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The fence<\/strong> for the router table<\/a>uses a removable face<\/strong> with a T groove in its back. Four T bolts penetrate the vertical piece of the base fence, and the heads slide in the groove. The face is secured using knob nuts on the bolts.<\/p>\n The base fence<\/strong> is constructed from two pieces of 4″ x 28″ MDF, glued and reinforced with 90 degree MDF braces<\/strong> set in with epoxy glue. At the center is a cutout, about 1″ high x\u00a01 \u00bd” wide x\u00a01 3\/8″ deep, in the horizontal and vertical components to allow dust to escape. Surrounding the cutout, on the back side of the fence, are two MDF 90 degree triangles with a 1\/4″ plywood cover. The cover has a large hole, around which is attached a plastic face plate with a dust port<\/strong>. Attached to this is an adapter to fit a 4″ dust collection hose<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The removable fence<\/strong> has a smaller trapeziodal cutout, 1 1\/8″ at its base and 7\/8″ high. This accommodates most of the bits I use. Among the advantages of the removable fence face is the option to create additional facings<\/strong> with larger or zero-clearance cutouts. Another option is a split fence facing where the halves can be separated to make room for taller\/wider bits. The outfeed half can be also be shimmed for edge jointing. Rockler<\/a> carries all the fittings required to construct this fence.<\/p>\n When building this fence I tried hard to make it flat and square, knowing, however, that I could later tune it to tolerances of at least .002″, with a “highly sophisticated” microadjustment device: shims<\/strong>. The squareness of the fence can be tuned by placing tape shims under the base fence. The straightness can be tuned by placing plastic or brass shims between the facing and the base fence.<\/p>\n The fence is held to the table with an F clamp at each end<\/strong>. I don\u2019t miss having a fancy microadjuster on the fence. I learned woodworking using hand tools and this has fostered habits of working as directly<\/strong> as possible, using consistency, not dead-on absolute measurements, to make parts fit. I prefer to bring the part to which I am fitting right up to the bit and fence and set them from that. Often this involves using test pieces and incrementally approaching a good fit.<\/p>\n In some cases, if the trial is off a bit and I want to correct it by a measured amount, I might measure the trial cut with a dial calipers, and make the fence adjustment with a leaf gauge and a block<\/strong>. Tiny changes can be made by pivoting the fence at one end and measuring at the other, resulting in a movement at the bit location of half the measured amount.<\/p>\n The important thing is not to mistake this low-tech shimming and matching for sloppiness. This is an intuitive, simple, but highly accurate<\/strong> way to work. Furthermore, you can feel the level of accuracy to which you are working, in much the same way as sawing to a line when cutting joints by hand.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/img_1874_edited-2.jpg\" "\\"img_1874_edited-2\\"")
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