WoodWorkers Guild of America » Projects

1. 

   Member Comment
   

   Member Comment
   Joined: Apr '10
   Posts: 171

   Dec. 20, 08 - 02:17PM

   Having seen the router table used as a jointer in one of WWGOA's videos, I thought I'd give it a try.

   In trying to joint the edge on 24" X 6" X 3/4" white oak boards, I constantly had a gap in the center when I butted two jointed boards together. The gap grew from nothing at each end to about 1/32" to 1/16" at the center.

   I checked my setup over and over, even took the fence apart on the router table to insure the fence was straight and true.

   I eventually took the boards to the table saw and ran each board through twice. The first cut was with the jointed edge against the fence, and the second time with the jointed edge against the blade. You could see the saw taking a tiny bit off the leading and trailing edge as the board went through the second pass. I ended up using the boards as they came from the table saw as they were better than what I'd done on the router table.

   Any thoughts on what I might be doing wrong? Am I expecting too much accuracy from the router, or should I just wait until I can afford a real jointer?

   Submitted: Bobmccormick

   # Posted 3 years ago
2. 

   Editor
   

   Editor
   Joined: Apr '10
   Posts: 84

   Dec. 21, 08 - 10:38AM

   The router table can provide as dead straight an edge as a jointer.

   Sounds like you're doing the right checks on your work. The fence must be dead straight. You can check that with a good quality level as a straight edge. Make this check before you put the shims behind the outfeed fence.

   My suspicion is that your fence is just slightly too far forward. In other word, you're not taking quite enough off. When this happens the board will still be able to climb up on to the outfeed fence. The "jump" on to that fence can be so subtle you don't know it's climbing, but it is, and this prevents you from getting a dead straight edge.

   If the fence is too far away from the bit you'll take too much off and get a snipe at the end of the cut.

   Hope this helps.

   George Vondriska, Editor

   # Posted 3 years ago

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