Router kit only good for RYOBI router?

[Petey In NH]

Hey all-

I recently bought the accessory kit (homdepot.com had one..) mostly to mount my Rigid router to the BT3100 vs. buying a dedicated table.

As many of you probably know... the router kit is made to only fit RYOBI routers! Mine has a three hole pattern for the subbase that does not line up with the holes on the thick metal plate.... and I have no way to drill for new ones.

What the heck with that?

The kit is probably going back as I don't need to pay $100 for a miter slot and zero clearnce/dado plates. And the only Ryobi router I saw on hd.com was some rinky dink 1/4" model.

In fact, I'm thinking about selling the whole thing + my tile saw and getting a bigger contractor style saw or the Bosch 4100.

ARRGGGHHHH!

[LCHIEN]

get my FAQ (see sig line)

[Petey In NH]

got it, thanks.

Seems to be a total PITA to drill this thing for my base... why can't they make it universal?

Any tips on (a) centering it so it is drilled right and (b) counter sinking the head so the screws hold it tight? (I'm assuming I'll need a countersink... never done that on aluminum before).

Oh, and I have no drill press, meaning I will be doing this with my corded drill and oh so steady hands...

[RickLab]

All you need to do is remove the sub-base from your router and use it for a template to mark the new holes to be drilled for your router. Try to make them as centered as you can around the large hole in the aluminum plate so your bits will work well with the reducing rings that come with the kit.
Countersink these new holes. I used an oversized bit to countersink them but a real countersink would probably produce nicer results. Depending on your router base and how much you can countersink the holes you may need longer screws to attach your router.
This is an aluminum plate you're working with and the job is really pretty simple. Aluminum is soft. I did mine with a hand-held drill long before I had a drill press and it came out just fine.

[Petey In NH]

Is it worth the effort?

From what I've read now... the router table is sort of a... er... compromise...

I'm starting to get the itch to sell the whole thing and get a "real" table saw... i.e. Rigid or a grizzly or ....

[LCHIEN]

sure it worth the effort, the effort is low.
Aluminum is really easy to drill. A few pointers:
one, centering the baseplate-as-a-template over the hole in the router plate should be very easy to do within better than 1/32 of an inch, eyeballs are good at that sort of thing. The only real trouble mis-centering will get you is that the clearance won't be perfectly even around the filler plates.

Use very sharp pencil to outline the holes of the base. Then use a center punch to mark the dead center of the hole locations with a dimple (again eyes are very good at centering). If you don't have a spring loaded center punch, get one, an essential tool for drilling, about $6
Use a sharp drill bit. Start with an undersize one about 3/32 is good and drill partway then change to a larger bit until you get to the size desired.
Use a good 82° countersink bit, you'll need one for woodworking anyway. Countersink until the hole at the to is just larger than the head of the screw, and it will be "under the surface" when installed.
Your drill bits should be sharp, slow drill speed, the aluminum should drill with steady pressure like butter coming off in curly strips. if you are having to press hard and drilling out chips rather than long curly strips then your bit is dull.
Aluminum is much, much easier to drill than steel, woodworking tools are fine on it.

And, remember, if you don't like the set of holes you drill, you can rotate the baseplate a bit and drill a new set! NO penalties for starting over.

The BT3 series is a fine saw. Its not a heavy duty saw, but I don't particularly need one. Its very accurate and very adaptable.

I don't use the built-in router table much anymore, only when I need a second router setup for roundover and chamfers. I have a nice router table, that's bigger and has more routing stuff associated with it.