Router Table Wishlist

[ewingda]

All,
I am going to be building a router table soon and I was compiling my wishlist. I would appreciate all of your thoughts on what makes a good table. Please chime in and give me your thoughts. Maybe if we get enough ideas I can compile them into a getting started article for the community.

Here are some things I have considered:

• construction medium and methods (MDF vs. Ply, rabbets, biscuits, screws, etc.) What is the best idea for the table top? Need robustness here!
• accessability of the router for bit change. Hinged top's seem like a good idea.
• Plate typr and size (pholelic vs. Alum, thickness, area. What are the benefits? what are the build concerns?
• Dust collection? Above table, below?
• Table size? How big is too big? What is too small?
• Leveling options?
• attachment options - T-tracks, rails, etc
• Fence construction - MDF vs. aluminum vs hybrid (alum angle with MDF face). What works? What is robust!?!

Thanks in advance.
Dave

[mschrank]

I'm in the process of building a table now, so I've considered much of this lately:

• Construction: I used 2 pieces of 3/4" MDF face glued, then covered both faces and all edges with Formica. There will be additional support below, but I really doubt it's necessary!

• Attachments: I'm trying to keep these to a minimum. I want the tabletop as smooth and uninterrupted as possible. I don't think a miter slot is necessary. I was going to install T-track to attach the fence, but I've since decided to put slots in the base of the fence itself. These slots will allow about 3" of adjustment. I'll secure the fence to the table with knobs and threaded inserts. If I install a series of threaded inserts about every 3", I'll have a full range of adjustment.

• Fence construction: I'm going with a variant of this one.

[John Hunter]

I just built a router table using the Kreg Pocket Hole jig and built it from a set of plans from Kreg. I used 2 sheets of 3/4 plywood for the body and made the top from a piece of bar counter that I had laying around. Here is a link showing how it came out http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=21228

[Jeffrey Schronce]

After building my first router table insert for TS, I sold it with the TS. When I got my new TS I decided to go this route :
http://www.sommerfeldtools.com/products.asp?id=6
Features:
Solid Phenolic Top. There will be no flex, no concerns you would have with sealing MDF, etc.
THe inserts are huge so you can remove it and have access hole as wide as your router motor allowing above table bit changes with the bent wrench.
The insert plate is solid phenolic and easily removable.
Miter slot on front.
It's $99. I figured building a top right would cost me that much, not including my time. Plus I think this top is a life time top.
ANother BT3'er built a fence for his. I used the clearance craftsman aluminum fence and have been very, very happy.

Think about costs : Your mdf or ply, your melamine or other top, sealer for mdf, your insert costs alone will be half the CMT top cost, your proposed hinges and supports for bit changes. THis is going to cost more than $100 not to mention the time required to do build it.
With the CMT, everything fits PERFECT and is very accurate in adjustments. Build a square box of choice or metal frame and sit the top down. You have a router table.

The following link gives you an indepth look at the top and the table you used to be able to buy with it.
http://www.woodshopdemos.com/table-1.htm
Be sure to advance through all the pages and remember the first photo you see with the router table with the red top is the old design he is referencing.

My vote is for dust collection above and below the table.

[mschrank]

I just added up my costs, and it came to between $60-$100 (depends on if I count the materials I had laying around or figure I have to buy them specifically for this project. i.e., I already had the MDF, Formica, contact cement, and threaded inserts), and this includes the fence I'm building.

BUT, had I come across the table that Jeffery has, I would have very seriously considered it. For one thing, I would have a functional table in my shop NOW, not a half-finished one that has sat on my bench for 2+months

[LarryG]

I'm in the early design phase of My Next Router Table. Mike covered most of what I was going to say. No miter slot, unobstructed top, a fence similar to the now-familiar WOOD Magazine design (already what I'm using now, on my current table).

That said, Jeffrey makes some excellent points and the table he links to would be a fine solution PROVIDED the size is acceptable to you and you have no plans to upgrade to a lift someday. I don't see any dimensions listed for the table itself, but it looks considerably smaller than what I want; and the insert plate is a non-standard size.

The Hylton/Matlack book, "Woodworking With The Router" and router guru Pat Warner's personal web site contain, between them, about as much food for thought as anyone is likely to need. The two sources don't always agree so it makes you think and figure out which way you want to go.

[LCHIEN]

wishlist idea:
the guys who have installed features on the rear of the table to hold and adjust a horizontal router mount got my interest.

[JimD]

I'm on my third router table with no plans to replace. Things I like about mine include:

Built-in lift. I essentially copied the design from an American Woodworker article of a few years ago. The router mounts in a carrage that slides on two machined steel 3/4 inch rods attached to the back of the cabinet. A 3/8 threaded rod moves the carriage up and down. A little heavy so you don't spin the adjustment screw with your finger tips but it doesn't take much force. I think I paid something like $50 for the parts.

Drawers on right for 1/4 inch shank bits plus drawers on left for 1/2 inch shank bits. These are on either side of the center compartment for the router.

Dust pickup from both the fence and the router compartment.

Top tilts up for bit changes and cleaning. Best bit changing I've seen.

Top sits flush with the cabinet in the back so I can mount a melamine covered board to the back to form a horizontal router table.

I have router slots for both the vertical and the horizontal mode of the table but if I was doing it over, I would eliminate the one for the vertical mode. A sled is far more useful because the router fence does not have to be parallel to the miter slot.

Top is a sink cutout backed by 3/4 plywood edged with maple. There is no insert. There is a 3 1/2 inch hole with pieces of sink cut out scrap that fit into the 3 1/2 hole and are held with screws for rare occasions when a 3 1/2 hole is too much. This doesn't work as slick as most of the table but works.

Fence is held in place by little pipe clamps screwed to the fence that clamp on the outer edges of the top. Simple, pretty cheap and plenty solid.

Little drawer for small parts above bit drawers and large drawers on bottom for extra routers and accessories.

Switch is a metal electrical box with a metal cover plate with holes for a light switch and a outlet - both 20A. Router plugs into outlet and is switched by switch. An extension cord with the female end cut off carries the power to the metal box. Simple, cheap, works.

Wheels I would do differently. I have 4 inch casters on one end with the idea you lift the other end to move it. It is so heavy that is a chore. Instead I made a little lifting device that acts on a small piece of 2 inch angle iron which works but is a bit cumbersome. Locking casters would probably be a better idea. The 3/4 back on the cabinet plus all the other 3/4 ply in the cabinet makes it HEAVY.

It is 1/4 inch shorter than the BT3100 and is used as an infeed table occasionally with the fence removed, of course.

Jim

[bigsteel15]

wishlist idea:
the guys who have installed features on the rear of the table to hold and adjust a horizontal router mount got my interest.

That is something I'm going to try and incorporate.
Stare long enough at the MLCS one and I THINK it looks fairly simple to devise.
I have full machine shop facility at work if I need it.

[Tom Miller]

Something that I don't see in a lot of fence designs is the ability to micro-adjust. Pat Warner has a micro-adjustable fence that looks awfully fancy (i.e. overkill). But just about any fence design could incorporate some micro-adjust mechanism, and/or a dial indicator to show the amount of movement.

I made a router fence for my BT3-mounted router table that uses the same micro-adjust as my BT3 rip fence. It's very handy. Haven't added a dial indicator, yet.


Regards,
Tom

[JimD]

Some Pictures

I am trying again to include some pictures. I like everybody elses so I am trying to get better at this. You mentioned a desire for a horizontal table capability, I included a couple pictures of how I did this. It is just a piece of 3/4 melamine with holes to screw on a fixed router base for one of my PC690s, a hole for the bit to come through, and a couple of hanger bolts (one in a slotted hole) to attach it to the router table. There is also a 3/8 bolt for fine height adjustment. It's kind of crude but it works fine. It also stores out of the way when I'm using the vertical router table. I took a back view of the fence so you could see the wing-nuts that allow adjustment of the opening for the bit.

Jim

[Pappy]

My version of the NYW Router Station...







The plate has since been switched to a Woodpecker Plungelift. The fence rides on T tracks that are open to the rear. Makes it simple to remove the fence when needed.

[cgallery]

Pappy that is just an amazing router table!