Router table height gauge question.

[John Pollman]

Hi folks,
My stuff will be here soon for the router table I'm putting together. It's gonna be nice. The one thing I didn't consider is the height gauge. I found what looks like a nice digital height gauge I was gonna order but then thought that maybe just a good set of setup blocks would work too. What do you use?

Thanks!

 

[Don Baer]

a steel tape.

 

[Bill Arnold]

I have a set of brass setup blocks, but tend to use a sliding caliper for a lot of work.

 

[glenn bradley]

As my eyes get older I find using a rule to be more awkward. Whiteside 4" setup blocks and a 1-2-3 block meet most of my needs around the shop. There are fancier ones but they don't seem to add any real value in use. I have some of the shorter setup blocks (2-1/2" I think) but find I rarely use them. Watch the quality on the 1-2-3 blocks; the cheap ones can have the edges overly softened (knocked off) so that they are only really good for rougher work. For splitting hairs I made a version of this one from one of the woodworking mags.
.
Works well for depth and fence offset on the router table and the tablesaw.

I did go through thte trouble of putting a digital height gauge on the router table at one point. Found I never really used it as it was more trouble than benefit on that particular tool. I do use DRO's on a lot of other things in the shop so I am a fan. It just didn't translate well to the router table for me. YMMV.

 

[Rennie Heuer]

Brass set up blocks and a gauge similar to Glenn's.