router fence dust connection

[Jim Andrew]

Am in the process of building new router tables, and saw a picture on
this forum where the back of the fence was angled with dust connection.
My plan was just to put my connection in the cabinet, but the fence would
be a better place to catch more of the dust coming off the router. Could
someone please advise me of the proper design of the router fence?
Really appreciate all the information you guys provide, have just spent
the last few months rehabing an old building for my shop, and now need
to set it up with some proper tooling. The last 20 some years I have been
involved in construction of houses, which is quite a bit different than the
type of woodworking you do, so find I have quite a bit to learn. Jim

[Jim Becker]

I'm not sure there is a singular "proper" design for a router table fence. I do know that I'm really glad I did away with the hose by building a box off the back of my fence that covers a hole in the table top. All collection goes through the router cabinet and the cabinet has a 4" connection. The hole was sized in conjunction with other cabinet penetrations to insure adequate air flow to fill the 4" port and the approximate max 350 CFM that size port can support.

[Hoa Dinh]

I'm with Jim Becker about underdraft dust collection (that doesn't happen very often, mind you )

Here is my setup.

[Jim Becker]

Looks just like mine, Hoa, but a different fence style--gotta love that Dizzy! (Mine is a regular split-face fence) Thanks for posting the picture...I've been on the phone all day and didn't have the opportunity to run out to the shop and snap one.

[Hoa Dinh]

Hey Jim,

A fringe benefit of this setup is with a box similar to the one attached to the router fence. One end of the box is open, the top sticking out a half circle serving as bit guard. It is attached to the stamped steel RT top with magnets.

The box "connects" the router bit and the opening for dust collection. In routing without the fence (e.g. edge routing a curved piece), I still have effective dust collection.

Unfortunately, I don't have any picture of it.

[Jim Becker]

Jim, here are a couple pics of the same setup as Hoa's but with a "traditional" split face fence, rather than the Incra. You can't see it in the picture, but there is a hole in the table top directly behind the bit postion...it's about 1.75" in diameter on my table as that was what I calculated as appropriate to compliment other openings that provide air to the cabinet, including the air slots near the bottom of the router compartment door that provide a "sweep" action from front to back to clear debris from the corners of the cabinet. When routing without a fence, (bearing guided with a starter pin) the hole in the table is just open and provides necessary air to the cabinet. Remember, dust collection is all about moving air, not "suction"...

[Jim Andrew]

Thanks for the replies, the little box and hole to the back look like a great
idea to pick up the dust that gets between your workpiece and the fence.
Sure like this forum! Jim