Mounting a router in a table

[Jamb]

I want to mount a router in the accessory table. The thickness of the table and the mounting plate together are around ½ inch. The collet can’t rise above the base so when I insert a bit into the collet and back it off 1/16” it is well below the table surface. Can I pull out the bit until it is in level with the table or it is not safe? What else can I do?

[crokett]

You mean you bottom the bit out in the router then back off 1/16"? Is the router moter adjusted all the way up (or down) in the base? Neither one of my routers in the table has issues with bit height. What size bit do you have? How long is it?

[LCHIEN]

If I read your question correctly I would say you don't want to get in the habit of pulling the bit out of the collet to make it longer.

Doing so leads to the situation where you don't have enough shank in the collet and you risk a dangerous situation.

What kind of router do you have?
I mount mine on a router plate which is 1/4" thick and I can drive the collet up into the workpiece (e.g. above the table surface).

[Jamb]

You mean you bottom the bit out in the router then back off 1/16"? Is the router moter adjusted all the way up (or down) in the base? Neither one of my routers in the table has issues with bit height. What size bit do you have? How long is it?

Sorry if I wasn't clear. Maybe these pictures will help. The router is a GMC/Triton. Yes, the motor is all the way up. (first picture). Bit in the collet and back it off 1/16”, shank size 1/4'' and 1 1/4" long. (picture #2) Mounting plate (5/8") with bit (picture #3). Bit pulled out (picture #4). Plus have to add the thickness of the table.

[fergusburger]

remove pad first

Jamb, judging from what I see in the pictures, it looks like you are showing the table base resting on top of the plastic pad that is screwed to the router base when you are using the router by hand. You'll be unscrewing and removing that pad before mounting it in your table (or at least that's what I do). This will give you additional clearance equal to the thickness of the pad you removed (~3/8"). Still, that doesn't give you all the clearance you may be wanting.

Tom

[LCHIEN]

yes, you definately want to remove the plastic base from your router before mounting the router to a table.

The fourth picture down is definately something to avoid (bit extended from collet)

for normal roundover use the third pic is what you need, you only lack 1/16th or less
to get the edge of the roundover curve flush with the white plate (I assume) you show.

[agent511]

I must be totally missing something. The potential problem with a router table as I understand it is that you cannot get enough extension of the bit, either due to the thickness of the table, or not knowing to take the plastic base off the router. In your pictures, i see the opposite problem. In every picture,, the bit is extended plenty high, in fact too high in every picture. You should have the full range of adjustment of the router base to reduce this as much as you want. So I just don't get the problem. Maybe someone can clarify this for me.

[jackellis]

Is it my imagination or do you still have the protective covering on that bit? The reason I ask is that all four photos have a lot of reflection off the bit that probably wouldn't be there unless the protective soft plastic covering is still on.

Make sure you remove the protective cover *before* you use the bit.

[LarryG]

The pics are just an example.

I think Jamb is just using that slab of white plastic to simulate the thickness of the accessory table top + mounting plate. As pictured, the router is not mounted in the table so he's using the white plastic to illustrate the relationship when the router is mounted in the table. (But with that said, it doesn't look to me like the bit would have to be raised as much as the final picture shows.)

There doesn't appear to be any protective coating on that bit to my eye, FWIW.

[agent511]

I agree with Larry G about the protective covering - there is none that I see on the bit - look at the carbide.

But as to the height of the bit, and the use of the white HDPE, I disagree. It doesn't matter what he is cutting with the bit, or the thickness of the piece. It looks to me like the bottom of the bit is above the surface, so there is nothing that he could cut with this bit that would call for the bit to be that high - and I'm talking about the lower bit position picture!

So that takes me back to my original confusion - where is the problem here? The bit travels through its full range of possible positions - there is no problem here, so what is the question?

[LarryG]

It looks to me like the bottom of the bit is above the surface, so there is nothing that he could cut with this bit that would call for the bit to be that high - and I'm talking about the lower bit position picture!

I agree, for the most part. This particular bit is a round-over which, if raised high enough, will double as a beading bit. If he wanted to cut a bead the full depth of the vertical cutter, the bit would have to be raised as high as is shown.

The white plastic is a stand-in for the accessory table and mounting plate; it is NOT the workpiece itself. The bottom face of the workpiece will be the same as the top face of the plastic. The bottom photo shows how the shank could not be buried fully within the collet if the desire is to use the full depth of the cutters.

Which is why I say I agree "for the most part." Normally with a beading bit you'd only cut a shallow bead, say 1/16" or so. So there'd normally be no reason to raise the bit QUITE this high. Normally. But it's possible someone might want to cut a bead as deep as the cutter will allow, which appears to be around 1/4". Unusual, perhaps, but still possible.

If the stock plastic subbase of the router is removed, which has been mentioned is the normal practice, the shank will be able to go back into the collet by that same amount and there won't be a problem.

[agent511]

It is a round-over bit, which when raised , creates a bead and a vertical wall. When it is raised to the extent that it is raised even in the lower picture, part of the piece slips under the bit and is not cut at all by any portion of the carbide edge. I have never seen anywhere, nor can I picture the purpose of using a bit in this manner. It is raised too high, even at its lowest setting pictured.

And again, since it has the ability to be raised to a point beyond its useful purpose, what is the problem here? The original question appeared to question the ability to raise the bit far enough.

[LarryG]

When it is raised to the extent that it is raised even in the lower picture, part of the piece slips under the bit and is not cut at all by any portion of the carbide edge.

Once again: THE WHITE PLASTIC IS NOT THE WORKPIECE ITSELF. The white plastic represents the thickness of the router mounting plate.

I don't know how to say it any more clearly than that.

EDIT: It's important to realize, just in case you missed it, that the router as pictured is not yet mounted in the table (see the first picture). What Jamb is trying to do is simulate what will happen when the router is, in fact, mounted in the table. He's using the white plastic to illustrate how far the bit has to be raised to reach the top surface of the table, represented here by the top face of the white plastic.

EDIT #2: BTW, there IS a situation where a bit would have to be raised this high: when the workpiece is mounted to a sled, the base thickness of which must be accounted for in order to get the cutter where it is needed on the workpiece.

[RaptrFlite]

I too ran into this problem yesterday when trying to round over piece of 3/4" pine. When I put the bit in the collet (bottom, then 1/16") and raised the router to it's max height, I could not get the full round cut of the bit above the table. I wasn't using it for a bead, just the round over. My Ryobi router (brand new) from HD doesn't seem to have come with a removable base on it. So I made the mistake of raising the bit an extra 1/2" to get it to the height I needed. I now know this to be bad, but don't know what to do to do it correctly.

[agent511]

Eureka! Now I get it! Thanks Larry, for finally clearing it up for me. That seen is not the router table base. I must have missed that.