Replies

1. 
   DonStephan | May 25, 2002 03:14am | #1

   At minimum, far enough away so that when you do get a miter gage it will clear the bit. (Not intended as a smart aleck answer, although it might sound so.) Much discussion in previous incarnation of Knots regarding thickness of router table top, if planning to use insert. If little or no support around insert cutout, you might consider top at least 1.5" thick.

   Consider also distance from front edge of table top to bit. If too small a distance, larger pieces of wood will want to tip over.

2. 
   camel | May 25, 2002 03:20am | #2

   It's really a personal choice.  It's going to depend on what kind of work you do.  If you're going to be making cope and stick panel doors, I'd put it about 5-6".  It's nice to have it that close when you've got short rails.  You say you haven't got an miter gauge yet.  I would recommend the clamping miter gauge from Woodstock International.  It's only about $40.  It's reall nice for doing your rails and lots of other things.

3. 
   Martin6532 | May 25, 2002 09:09pm | #3

   Router tables don't need mitre slots.  There's food for discussion.

1. 
   DonStephan | May 25, 2002 09:51pm | #4

   Good point Martin. Some people simply use a perfectly square piece of 3/4" sheet stock, perhaps 10' x 10", as a push block behind the work piece.

2. 
   jase | May 25, 2002 10:40pm | #5

   What if you want to cut a dado on an irregularly shaped object? You would have to have some sled/pusblock to move it past the router bit, and that requires a slot or a jig that rides on top of the fence. The table isn't complete yet. I don't have a fence or a miter gauge yet. So far materials have cost me $0.81, just the screws to attach the router to the homeade Lexan insert. It isn't pretty but it will work.

   I am in the orthotics business. One part of the job is attaching metal ankle braces to shoes. This requires cutting a channel somewhere through the sole of the shoe where a steel stirrup resides. I want to be able to rout a dado in the heel of a leather shoe (the irregularly shaped object).

   Jase--Is there a better way?

3. 
   HowardAcheson | May 25, 2002 11:22pm | #6

   I agree. In 15 years of using a table, I have never needed one and I haven't though of an operation where one would be required.

1. 
   mitch | May 25, 2002 11:44pm | #7

   It's nice to have a miter slot to position featherboards for hold-ins.  Otherwise they'd need clamped to the edge the table or a vacuum set-up.  But I'm a big fan of positive stock control when routing or on the tablesaw.

2. 
   sschefer | May 26, 2002 06:15am | #11

   Howie, you must be bored with your router table. 15 years... really, we only thought of it about 10 years ago and that was a Sears port a table system. No, couldnt have been that one, it had mitre slots....

   Steve - in Northern California

   Edited 5/25/2002 11:18:44 PM ET by Steve Schefer

1. 
   HowardAcheson | May 26, 2002 07:19pm | #12

   Steve, the first one I built was from an article in a 1987-8 issue of Woodsmith Magazine. Hung an old Stanley 1hp router in it and used it for 2-3 years.

   As to a miter gauge slot, any time I need to end rout, I just move the fence over the bit to the correct exposure and use a square 12x12 board as a push board. Run it along the fence and it acts as a backer board which you need anyway to prevent chip out.

   I have built 5-6 router tables over the years and the only one that ever caused a problem was one where my cousin insisted on a slot because Norm had one (I've never seen Norm use it BTW). We ended up having to support it underneath as the table warped right at the slot.

   As I said, I have never had an operation where I needed one. Using the push plate is as safe, if not safer than trying to hold a work piece against a miter gauge face without slipping. Just my experiance and opinion.

1. 
   PaulParadis | May 28, 2002 05:18am | #13

   Miter slots are great for feather boards.  Would not build one without a slot.

4. 
   UncleDunc | May 25, 2002 11:54pm | #8

   >> Router tables don't need mitre slots.

   Yeah, and if you have a micrometer eye and lightning reflexes, they don't need fences either. If you have enough molding planes, you don't need a router at all. Heck, if you're good enough, you don't even need planes, you can do the same job with chisels.

   By the same logic, you could argue that table saws don't need miter slots.

   To answer the original question, I agree with Don, far enough so your miter gauge clears the biggest bit you plan to use.

   Edited 5/25/2002 4:56:15 PM ET by Uncle Dunc

   Edited 5/25/2002 5:16:25 PM ET by Uncle Dunc

1. 
   gerry001 | Jun 12, 2002 07:02am | #19

   >Yeah, and if you have a micrometer eye and lightning reflexes, they don't need fences either. If you have enough molding planes, you don't need a router at all. Heck, if you're good enough, you don't even need planes, you can do the same job with chisels.

   >By the same logic, you could argue that table saws don't need miter slots.

   Sorry, but there's little logic there. The miter slot in a TS is the primary reference for crosscutting. In most router tables, the fence is that reference. Making a fence-riding guide not only ensures a perfect right angle, but also supports the piece much closer to the cutting bit. That's why many people don't use them, or only use them for holding featherboards.

   In some operations, you really do need the workpiece to contact two right-angle surfaces. If that's the fence against a separate miter slot, it's often difficult to keep them perfectly aligned. Further, the typical t-track miter slot you find in a router table is never milled to anything like the precision of a miter slot in a table saw.

   So, if you're going to add one to hold featherboards, you probably want it a little further away than you suggest.

   Gerry

5. 
   sschefer | May 26, 2002 06:13am | #10

   When you have a Router table, tell us about the lack of need for mitre slots.

   Steve - in Northern California

   Edited 5/25/2002 11:17:37 PM ET by Steve Schefer

1. 
   Martin6532 | May 31, 2002 03:50am | #15

   Thanks for your mature, constructive response Steve,

   I agree with the respondents who said that mitre slots would be useful for some jigs, featherboards, hold downs, and for some end routing operations.  In fact, about 5 years ago I bought a mitre track with the intention of installing it in my table exactly for those applications. 

   But when I weighed the disadvantages like weakening the table, creating a channel in my otherwise flat and smooth surface, the difficulties in lining the fence up perfectly parallel to the slot etc, against the minor inconvenience of clamping featherboards and using sleds, I decided against it.  And I've never encountered an operation that I couldn't do without one; including many stile & rail cuts.

   Last night while I was flipping through my 1999 Rousseau catalog it occured to me that of the 16 professionally manufactured router tops featured in it, only two had mitre slots in them.  Then I checked my Oak Park Enterprises (the Router Workshop) catalog.  None of their systems use mitre slots.

   Bottom line is that they're not essential; it's a matter of personal preference.  Work safe everyone.

1. 
   sschefer | May 31, 2002 06:39pm | #16

   Thank you for the compliment Martin. You are absoultely correct.. YOU do not need mitre slots but maybe Jase wants them for some reason you have not thought of. Could it be possible that he may have a special need that you are not aware of ? Maybe he built his router table out of 1 1/16 Melamine like the the Rouseau router plate instructions recommend and has plenty of support. Who knows.... However, if we respond to what he's asking for rather than forcing our opinions on him we might just be able to help him.

   Steve - in Northern California

   Edited 5/31/2002 12:31:42 PM ET by Steve Schefer

   Edited 5/31/2002 12:32:27 PM ET by Steve Schefer

1. 
   Martin6532 | Jun 11, 2002 09:41pm | #17

   My apologies Steve; somehow I got the impression that this was a discussion forum.

2. 
   Alan | Jun 12, 2002 05:53am | #18

   Steve,

   I have to agree with Martin.  Not only is this a discussion forum, this is also a place where those of greater knowledge and experience can teach woodcraft to those with lesser experience and knowledge.  In looking at various posts here and elsewhere there are any number of times where a more expert woodworker saved someone with less experience--saved them time or money or wasted effort or fingers--or all of the above.

   I think it is very constructive when others challenge some basic assumptions that we hold.  When we examine those basic assumptions in the light of others' experience and knowledge we (or at least I) find that often those assumptions are simply false.  For example,  that a router table ought to, or needs to have a miter slot.  I believe that those who do not constantly challenge what they think they already know have in large part closed their minds to creativity and innovation;  and so they will learn little else, comfortable in thinking they already know.

   Keep it up Martin, and all others who give away the experience they have taken years to accumulate.  I, for one, thank you all.

   Alan

4. 
   sschefer | May 26, 2002 06:12am | #9

   That depends entirely on your mitre gauge.

   Steve - in Northern California

5. 
   sschefer | May 28, 2002 05:33am | #14

   The same distance as the mitre slots are away from the blade on your table saw. This will allow you to use off the shelf feather boards and other miter slot attachments that are meant for your table saw but work well in router tables.

   Steve - in Northern California