Using 'T-Nuts' to Mount Router Table

[Bob Bassett]

I have a router top I bought from the 'Router Workshop' guys. I used the brackets in the accessory box on the bottom if the table top.

Takes a lot of maneuvering due to rail cutout tolerances to get the top mounted and locked down.

I'm thinking about lubricating the rail cutout and I wonder what would be best for the job.

[WeekEndDad]

Is the router mounted directly to the top?
Or do you have a table top with a dado'd cut out for the router and plate?
This set up seems to be the best, that way you can change out the router and plate as needed.
Or use the hand held Porter Cable spindle sander in a router plate.
Much more versital and without the weight of the router easier to attach the table.

[Bob Bassett]

The Router is mounted to a drop-in plate. So, I just have to mount the table top by itself.

[LarryG]

Probably the best, and least messy, lubricant would be paste wax, or something like the Boeshield T-9 spray that will dry to a film. Anything that stays oily is likely to attract sawdust and gum up the works.

I'm not certain this will help much, though. In my experience in mounting things to the rails using multiple T-nuts, the tolerances are so tight that the slightest amount of misalignment (cocking) causes one or more of the nuts to catch within the tracks. Waxing the tracks may make the nuts slide slightly more smoothly when everything is aligned nicely but as soon as things get slightly out of kilter, you'll probably be back where you are now. Still, it can't hurt to try.

Out of curiosity, why are you taking the table on and off? Are you not able to leave it on the saw full-time?

[thereefgeek]

I used some 2X2 angle aluminum under my homemeade router top and T-Nuts to fasten it to the rails. The hardware is 1/4"-20, but the alignment holes in the angle stock are 5/16". That gives me some "wiggle room" for adjusting the height in relation to the saw table, both for a wide rip on the saw, and to use the rip-fence mounted router fence along the rails.

[Bob Bassett]

I Watched the Router Workshop Series for years and when it came time for a router table-top, I bought one of theirs. I added accessories to it over the years and since the inserts are not Porter Cable size, I have hung on to it. When it's mounted on the BT31K it interferes with the fence. What I should do is get longer rails or move them to the right. Then I could leave the table on the saw.

Probably the best, and least messy, lubricant would be paste wax, or something like the Boeshield T-9 spray that will dry to a film. Anything that stays oily is likely to attract sawdust and gum up the works.

I'm not certain this will help much, though. In my experience in mounting things to the rails using multiple T-nuts, the tolerances are so tight that the slightest amount of misalignment (cocking) causes one or more of the nuts to catch within the tracks. Waxing the tracks may make the nuts slide slightly more smoothly when everything is aligned nicely but as soon as things get slightly out of kilter, you'll probably be back where you are now. Still, it can't hurt to try.

Out of curiosity, why are you taking the table on and off? Are you not able to leave it on the saw full-time?