Router Table Top

[watosh66]

Has anyone ever purchased a "Heart Design Router Table Top" http://www.hartvilletool.com/product/10942. This seems like a good table at a reasonable price.

[SARGE..g-47]

Morning Watosh...

I haven't got one as I built my own years ago, but given the fact that it is true laminate on both sides.. composite insert and has T tracks already added I would "green light" it personally if in the market.

Given the price of laminate.. MDF.. phonelic insert and T tracks and considering it would require a day's labor at least, you wouldn't be saving much these days by duplicating it.

I would be hesitant about getting the fence and table at $140. That's around $60 for the fence and I think you would be better served building your own unless you are just extremely "time strapped". The fence would not require that much material cost opposed to the table itself.

Just my personal thoughts and the decision should be based on your thoughts as you're footing the bill. ha.. ha...

Regards...

[LarryG]

First of all, no, I've not purchased one of those.

Beyond that ... I guess there's two ways to answer your question. The first, short-and-simple way is to say that compared to other, similar router table tops on the market, that's not a bad price.

But the second and longer answer is that this top (and all others built along the same lines) embodies everything that I consider to be really, really bad about router table top design. They start with a nice, thick top -- and then completely compromise the top's integrity by cutting halfway through it so they can install the miter slot, which is not needed on a router table anyway. Ditto for the fence tracks -- why ruin the top when you can simply clamp the fence to the top's edges, two inches away? The insert cutout is centered front to back, which drastically limits the amount of working room -- it's much better to have the cutout about 1/3 of the way back from the front edge, so you can work off either side of the table to suit the size of your workpiece. Lastly, the insert plate is phenolic (they say "composite") which is much more prone to sagging than aluminum.

So ... for the money, compared to the competition ... yeah, that's a fair price. Me, I'd pass ... at ANY price.

[Uncle Cracker]

Beat me to it, Larry. I'll ditto your observations. Just about anything you need on a router table can simply be clamped to it. And an aluminum plate is well worth the little bit extra you have to pay over plastic, particularly if you're gonna hang a big honkin' router there.

[watosh66]

Heart Design Router Table

Thanks for your opinions. I was looking at this because it seemed to be a better than the other I looked at because it didn't have a melamine top. I was also concerned with the router plate described as "composite". Sometimes when words that have multiple meanings are used in the product description you really don't know what you are getting.

[Uncle Cracker]

I'd say build your own, exactly the way you want it, and you could save enough $$ to use better materials.

[JimD]

The top of my router table is a sink cut-out I bought for about $5. It is good laminate (white) on high density particle board. I backed it with a piece of 3/4 plywood and edged it with maple. The area where the bit comes through does not have the 3/4 backer of plywood. My router is mounted to the back of the cabinet on a home-made lift.

I do not like plates because I do not see a good purpose they serve. I do not buy a fence or a top or anything other than basic hardware.

I would spend some time researching router tables and then combine the best ideas of several designs - that's what I did. Actually my current is my third or fourth.

Jim

[gwyneth]

If you get Bill Hylton's "Woodworking With the Router" and "Router Magic" after you pay for a commercial top, you will regret that you didn't opt for making one yourself.

The two books have a bunch of plans for different ones, ranging from cheap and simple to absolutely amazing.

[SARGE..g-47]

My router talbe is 1 1/4" thick laminated MDF with kitchen lamination and banded. It has a 3/8" phonelic plate and a Milwaukee 3 1/2 HP hanging under-neath and the top nor insert has warped in 6 years. I did re-enforce under-neath wiht 1' angle iron though.

The fence rides on slots cut in the MDF and clamps with T bolts and nut. Nothing fancy about it and the fence is home-made. The base was made from scrap birch ply and the whole she-bang cost around $50 6 years ago with the insert being the biggest out-lay.

And I agree about the aluminum. Just as soon as mine goes south, I may get a Delta aluminum router top. That's the model where you get a sheet of aluminum and have your brother-in-law that is a machine shop foreman at Delta Air Lines custom build it on lunch breaks. Good stuff.. that Delta.

Regards...

[ragswl4]

My table is also 2-3/4 pieces of melamine laminate with a simple hole cut for the bit. Hitachi M12V router (so its heavy) and no flex in the top. The fence is made from a scrap piece of Corian attached to an Incra Ultra 24 positioner. I have never really had a need for a track in the table top, although there may be a reason to have one.

I have been doing raised panels, stiles and rails with no problems. I use a Rocker Coping jig to do the rails.

The table is very easy to build for about $15-20 so a commercially built table is not even on the wish list.

[leehljp]

I think that is a good price for that router table top. I made my own also and have a very similar layout but I do have full supports under the T tract sections. I will say that my top is about 1 1/2 thick too.