I received a Craftsman router table/router combo for Christmas a year ago.  It has gotten some use . . . but I have realized the limitations of the inexpensive table.

Looking at the (laughable) miter gauge:

The bar on the miter gauge is narrow . . .more than 1/2" and less than 3/4".  Fits loosely in the track.  

Took the track out of the table and the opening is under 3/4" by about 1/16" or so.  Just enough that a 3/4" bar miter gauge will not fit, much less put channel in.

Looking for anyone who might have some advice on this or a direction they might consider, short of making or buying a decent table.

Edit:  I will make a table if I cannot come up with a fix for this.

Your asking for a solution and limiting response to anything but making or buying a new table. So your only solution is to use your router and channel out an appropriate size track of 3/4," the size of most miter gauge slots on routers and table saws.  

Then you can buy a quality miter gauge, but you will drop 3 figures.  I got the Incra 1000HD and sold it.  I was not a fan of the quality after the third one came out of spec.  I went with the Keg and love it.  

I know folks like to build their own.  I did it too.  But a word of caution about starting form scratch, once you start adding your required accessories, sometime the cost plus your time just exceeds the cost of buying a quality top kit that comes with a good router plate, fence with vacuum attachment, lift kit, T-track installed, etc....  That stuff adds up quick and is always cheaper in a kit.  If you already have your other parts, make friends with a kitchen counter installer. Get them to call you when they have a large sink cutout from a laminated kitchen counter.  Surround it with hardwood, cut your channels and you have a great table! surrounded by oak makes a great table. Then when that table no longer suits you, remove the parts and put on your new table.

WORKING WITH WHAT YOU HAVE -

Option 1.  Build up the width of the bar using aluminum duct tape.  Need only wrap the sides but easier to wrap bottom and sides.  Apply layers until the fit is tight enough.

Option 2.  Reduce width of track/channel.  Apply layer of aluminum duct tape until the fit is tight enough.

Option 3.  Epoxy bond shims to the sides of the bar.

Option 4.  Buy a new, 3/4" bar and machine it to fit (machining could he hand filing).  Bar can be steel (hard to machine), aluminum (easy but requires special file) or hardwood (easy to work, files beautifully).

Option 5.  There are ways to split the bar  and use screws to wedge it open until it fits but I won't bother describing those.

There are many other options, as well, but I am tired of typing.  

Considered filing the bar (it isn't really that much) . . . but I don't have a vise.    Which makes filing anything over an inch or two  a little more challenging.

Trying to find things I haven't already thought of.  I am pretty good at figuring things out, but I don't know everything.

Have thought about routing out the channel and picking up a piece of t-track so that I can use my TS miter gauge (which is not too big for this).  It is a good Idea and is most likely what I will go with, since the only other idea I have had involves more Redneck Engineering than I am happy with.

When filing a long bar that you want flat, place the file on a flat surface and move the bar over the stationary file.  If the file wants to move, use double back tape, hot melt glue or other  method to hold it in place.

One more bit of input for you,...

I have NEVER used my miter gage on my router table, ever.  What I did to my Sears router table was install a HUGE adjustable fence (oak board).  That fence gets used all the time.

Well, I don't have a dado blade for the tablesaw, if I want to do dadoes it will be on the router, for now.  I suspect, though, that the bits I am using are not all that good.  They have burned the wood, even going slowly and a little bit at a time.

You could do it without a vise, just maybe a little more tedious.  Clamp the new (too wide) miter bar on edge with two c-clamps to a work surface.  Then draw file as much of the edge as you can.  You will have to move the clamps around a bit.  Draw filing takes metal off pretty fast.  And you can do pretty accurate or uniform sizing too.
You might even be able to make a simple fixture out of scrap wood so you could c-clamp the bar on edge so the clamps wouldn't be on the edge you want to file, but the 3/4" wide surface.  Then you would clamp the jig to your workbech.
Or if you can afford , buy a cheap 4" machinists vise at HF.  You will find uses for it later anyways.  Look up draw filing if you're not familiar with the technique.

You have to wonder why the designers at craftsman would make something that can't use standard 3/4" miter bar aftermarket stuff like incra, and yet have some much slop with their proprietary accessories in them that it induces inconsistencies in the cut of the tool?

Are they carbide or hss?  Also, if you have a wide or deep cut, remove stock in smaller or several passes.  Don't try to take the whole profile or cut in one pass.
There are some cheap carbide bits that come in those big sets usually, that probably aren't shaped or sharpened too well, or made with some big carbide grains.  Frued is pretty good and usually not too expensive for basic bits.  Whiteside has been very good in my experience.  

I have used the miter fence a lot on my router table, when I made up the flooring for my woodshop.  I wouldn't trust a fence for a narrow piece like a 3" to 6" wide (and long) board like when I was milling the tongue or groove on the ends of those boards - for safety or squareness.   For 12" or wider boards then just just using the fence is OK.

Option 1, 2 and 3 mean he will never be able to use any common accessories and aftermarket add-ons, which all require a 3/4" channel.  Doing anything that keeps the track the same width is worthless.

As for option 4 & 5 just don’t make sense.  So rather that use the router he owns, with a spiral bit and straight edge clamped down to widening an already established channel in MDF that is that takes about 15 seconds, he should go buy special files or blade to cut the track, spend a bunch of time hand filing it, hoping he keeps it true, to get a track that is less than 3/4" and is worthless for every aftermarket accessory.  It is quicker, cheaper, easier, and the best result will come by routing the channel bigger.




Wonder why the big names all make stuff for that slot on miter table?  Incra, Rockler, MLCS, Leigh….they must just like making, stocking and advertising stuff that never sells!   99% of folks I have met who don’t use them are using their Crapsman miter gauge. Get a real miter gauge (over $100) and you will find just how useful it is.  If you are going to cut across the grain, as in door rails you will need something to guide the wood.  I recommend and use a sled that rides in the miter channels but the gauge will work fine.  Same with dado cuts.

If you have a track and a decent gauge, you actually are better off ditching the fence and using the gauge with a miter gauge fence.  Then you have nothing square (vs squaring with the fence every time) and you will get a perfect cut each time.  

Twenty years growing up in a custom cabinet shop and ten more working part time, the track is used all the time for feather-boards, stops, sleds, and miter gauges.  




For this use a spiral bit.  You don’t need a big one.

If you are getting burn, check your bit.  Is it sharp?  If so, its not your bit!  What speed is your router on?  Check to makes sure its appropriate for your medium,  If it sis, check how much you are trying to cut off!  Sometimes I make 3 cust...one doing 75% of what I want off....next run to take 23 % off and the final to takes 2% off and gets me where I want to be.  You get burn when you are taking too much.  If you are taking small swipes and still getting burn, check your feed speed. You need to feed it briskly and continuously. Hesitation or pause can result in a burn.

For a good set of bits, you want carbide bits no matter what brand.  The brand highest rated and most loved are Whiteside bits, and you will pay dearly for them ($100 for a 5 piece basic set)!  However Eagle America bits has their own line of bits, and Whiteside makes them ($80 for a 5 piece set).  A little better price!  And both are made in the USA.   Next I would buy MLCS bits ($40 for a 15 piece set).  

Well . . . the bit set is Craftsman Chinese special as is the router/table.  So, HSS is the most likely material for the bits.  I will look at all the bits you mention.  There is only one speed on the router and I suspect it may bot have long to live . . . it is emitting a horrible grinding noise as it slows down.

The bit set and the router/table combo were Christmas presents from my family, so high quality is not to be expected.  

Edit:  For the miter I was notching boards for makig a log rack for the fireplace.  Went a little at a time.  Not much, if any burn there.  When I went to round over the long edges I didn't get any burn until I got to the handles . . . the end grain of the handles burned on both ends of each handle.  So they match, at least.

Double edit:  The MLCS bits are definitely the best value.  For the cost of a 5-piece Whteside you can get a 30-piece MLCS and for $20 more you can get a 45-piece MLCS.  Or for $284 you can get a 70-piece Eagle America set.  Now I just ahve to decide if I really want to hammer the CC this month (my oldest just got his wisdom teeth out and it cost us $500 with insurance).

If using HSS bits, be sure they are clean.  Once they get any resin/gum on them they will burn the wood.  

You can buy a special tool cleaner which removes the resin so fast you'll be amazed or use household products.  Would DAWN work.


Slow feed is not good, it usually leads to burning.  Fast is not good, either.  There is an optimal feed rate (and depth of cut) where the bit will cut well without burning, tear out, bogging down,...  


Regarding dados -

When doing dados, consider making a simple jig to guide the router across the board.  They are simple to make, easy to use and you can see what you are doing

Boards which get dadoed tend to be very long, high aspect ratio boards which are difficult to feed over a relatively small table (e.g., the sides of a book case).  Plus, you cannot see the cut , as it is hidden by the board.  This is the case when you are "bringing the mountain to Moses".

Don't waste your money on those 70 piece sets.  Most of those bits will odds-on never leave the box, for one thing.  Do you know what some of the chinese factories do on those big sets (drills in particular)?   You might actually get a few sizes that are made of HSS, but the odd sizes have been found to be just about pot metal - garbage.  They do that because they know most buyers only use certain sizes and the rest sit in the tray.

On the set of bits you have, its easy to tell if they are (allegedly)HSS or carbide - the steel bits are usually machined out of solid piece, while carbide bits have the carbide insert brazed onto the shaft/cutter head.  Exceptions are solid carbide spiral bits.  There may also be a few other straight cutting solid carbide bits, but I have never seen on in anything other than a straight cut profile, and the diameter would be no bigger than the shaft diameter - 1/4 or 1/2" for whatever collet you use.  They can be smaller than the collet.  So if they are carbide, don't make the mistake of buying more cheap carbide bits.  If its for a profile you will only ever cut one time for a few board feet, OK.  But if its something you would use a lot, buy a good bit.

Buy a few whiteside or frued bits (amana, cmt, eagle US made also good) in sizes you need or think you will freqeuntly use.  Straight bits (spiral solid carbide is good), rabbeting bits, a few ogees and radius bits.  Then when you need a special profile or locking miter, or rail/stile cutter, get that later.
Cheap carbide tools are cheap because they are not using micro grain carbide, and they are not ground/sharpened well.  Its probably coarse 25 micro recycled junk like would be used for bushings.  Then there are coatings, brazing, and then the sharpening/grinding.  Buy a whiteside and use it wisely, it will last a long time.  Buy cheap junk, and you will have to pay twice replacing it sooner than you wanted.   Plus you will have a shitty looking cut on your workpiece.  And you will also wonder where that chunk of carbide went flying to, after being flung from a cutter spinning at 15,000 rpms.  Buy junk and you will grow frustrated, and give things up.

Save your money for a good PC router (or some other good brand). Make a table out of MDF and some laminate, or get some section of counter top like someone else said.  get a phenolic router table insert plate at woodcraft , woodhaven, or wherever.  Usually these are standard sized, and then someday you can upgrade the insert plate to a jessem or incra lift type, to make it easier to change the bit height.

You could try one of these



Miter slider

Might be undersized enough to work in the slot you have.  Or



kreg miter bar

I have a scrap piece of one of these (not big enough for a miter gauge or I'd just give it to you).  My dial caliper puts it at 1/16" less than 3/4"

If you get to the point of making your own router table, I recommend the PC 7518.  Mine has been going strong for around 10 years now in mine.  The 3 1/4 HP Triton is also a good model I understand.

Make a sled, but instead of putting a bar to ride in the miter slot, put a lip that rides against the edge of the table.  Clamp the work to the sled, put pressure on the sled horizontally so the lip stays on the edge of the table as you slide it across the table.

It will work every time.....but you will NEVER get repetitive equal cuts.  That pressure and sled placement will never be exactly the same if it's not lined up in the same spot, every time.  Not to mention this also wont give him the ability to use the channel for the hundreds of after market accessories he may want to use.  

I completely understand some folks are OK with results like this, but it will literally take fifteen second to get the perfect slot for any accessory.  


Filing, cutting metal channels, using duct tape, glues, adhesives, inserting strips, etc....  More time, money and potential headaches that don't address the problem the OP needed solved, and ignore the fact the proper solution is fifteen seconds and a rip away.  Makes me think some on here will file down or build up screws and bolts to fit the hole they have than just buy the right size, all for the pleasure of saying "I did it myself."  

I've only been woodworking for about 30 years, but I have managed to figure out that there is virtually nothing you can do to wood that has a single, definitive solution.  The OP is asking for solutions, so we're offering them up.  The single best solution in his case will depend on his skill/talent, the tools he owns & his proficiency with them, his wallet, and the amount of time he has.  The Op is the only one who can accurately evaluate this.

If you don't know how to get accurate, repetitive cuts with a sled, you should probably just avoid using one.