I'm making some horizontal feather boards for use with this table. In
the book I'm reading, to fix the feather boards in place, a wooden
strip is made and threaded metal inserts are added. This strip fits
into the mitre channel and is cramped at each end.

This arrangement seems OK in the book example because the mitre
channel there is 3/8" deep (though even this seem minimal).
On the Trend table the mitre channel is only 1/4" deep which doesn't
provide a lot of depth for screwing down into.

I could add height to the strip but this would raise the feather board
above the height of some small work pieces. It would also leave the
feather board rocking in the air, unless I turn the strip into a T
section, which might produce other problems.
Can anyone offer suggestions, other than buying the official Trend
accessory?
--
Regards,
Mike Halmarack

"Mike Halmarack" wrote in message
...
I'm making some horizontal feather boards for use with this table. In
the book I'm reading, to fix the feather boards in place, a wooden
strip is made and threaded metal inserts are added. This strip fits
into the mitre channel and is cramped at each end.

This arrangement seems OK in the book example because the mitre
channel there is 3/8" deep (though even this seem minimal).
On the Trend table the mitre channel is only 1/4" deep which doesn't
provide a lot of depth for screwing down into.

I could add height to the strip but this would raise the feather board
above the height of some small work pieces. It would also leave the
feather board rocking in the air, unless I turn the strip into a T
section, which might produce other problems.
Can anyone offer suggestions, other than buying the official Trend
accessory?

I have used a G cramp to hold feather boards on to router tables before now.

Mike Halmarack wrote:

Can anyone offer suggestions, other than buying the official Trend
accessory?

I use a couple of the oak ones shown he

http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.a...sfile=1&jump=0

The metal block is a little deeper than the channel, but that does not
seem to affect the performance (you can use the ali tab supplied to
effect more downforce on the board to keep it stable. You could also put
a small packer under it if you needed).

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On 2007-05-10 19:14:19 +0100, Mike Halmarack said:

I'm making some horizontal feather boards for use with this table. In
the book I'm reading, to fix the feather boards in place, a wooden
strip is made and threaded metal inserts are added. This strip fits
into the mitre channel and is cramped at each end.

This arrangement seems OK in the book example because the mitre
channel there is 3/8" deep (though even this seem minimal).
On the Trend table the mitre channel is only 1/4" deep which doesn't
provide a lot of depth for screwing down into.

I could add height to the strip but this would raise the feather board
above the height of some small work pieces. It would also leave the
feather board rocking in the air, unless I turn the strip into a T
section, which might produce other problems.
Can anyone offer suggestions, other than buying the official Trend
accessory?

I attempted to do what you're doing and decided in the end that it
wasn't going to be satisfactory.

I've used and made various accessories that fit the American standard
mitre channel of 19 x 9.5mm and those work reasonably well.

I'd get the proper accessory or do the job a different way. You really
don't want featherboards popping out....

On Thu, 10 May 2007 20:32:41 +0100, "dennis@home"
wrote:


"Mike Halmarack" wrote in message
.. .
I'm making some horizontal feather boards for use with this table. In
the book I'm reading, to fix the feather boards in place, a wooden
strip is made and threaded metal inserts are added. This strip fits
into the mitre channel and is cramped at each end.

This arrangement seems OK in the book example because the mitre
channel there is 3/8" deep (though even this seem minimal).
On the Trend table the mitre channel is only 1/4" deep which doesn't
provide a lot of depth for screwing down into.

I could add height to the strip but this would raise the feather board
above the height of some small work pieces. It would also leave the
feather board rocking in the air, unless I turn the strip into a T
section, which might produce other problems.
Can anyone offer suggestions, other than buying the official Trend
accessory?

I have used a G cramp to hold feather boards on to router tables before now.

That's the sort of simple solution I usually go for. In this case I'd
need a clamp with a deeper throat than any I currently have. Also, the
table in question is aluminium and has thin walled honeycomb-like open
box sections underneath which don't mate well with the jaw of a clamp.
Not without some modifications being made anyway.
--
Regards,
Mike Halmarack

On Thu, 10 May 2007 20:36:32 +0100, John Rumm
wrote:

Mike Halmarack wrote:

Can anyone offer suggestions, other than buying the official Trend
accessory?

I use a couple of the oak ones shown he

http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.a...sfile=1&jump=0

The metal block is a little deeper than the channel, but that does not
seem to affect the performance (you can use the ali tab supplied to
effect more downforce on the board to keep it stable. You could also put
a small packer under it if you needed).

I have the second one shown on the page. I find it's extra width more
reassuring, though I'm sure the oak one works adequately. I'm glad you
mentioned that the metal block is deeper than the channel and that
this doesn't seem to affect the performance. That gives me more
confidence to go ahead with my original wooden T bar idea. Another
possible advantage of this method is that if the tops of a variety of
T bars are made in various depths, the featherboard can then be used
as a variable height, vertical support when needed.
--
Regards,
Mike Halmarack

On Thu, 10 May 2007 20:52:18 +0100, Andy Hall
wrote:

On 2007-05-10 19:14:19 +0100, Mike Halmarack said:

I'm making some horizontal feather boards for use with this table. In
the book I'm reading, to fix the feather boards in place, a wooden
strip is made and threaded metal inserts are added. This strip fits
into the mitre channel and is cramped at each end.

This arrangement seems OK in the book example because the mitre
channel there is 3/8" deep (though even this seem minimal).
On the Trend table the mitre channel is only 1/4" deep which doesn't
provide a lot of depth for screwing down into.

I could add height to the strip but this would raise the feather board
above the height of some small work pieces. It would also leave the
feather board rocking in the air, unless I turn the strip into a T
section, which might produce other problems.
Can anyone offer suggestions, other than buying the official Trend
accessory?

I attempted to do what you're doing and decided in the end that it
wasn't going to be satisfactory.

I've used and made various accessories that fit the American standard
mitre channel of 19 x 9.5mm and those work reasonably well.

I'd get the proper accessory or do the job a different way. You really
don't want featherboards popping out....

Thanks, I can see how my prospective method has some limitations, but
I don't think the sort of instability you're suggesting is one of
them. Your advice will increase my awareness of unwanted possibilities
though.

--
Regards,
Mike Halmarack

On Thu, 10 May 2007 19:14:19 +0100, Mike Halmarack
wrote:

Can anyone offer suggestions, other than buying the official Trend
accessory?

My router tables are usually cheap MDF. Wherever I need a clamp, I bang
a fresh M6 threaded insert into the table and then screw down with one
of the many thumbscrews that are kept in a bag with the table. By the
time you've put about 10 new ones in there, you've covered most of the
bases.

On Fri, 11 May 2007 22:09:41 +0100, Andy Dingley
wrote:

On Thu, 10 May 2007 19:14:19 +0100, Mike Halmarack
wrote:

Can anyone offer suggestions, other than buying the official Trend
accessory?

My router tables are usually cheap MDF. Wherever I need a clamp, I bang
a fresh M6 threaded insert into the table and then screw down with one
of the many thumbscrews that are kept in a bag with the table. By the
time you've put about 10 new ones in there, you've covered most of the
bases.

My next one will definitely be upgraded to cheap MDF.
--
Regards,
Mike Halmarack