either, I've found that
UHMW makes excellent guides and runners for jigs, but beyond that,
it's not really better than MDF or MDO.
[email protected] wrote:
> Ive never seen MDO at the borg-like stores.
For future record, they can usually order it.
MDF or scrap wood works fine for me.
On 23 Feb 2006 12:47:31 -0800, [email protected] wrote:
>Ive been planning on laminating with inexpensive formica, but if a
>fence gets "slippery" enough with shellaced MDF, then why would the
>table itself need to be laminated if its already MDF?
A lot of people do use straight MDF for their tabletop. Mine is
melamine, but I could have just as easily gone the other way.
[email protected] wrote:
> Ive seen UHMW recommended as a router fence material so I looked it up
> at McMaster, and they have 90 degree pieces, 3.5" on each leg and 1/2"
> thick.
>
> I was wondering if just using a piece of UHMW would provide enough
> precision. The tolerances for the UHMW itself are listed on the site
> (leg length and thickness tolerance are both .06). Its not the
> cheapest material in the world (8.56/ft) but if it holds up better than
> MDF, its almost a guaranteed "accurate" 90 degrees and pretty quick to
> just make a couple slots in to turn it into a sliding fence.
>
> Any opinions?
>
> Thanks!
> -Chris
>
Shellacked and waxed MDF makes great fence material, IMO. I've faced my
router fences (aluminium) with MDF and I've had no wear problems, it's
extremely slick and totally FLAT. I made a number of ZCIs to go between
the 2 fence halves.
Dave