[Sleeper]

I've surfed this thread and seen some goods and bads. Tomorrow I plan to design and build a small, accurate, cheap,
2-way "micro-adjuster". Stay tuned.
Jimmy

Looking forward to it! I guess I’ll hold off a while to see what you come up with. :smile:

 

[jharris2]

If you imbed a rare earth magnet in the back of the wood fence or epoxy it to a metal fence where the micro adjust bolt/nut contacts it, it will push and pull.

The Rockler MA I bought uses this method and works very well.

I'm surprised the ShopNotes plan didn't incorporate the magnet.

Good point Dave.

 

[durdyolman]

As promised, boys and girls, here it is!!!

But please see my comment at the end of this post.
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.The micro adjustment for the router fence has been solved. Here.
I spent 2 beers thinking about this, and 2 more doing the work.
First I drilled a 1/4 hole in a piece of oak, (squared all around). Transferred the center line to the back of the fence. Installed a 1/4-20 insert into the back of the fence. (Epoxy to hold it solid).
The oak block has a 1/4-20 allthread going through it with 1/4 Stainless washers inside 1/4-20 elastic lock nuts. (All parts were "polished" on 400 grit to reduce drag.) I then made a fancy bloodwood knob just for sheets and giggles.




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Now that we have all that solved,(to my satisfaction), let's see why we are doing this in the first place. I am almost 70 years old. My eyes are not what they used to be. But I can still see a fine pencil mark (.003") in the front of my router fence. If I need to make a .003" adjustment, just watch the pencil mark when you tap it with a small mallet. A .003" adjustment on 1 end of your fence will give you about .0015" at the bit. We are working wood here. Not aligning a steam turbine in a nuclear power plant. (Done that!). If you need a device as has been described afor, mayhaps you are in the wrong business/hobby. But on the other hand you have four fingers and a thumb.

 

[Sleeper]

Well I can see the mark but I want to fine tune it in because I sometimes hit it a little too hard and jump the mark and then have to bang it back again. It’s so much nicer to just dial it in especially when you have to move the fence multiple times. It’s not worth it for me to spend $23 on but to make it myself for a buck then I like it. :yes:

 

[jharris2]

It's not worth it for me to spend $23 on but to make it myself for a buck then I like it. :yes:

For $23.00 and bought when I could get free shipping on my entire order it was well worth it.

Sometimes I build my own jigs and gadgets and sometimes I don't have the time or inclination.

 

[durdyolman]

When things get really precise

You can go this way. (.001")
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.Or if you are really getting into the thickness of air, you can try this. (.00015")
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.Much ado about nothing. If it moves too far when you tap it with the mallet, DON'T TAP IT SO HARD!!!
My dog's eyes are so crossed, she can see out of her ears!

 

[durdyolman]

Supplemental

I thought I would test the adjuster I made. So I trightened the fence down, installed 2 dial indicators, 1 in the middle, 1 even with the device. Loosened the fence turned the knob an estimated 1/2 turn, tightened the fence and got a +.025 on the end and +.012 in the middle. A full turn gave me .05 and .025. (Using 1/4-20 rod, 1 full turn = 1/20" = .050") Amazingly, using the elastic lock nuts eliminated ALL slop in turning the knob. If I watched the indicator, I could move the fence .001" at a time. It also works in reverse. I'm quite proud of this thing, but will probably never use it. I found that a gentle peck with the small plastic mallet CAN move the fence more than you might want. (Maybe I need a smaller pecker). A dial on the back of the adjuster and a pointer on the knob may help. Also finer threads on the rod.
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