Why does nobody talk about the right way to set up a router table fence?

I was at a local supplier in Tacoma last month and saw a guy trying to run a piece of oak. His fence was way out of parallel with the miter slot, and the board was pinching hard. He looked confused when it started to burn. I've seen this maybe five times this year alone. It seems like a basic thing, but it causes so many problems with tear-out and safety. How do you guys teach new people to check their fence alignment?

4 comments

4 Comments

the_lisa22d ago

Oh man, I read a whole article about this exact thing.

jamie9403d ago

People make a huge deal out of fence alignment, but is it really that critical for a simple edge profile? @the_lisa's article probably over-explains it. A lot of woodworkers get by with just eyeballing it and adjusting if the wood starts to drag.

susanb3422d ago

Is it just me or do people skip the basics with all kinds of tools now? Like they just want to get to the fun part without setting things up right first.

avery_flores1722d ago

What's the first thing you check when you see someone setting up a router table?