router tables and fences

[3cpq]

Jointech has always been on the brink financially.         Incra on the other hand seems to flourish..... as they have basically the same technology I have to ask why you chose jointech over them in the first place?
Craig

I am actually asking.   not trying to be snide.

Actually, I had planned on going with the incra set-up from the start.  I really decided on jointech because I liked the accessories that go with it.  I have the fence raiser, jumbo vertical push fixture, saw train feather board.

Anyways, I have the whole system installed.  The bent bracket on the clincher was a little bit of a problem.  I had to try and bend it a little to it square.  I have everything now set up parallel, square and it's working great.  Only problem I have yet to solve is that the fence is not square.  On one end it is off one way, and the other end its off the opposite way.  Somehow I need to mess with these aluminum plates that make up the face of the fence. 

You would think it would be easy for them to answer the phone and send me a new bracket, maybe let me know if my fence is cool?

It's such a shame too, because they're stuff is really cool.  Although I have to disagree with the idea that it is overbuilt.  Sure the clencher and the smart fence are very solid.  The saw train feather board probably the beefiest of all, but the main rails, the most important part should be way beefier in my opinion.  That aluminum is pretty soft.

 

[sw1211]

Anyways, I have the whole system installed.  The bent bracket on the clincher was a little bit of a problem.  I had to try and bend it a little to it square.  I have everything now set up parallel, square and it's working great.  Only problem I have yet to solve is that the fence is not square.  On one end it is off one way, and the other end its off the opposite way.  Somehow I need to mess with these aluminum plates that make up the face of the fence. 

Playing cards cut and stacked make good shims, I had to do this on my router fence to get it square.  (not Jointech)

 

[Gaijin Daiku]

I apologize for crashing this party...

but

just wondering...before you start messing with the fence...

since you mention that the fence is out of square different ways at different ends, is it possible that there is twist in the router table?

 

[Dave Ronyak]

I bought a JoinTech SawTrain setup and router lift and cabinet about the time that the founder/owner died, and installed mine on a General International hybrid table saw.  That install had some issues and idiosyncrasies that weren't addressed in the JoinTech literature.  And one of my phenolic table tops was warped.  Although there were some delays in Ernest getting back to me, they took care of everything, including sending me a new table top and letting me keep the warped original one.  It's no good for routing, but it is OK as a glue up surface, and I could cut it into smaller pieces for other uses if I want to.  Initial alignment of the fence to the mitre gauge slots on my table saw was a bit of a challenge.  Due to the peculiarities of my table saw, I had to raise the height of the fence relative to the table top and side rails, and correct for some angularity error in the stamped steel component that connects the fence to the precision thread linear machine.  I had to shim that connection to get the business face of the fence perpendicular to the saw table and parallel to the mitre gauge slots.  I used masking tape and business card stock for shims of this connection. And adhesive backed PE tape on the underside of the fence end clamps to help them slide on the front and back rails when adjusting the fence position.  And I had to adjust the clincher clamp.  But once done, it works very well.

A couple of years later I met Ernest S. at "The Woodworking Show" when it was in Columbus, Oh.  He was very friendly and appeared to be sincerely interested in doing the best job possible.  He admitted the business was struggling following the death of the founder.  The sliding mitre gauge sled they were demonstrating at the Show appeared to be a superior product to that of the competition.  I have a friend who owns one and many Incra products as well, and he thinks the JoinTech mitre sled is the best.  That same friend also owns a lot of Festool equipment and is a stickler for precision in everything he buys and does.

Charimon,

How is a typical customer living more than 1000 miles away from JoinTech or any other vendor able to know in advance of a potential purchase that the business is in financial trouble?  That would be useful information to have before entering any business transaction, but how does a typical consumer gain such information?  Most are not subscribers to Dunn & Bradstreet's business rating service or the like.

Dave R.

 

[score0matic]

I know about it only because when i was researching my incra LS and the Join Tech I spent alot of time over at http://www.routerforums.com/  it is funny these guys are as informed and passionate about most things router, as we are about Festools.  They had a thread on just that subject jointech and incra and the lack of response that the folks at Join Tech gave their clients was a reoccurring theme.

Craig

 

[3cpq]

Turns out that the fence is twisted.  I finally got a hold of jointech about it, and it sounded like they might send me a new fence body and clencher bracket, but he was in a hurry, and cut me short of a full conversation.  Said he is going to talk to the guy who puts them together.  The next thing I was going to say was that I am prepared to buy a new fence body and bracket if it would motivate them a little more in getting it to me.

Frankly, I am getting a little sick of the whole thing.  Planned on using the set up on my first kitchen cabinet build.  Was told it would be here a certain time, had old table saw fence removed the day before it was suppose to arrive.  Never showed up, waited, waited.  Put my old fence back on the table saw, started job.  Finally got my new fence, installed, badly twisted fence, bent bracket.  My old shop fox fence is more precise with the fence being square and all.  If I don't get a new square fence, or at least conformation that one will be sent to me in the next few weeks, I'll probably put my old fence back on.

But, yeah, other than that, the yellow top is kind of annoying me, would it be un-wise to paint it with a two part epoxy coating?

 

[morogue]

Keep at it. It's going to be drawn out process. The people are good people and just seem to be perpetually in the weeds.
I think you'll like the setup once you're all set.

 

[morogue]

Follow up on Jointech customer service:
Got a call from them (after 2 emails, spaced out over 2 weeks), they explained that they just moved and things were messed up a bit.
I realized that they left the zero clearance fence inserts out of the kit and asked for them 2 1/2 weeks ago. So, Jointech is still there and they are trying hard to catch up with orders and service requests.
Just thought I'd let you all know--they may be slow but good and honest (I didn't realize that the inserts were missing for more that a month or so after I got the Sawtrain!!!).

 

[JPDWine]

If you were to buy a router to fix onto a router table, what router, router table top, router lift and fence would you purchase.  I intend to mount the router table top into a larger phenolic topped table and I've been doing a lot of research.  It seems that the Bench Dog Full Sized Cast Iron Router Table is a top contender but the right fence is not clear.  What would be the best router and what lift would work best with that router? What are the chances that different items from different manufacturers won't work well together -- do you really need to purchase a system from one manufacturer?  Any advise/points of view would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks

 

[Julian Tracy]

I have the complete Jessem setup and imo, it's one of the very best in terms of features and ruggedness.

My local Woodcraft store is clearing out all of the Jessem stuff - might be a chance you could find some of the stuff at a discount.

I have the stand, Phenolic top, mast-r-lift, remote control Milwaukee 3 1/2HP motor, Mast-r-fence and the Mast-r-slide.

Nice setup.

JT

 

[sl_1800]

I have had a Kreg table and fence for a couple of years.  To be honest I didn't use it much till lately.  I was having trouble last week with joints not fitting as they should.  Got out the most basic tool I have, a square, and found the fence had a twist in it, 1/8" out of square from one end to the other.  I called Kreg last week and my new fence arrived today, the only question they ask was my name and address so they could send me a new one.  And yes the new fence solved the problem.