Router Fence Recommendation

[Dusty.House]

Hi All,

What router fence would people recommend?

I am planning to build a bigger table and I could design it around the Kreg one I have or ‘upgrade’.

The Woodpecker seams to be a little inaccurate, hard to keep square but I do like the T-Track installation. And the way it is built does allow for some increases flexibility.

The JessEm looks good and appears to have good reviews. Not sure it adds much on top of the Kreg. The installation on both sides of the table isn’t ideal if I want a wide table.

Any recommendations are appreciated.

Ben

PS this is my current setup. My goal is to have a single table top (54” wide) rather than two tops that aren’t perfectly flush today. I’ll make it from MDF and Formica Microdot, like Kreg and Woodpeckers tops.

——————————
dusty.tools

 

[Sanderxpander]

I don't even have one but I see the name thrown around so much that I'm going to blindly recommend the Incra LS Positioner system. At least worth checking out.

 

[Claimdude]

+1 LS Positioner by Incra. Outstanding repeat-ability!! I have had one for 20+ years. Dovetails are easy peazy as well.

Jack

 

[Grev]

I'm actually just about to buy a new router fence and have narrowed it down to Jessum or Woodpeckers.  I think Incra is in a league of its own .. but won't work for my space/installation.  I recently saw the Jet and Sawstop fences (side x side) and they are essentially the same as the Jessum (and probably others), only the Jet comes with a nice micro-adjust feature on both rails.  The Sawstop seemed to have a little better "fit & finish," which I suspect is more like the Jessum.  I checked and could buy the Jet's micro-adjust assemblies and use on the Jessum (or Sawstop).  [member=67145]DustyTools[/member] .. just curious what you've heard about the WP being "a little inaccurate?"  I like the WP micro-adjust option, but haven't seen or used it in person?

 

[Canoescapes]

I have the Jessum fence -- a recent upgrade -- and have been very impressed.  That said, if you are looking to put the fence on a wide table, check out Ron Paulk's recent You Tube video about the Woodpecker's fence.  He is puts it in on his recently redesigned bench and does a very favorable review of the fence.  I would send you the link, but I am not sure how.  Sorry.  He posted the video on his You Tube channel within the last couple of weeks.

 

[Mike Goetzke]

I had the Incra LS fence and joinery system but found as someone that didn't make dovetail on a regular basis it took some study work every time I used it for joints. Plus it takes up lots of space. I sold it and built a new router table with the WP Super-Fence with micro adjuster and bought the Leigh RTJ400 and really like the both of them.

I'm wondering your concern of the WP fence having issues being square. From my experience the ease to align the fence to the bit and having the split fences in-line is most important.

Mike

 

[deepcreek]

I've been thinking about a new fence and considering the Incra, Woodpecker, and Jessem.

The Incra seems to take up a lot of room behind the fence so that most tables are set up with the narrow side to run your stock.  I'd much rather have the wider part for running stock along the fence.  A buddy of mine has one and loves it for making dovetail drawers.  I've got a Leigh D4R Pro so that's not really a selling point.

Right now, I'm still pissed at Woodpeckers for the way they handled a recent one time tool order (took five months after promised delivery date) so I'm leaning towards Jessem.

 

[grbmds]

Without question the Incra LS Positioner is the most accurate and precise available. While I have Incra's table, lift and the whole setup, installing the Incra fence on a home made table would yield the same results. There just is nothing better. After buying it several years ago, I kicked myself for not doing it many years before that. It makes accurate, precise work on a router table so much easier.

 

[Dusty.House]

Thanks all,

I think the Incra is beyond my needs, so I think I'll rule that one out, definitely when I consider the price.

For the Woodpecker, I read this review:
http://lumberjocks.com/reviews/2461

That commented on how the L-bracket that holds the horizontal and vertical parts of the fence together. It's not exactly 90 degrees which makes it hard to keep the front of the fence. There's a micro adjuster but you have re-adjust every time you make a change to the fence setup. I know I shouldn't rely on one review but it did stick in my mind

I think based on the feedback here I am going to buy the Woodpecker, but would appreciate thoughts on this. The JessEm looks good but it doesn't lend itself to making a wider table than 32".

Of course that means I am going have to think about the woodpecker lift....

 

[Mike Goetzke]

[member=67145]DustyTools[/member]

Google Woodpeckers super fence reviews. Like you said don't just read one review. I have had this fence for many years and have many miles on it and have none of the problems the LumberJocks guy had. Similar to any other tool like this it does need some initial setup but it has not needed any since.

Mike

 

[Dusty.House]

[member=67145]DustyTools[/member]

Google Woodpeckers super fence reviews. Like you said don't just read one review. I have had this fence for many years and have many miles on it and have none of the problems the LumberJocks guy had. Similar to any other tool like this it does need some initial setup but it has not needed any since.

Mike

Thanks Mike!

 

[Alanbach]

I have Jessem’s fence and love it. They have two fences, the TA and the Master Lift II. I would give them a call just to check and see if they have a fix for you regarding those side mounting brackets for the fence. They might have a way for you to inset mount the t-slot into the table surface? I don’t know about the WP but Jessem has nice miter sliders as an accessory for these fences. The TA fence is also capable of jointing via a micro adjust offset in the two fence halves.

 

[mikeFromMA]

Hi.  This is a really helpful thread about fences and it's been about a year since the last comment.  I'm looking to build a router table (my first router table) and am having a hard time figuring out which fence to get.  Does anyone have any updated opinions?  The Jessem, Woodpeckers and Incra fences are all about the same price.  Is there any real daylight between these three?  No one mentioned Kreg, which is about 20% cheaper.  My local woodcraft store only has the kreg fence as a demo and I'm not aware of anywhere nearby to lay eyes on the others. 

I'm thinking about a standard table size - around 32"x24".  I already have the lift and router (woodpeckers set-up) which I inherited from a retiring professional cabinet maker.  If folks have suggestions around that (as in, in retrospect, I wish I had done x instead of....), I'd appreciate hearing those as well.  I'm a hobbyist, not a professional. 

Thanks, Mike

 

[derekcohen]

I am in the process of building a new router table and fence (it's going onto a Hammer K3 slider). Having done a ton of research (along with 25 years using these things), the fence I consider to be the best is the Jessem.
https://www.fine-tools.com/routerfence.html

I will build my own version of this fence. It is pretty straight forward, and I can do it for a fraction of the cost. The Jessem is a great fence to model one on. It's a good fence to buy if you can afford it.

This is where it will go ...

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[grbmds]

I only wish I had bought the Incra, table, Positioner, and lift sooner.

However, if you already have other Woodpecker components and they are in good condition (meaning no accuracy or precision problems), then consider the Woodpecker fence/table. I don't have it but I have never bought anything from Woodpeckers which I was sorry about in terms of quality. If you do buy Woodpeckers fence, though, the micro-adjust addition could be a good idea. The ability to adjust Incra's fence in minute increments is one of the features that makes it so accurate. I would think that the Woodpeckers micro-adjust would be a similar upgrade.

 

[mikeFromMA]

Thanks, Derek and John, for your thoughts.  Much appreciated.  I'm going to give this a few more days to see if others weigh in.  It seems I can't go wrong ultimately. 

    Mike

 

[MikeGE]

I considered adding a router table to my saw like Derek did, but I got sidetracked and went a different path.  Here is a recent thread about my router table build.  I am very happy with the Incra system and am glad I went with a mobile table.  I have to shuffle tools in and out of the shop as I need them, so the bandsaw and router table are mobile, and soon the jointer/planer will be as well.

https://www.festoolownersgroup.com/member-projects/router-table-63522/msg613775/#msg613775

The disadvantage to the Incra, and possibly the others, is the backlog in manufacturing.  However, in my opinion, the system is worth the wait.

 

[edwarmr]

I can second the Incra LS Positioner. It’s amazing! However the Jessem TA fence is far and away the better fence system. It has tool free adjustment, a simple jointing feature, and is solid as can be. I plan on posting more on this in the future but I made an adaptor out of 8020 aluminum extrusions to attach my Jessem TA fence to my LS Positioner. I am using it with two CMS-VL units attached to each other so I can use the same fence for routing and sawing.

[attachimg=1]

 

[Alanbach]

I commented above regarding my opinions about the Jessem. Since that post Jessem has added another fence to their line in addition to the TA fence. They added the Master fence III to their line, as well as a micro adjuster for the TA fence as well as the Master Fence III.

 

[kevinculle]

Incra.  I picked up the TS III system used for about half price maybe 6 years ago, totally repeatable positioning at 1/32" increments along with adjustability to within a few thousandths of an inch precision!