My Last Router Table (Part 4: The Main Router Table)

[steve-norrell]

The routing surface of the table is 3/4 inch thick cutting board plastic, sold as Sanatec by one of our local plastic shops. The main router table is designed to rest directly on the MDF sub-table. It relies only on its own weight (plus the weight of the router and lift) to hold it down.

It is held in place by the front table supports (See Part 3), the aluminum stiffeners, and the recesses for the bolt heads as shown in the picture of the underside of the main table. The Sanatec sits tightly on the MDF, as seen in the photo of the right rear corner of the table. There are five pictures with this posting: Right Front Corner, Right Rear Corner, Under-surface of Main Table, the Long Table, and the Final Product.

Two T-slots (Incra T-slot Plus), near the front and back, are inset into 1/2 inch deep dados routed into the Sanatec. As seen in the photo of the Right Front Corner, the T-slots are positioned to align with the T-slots in the extension table, effectively providing a single, continuous slot from left to right, at both the front and rear of the table and the table extension. The small openings at both ends of the T-slots were cut to allow insertion of t-bolts and/or bolt heads.

One Miter slot, also in a 1/2 inch deep dado, was installed just to the left of the router lift plate. (See the Final Product).

The router table surface is 24 inches wide (right to left) and about 22 1/8 inches deep (from front to back). The surface of the table extension shown in some of the pictures is 32 inches long (right to left), for a total of 56 inches from the left edge of the router table.

The router motor is controlled with a remote starter switch located on one of the legs supporting the extension table. Its similar to this one by Woodcraft: http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?FamilyID=5002

The dust collector (a large ShopVac) is controlled with a wireless remote switch like this one from Ace Hardware: http://www.acehardware.com/product/i...Id=21811802043

So, is this REALLY my last router table? Hey, its still January.

Regards, Steve

[greencat]

Very nice - so do you find the plastic flat and stable?

[steve-norrell]

So far, yes. I have also found it to be virtually scratch proof.

Disclaimer: It has only been in for a short time.

Regards, Steve

[George Cole]

Steve I have a question. First what you have done is fantastic..I like it and want to copy it. My question is how did you support the extension table? I am wanting to build extension tables on both sides of the blade so I can add "t" tracks.

Thanks,
George Cole

The routing surface of the table is 3/4 inch thick cutting board plastic, sold as Sanatec by one of our local plastic shops. The main router table is designed to rest directly on the MDF sub-table. It relies only on its own weight (plus the weight of the router and lift) to hold it down.

It is held in place by the front table supports (See Part 3), the aluminum stiffeners, and the recesses for the bolt heads as shown in the picture of the underside of the main table. The Sanatec sits tightly on the MDF, as seen in the photo of the right rear corner of the table. There are five pictures with this posting: Right Front Corner, Right Rear Corner, Under-surface of Main Table, the Long Table, and the Final Product.

Two T-slots (Incra T-slot Plus), near the front and back, are inset into 1/2 inch deep dados routed into the Sanatec. As seen in the photo of the Right Front Corner, the T-slots are positioned to align with the T-slots in the extension table, effectively providing a single, continuous slot from left to right, at both the front and rear of the table and the table extension. The small openings at both ends of the T-slots were cut to allow insertion of t-bolts and/or bolt heads.

One Miter slot, also in a 1/2 inch deep dado, was installed just to the left of the router lift plate. (See the Final Product).

The router table surface is 24 inches wide (right to left) and about 22 1/8 inches deep (from front to back). The surface of the table extension shown in some of the pictures is 32 inches long (right to left), for a total of 56 inches from the left edge of the router table.

The router motor is controlled with a remote starter switch located on one of the legs supporting the extension table. Its similar to this one by Woodcraft: http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?FamilyID=5002

The dust collector (a large ShopVac) is controlled with a wireless remote switch like this one from Ace Hardware: http://www.acehardware.com/product/i...Id=21811802043

So, is this REALLY my last router table? Hey, its still January.

Regards, Steve

[steve-norrell]

Steve I have a question. First what you have done is fantastic..I like it and want to copy it. My question is how did you support the extension table? I am wanting to build extension tables on both sides of the blade so I can add "t" tracks.

Thanks,
George Cole

George:

Thanks for the compliment.

The extension table is also suspended on rails. I purchased a rail extension kit and cut the rails down to 31 inches (the remaining 10 inches are on the left side of the saw). As with the router table, I wanted a system that I could completely and relatively easily take apart for storage and moving.

The front support is very similar to the ones used for the router table -- that is, it indexes on the front rail. The rear support has no indexing surface and is held in place only by the t-nuts and bolts. The oak pieces are 'store bought' (Lowe's) and came finished to 1/2 inch thickness; all I had to do was cut to length and width. I don't have a planer so being able to buy well dimensioned wood to match the thickness of the t-slots was a big help. The oak strips are glued to the MDF while the t-slots are screwed and glued in place.

I was not too concerned about stiffening the MDF because this was meant to be more of a work table and not especially critical to alignment with the blade or router bit. Nevertheless, it can be easily stiffened if needed using the aluminum angles as reported in a previous post.

The extension table has been in place for well over a year and no problems have presented. Indeed, the support system served as motivation for the one used on the router table.

Thanks for your interest. I hope this information and the attached photos have been helpful.

Regards, Steve

[George Cole]

Thanks Steve.

Now I have a great idea on where I'm going with this..I wish i had your ingenuity.
Best Regards,
George Cole