No T slot? What options are there?

[Bert McMahan]

Let us know how the expansion runners work, as I'll probably try those before spending the extra money on the magswitches.

[Carl Beckett]

Let us know how the expansion runners work, as I'll probably try those before spending the extra money on the magswitches.

The first test with the expansion runners are 'ok'. Cast iron slot and the runners are aluminum. I had to enlarge the countersink and the finish on that is not super smooth - someone here mentioned lubricating where the bolt slides against the countersink as a way to help and I might try that.

From a functional perspective this approach has a weak link, in that it only expands around the bolt so is almost a point contact against the sides of the slot. There are two of these on my setup, and for featherboards that have little rotation (force applied close to the surface of the table), this is ok. If you were trying to mount a resaw feather board which had force 3-4" above the table surface I would deem these NOT adequate. But for that it might be best to make a mount that clamps onto the table and provides better support higher off the tabletop.

For sure these expansion runners are good enough on the router table.

So very subjectively, I would say these expansion runners are an 80% solution.

Still chewing on the mag base concept and will update what I try there (pass or fail...)

[Jim Becker]

Carl, I used some MagSwitches for some fixtures not long ago and I was very impressed with the holding power...it was a lot more than I expected. And since there's no dependence on a slot in a table, it makes setting something up for a task to be a lot more flexible. There are several versions that have increasing holding power, depending on the particular need. Not "inexpensive" like a split wood or aluminum bar in a slot, but definitely worth consideration when there are cast iron and steel surfaces involved.

[Keegan Shields]

Screw your featherboard to a piece of plywood and clamp the plywood to your BS table. Works great.