Router Table

[jhart]

Looks pretty da*n good for being built with "scraps"

[LarryG]

Very nice indeed!

Fence Attachment: on the table I inherited from Otter, I screwed some oak cleats to the table edges and then attached T-track to those. Very simple and doesn't compromise the top (the biggest danger is not structural integrity, but rather providing another place for moisture to enter, which could lead to warpage).

A variation of this idea is to stand the T-track up on edge, and provide L-shaped brackets on the underside of the fence for the knobs. IOW, the knobs would then sit vertically, rather than horizontally as on my fence.

Dust Collection: As you can see in the picture, I have one 4" hose on the router box and another 4" hose on the fence. Result is that very, very little dirt escapes, no matter what type of cut I'm making. You could probably get results almost as good using a shop vac with a split hose arrangement, however. I think this would work better than using a "transfer" hose from the router box to the fence.

[mdutch]

Thanks again guys. I'm still debating how to secure the fence to the table. At the moment I'm using quick grip clamps but considering either routing grooves for t-tracks or through grooves for t-bolts. I heard that through grooves could weaken the table tops. Any opinions?

I'm using the 3/4 x 3/8 "shallow T-Track" from Rockler. Works great, just not as much "wiggle room" for the T-nuts.

[John Hunter]

Very nice!

[Wood_workur]

very nice, a lot of though must have gone into that.

[jnesmith]

That is one impressive set up. Congratulations!


P.S.

Did you make me one?

[ryan.s]

Dust collection for router table.

I just finally finished the dust collection for the router table. I was struggling with this trying to figure out what would make an effective dust collection system for the table. I was thumbing through a few books I had and came across some good information in "router magic" by bill hylton . The book mentioned the "venturi" effect and stated that even though a dust collector is used in place of a shop vac there would really not be too much of differenc unless the setup was correct. I figured since my current setup with a hose coming from the fence into the main cabinet then another hose connected to the main cabinet from the shop vac wasn't working too well I thought I'd give the venturi effect setup a try. I was pleasantly surprised how well it worked. It's just a matter of adding a baffle with a 1/2 slit in the back of the cabinet with an 1/8 inch infeed slit on the bottom of the front door. The baffle along with the infeed slit causes a fast flow of air to the back where everthing gets sucked up by the shop vac. I first added the baffle and didn't see too much improvement. I then added the 1/8 infeed slit and it made a world of difference. I ran several tests and almost anything that drops from the router into the main cabinet gets sucked right up with the shop vac. If anyone is planning to build a router table the venturi effect is something to defintely keep in mind.