Certainly lots of great feedback here on router table tops. I'm learning a whole heck of a lot. While online last night at Home Depot, I saw they have 1 inch thick melamine coated particle board designed for workbenches. I actually have a number of melamine boards around the shop, and went around checking various pieces with a straight edge. , All of them seem to be completely flat, which is more than I can say for the un-coated particleboard, and MDF is a joke. I hate that stuff!
So, I picked up a small 19.5" x 48", sku # 339928, and I think it was under $15. Comes in a cardboard box, so it's well protected. Totally flat out-of-the-box. All of the edges and top and bottom were coated. So, made up some maple supports for the sides, and we'll see how this works. With a large router plate in the middle, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of room for ribs or supports. Second, how well is particleboard actually going to hold screws to keep a piece of angle iron secured?
Tomorrow, I will rout out the section for the Incra router plate. Speaking of which, I'm thinking of offsetting it, similar to the stock location. Maybe about 9 inches from the front edge to the center. Anybody have any words of wisdom on router location? Seems like the closer it is to the center, the harder it would be on the back, and outstretched arms get fatigued pretty easily trying to keep pressure against the stock. The only plus I can see to centering the router plate is it's easier to use if you're using the table from the end or saw. Most of the time I think I'm going to keep my extension table closer to the saw blade. Seems like it would be less stressful on the rails in that location too.
For anyone contemplating an extension table like this, the only problem I ran into was not having enough clearance between the back rail and saw for the one of the plastic knobs used to fasten the support pieces to the rails. |See photo. I just switched over to a wing nut here. Seems to work fine.
Here's a few pictures of the project in progress, who doesn't like pictures!
Cheers,
Troy
So, I picked up a small 19.5" x 48", sku # 339928, and I think it was under $15. Comes in a cardboard box, so it's well protected. Totally flat out-of-the-box. All of the edges and top and bottom were coated. So, made up some maple supports for the sides, and we'll see how this works. With a large router plate in the middle, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of room for ribs or supports. Second, how well is particleboard actually going to hold screws to keep a piece of angle iron secured?
Tomorrow, I will rout out the section for the Incra router plate. Speaking of which, I'm thinking of offsetting it, similar to the stock location. Maybe about 9 inches from the front edge to the center. Anybody have any words of wisdom on router location? Seems like the closer it is to the center, the harder it would be on the back, and outstretched arms get fatigued pretty easily trying to keep pressure against the stock. The only plus I can see to centering the router plate is it's easier to use if you're using the table from the end or saw. Most of the time I think I'm going to keep my extension table closer to the saw blade. Seems like it would be less stressful on the rails in that location too.
For anyone contemplating an extension table like this, the only problem I ran into was not having enough clearance between the back rail and saw for the one of the plastic knobs used to fasten the support pieces to the rails. |See photo. I just switched over to a wing nut here. Seems to work fine.
Here's a few pictures of the project in progress, who doesn't like pictures!
Cheers,
Troy
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