Router table suggestions

[Sailor]

Our senior center woodshop has some money in our kitty and the most pressing need is a router table. The questi9n is - what one to recommend to the folks who make the decision? This table will get a lot of use (and possibly some misuse).

Your recommendations/sugestions would be appreciated.

TIA, Sailor

[pelligrini]

What sort of budget are you working with?

I've always liked thinking about having the Bench Dog cast iron table. I don't know much about it though. Seems like it might be able to take a little abuse. It's not exactly inexpensive.

[herb fellows]

In addition to budget, a lot depends on what you're making.
If it's birdhouses, that's one thing, but if anyone is going to try to make furniture, that's quite another.
Do you have a router to put in the table or are you looking for an all inclusive deal?
How much space do you have to utilize?
Do you have dust control that you can hook up to?
Sorry for all the q's, but the more you can answer, the better the advice will be.

[JimD]

For me, router tables have always been something to build rather than something to buy. If you have a table saw and a few other tools, why not build it? You can get the plans to Norm's from NYW, I believe. My layout is similar but I put a home built lift I got the idea for from an old American Woodworker magazine article. A lift is a very nice thing. The design of this lift attaches to the back of the cabinet so the top of the router table is hinged for bit changing. For a senior center, avoiding the need to get down low for bit changes could be important. You can get back issues to American Woodworker and also individual articles so you could probably still get these plans if you want. The hardware to make the lift is probably $50-100 - not cheap but less than a commercial lift. If I didn't do it this way, I would probably build something like Norm's design and get a lift to fit the router motor I wanted to use.

Jim

[herb fellows]

Good idea building one, if you have the notion.
If you just put 'plans for norm's router table' in Google, you'll come up with tons of information about building it.
If you don't want to build for whatever reason, back to asking questions, I'm afraid!

[Thalermade]

Below is a link to router table plans from Popular Woodworking. Might be a bit much more than you want, but it does have some interesting ideas. At the bottom of the article is a link to a pdf. version for easy printing.

http://popularwoodworking.com/articl...d_router_table

Russ

[Sailor]

Router table suggestions

I didn't get the response I hoped for! I expected to get some input based upon experience with/for a particular manufacturer. Maybe the answers to the questions raised by the respondents will lead to some concrete recommendations.

pelligrini - We don't have a budget. What we have is the kitty, some income (yet to be realized) from a project, and a pledge from a member.

herb - Birdhouses; yes. Furniture; small tables, book racks, shelves, desks. Wood - lots of palonia, pine, cherry, oak (mostly donations); we have two commercial sources that give us a discount for oak and poplar for 'nice' projects.

The new router may be donated (pledge). If not, we have two old handhelds that could go under the table until the kitty gets replenished.

Space is plentiful! Dust collector is available but would require some modification.

Your raise some good points. It makes me think to be prepared for rebuttal if/when management disagrees.

JimD - We discussed building a table - management is fixated on 'new'. Personally, I would rather have the shop build a table; we have a couple of people who do outstanding work AND they offered to build one. Management wants 'new'; will not consider anything but 'new'. Because we are tennants and management is host, guess who wins this battle.

Thanks to all who responded. Please don't get the impression that our relationship with management is adversarial - they are great hosts - they just disagree on the need for a table (from their budget).

[LinuxRandal]

Your local library.

Since your unsure what router your going to use, I would tend to hold off on idea's like Router plates. They are nice, but could get expensive if you have different routers.

I would look at Pat Warner's site:
http://www.patwarner.com/ and/or check out his books at the library.

I would also check out Bill Hylton's books, in particular, Woodworking with the router!

I bought a Woodpeck router table top, after finding a used woodpeck plate for my router. Both were used, from people upgrading (to a lift, and a dual router table). If I were to build my own today, I would use a dual MDF layer, and make it like a Mr. Sawdust table (has metal strips for rigidity and support), but make sure I spaced them so I could route for a plate (or two) as I may upgrade to a lift later.

[shoottx]

If you have to go new there are several nice options

Woodhaven - http://www.woodhaven.com/
Incra - http://www.incra.com/product_rta_main.htm
Rockler - http://www.rockler.com/CategoryView....FQVhnAodwXwWbw

[drumpriest]

I have used the Rockler table a bunch doing demos and classes, and it's a fine router table overall. There is perhaps some potential for flex around the router when hanging a big 3hp job, over time. They now have a phenolic version as well. There are also cast iron ones availble now a days, which certainly won't have the flex problem, but they are more expensive, and obviously there is some maintenance to deal with when using cast iron.

I had a bench dog style table before, and I didn't like the surface, it was too small. Now I have one that I built into my table saw extension, and I use a rockler fence with it, so far it's been the best router table that I've used. Big surface (PM2000 30" between rails) nice fence, and I'm using a router lift fx with a 2 hp PC 890 in it. The Rockler fence had to be adjusted slightly to ensure it was perpendicular to the table, I just added some tape, everything has been fine.

Hope you find this info useful.

[Thalermade]

Okay for a manufacturer name, I have a Rockler table with a Rockler/Master-R-Lift insert for my Bosch 1617.

It has served me well for over six years of light duty use. The reason I bought the Rockler was price. It had been returned to the store because of damage to the underside caused somehow when the original owner had it installed on a metal stand.

I got it for a song, and then built a cabinet to put it on.

Hope this helps,
Russ

[herb fellows]

I personally have a small Bench Dog, too small for your needs, I'm afraid. They make a very good product. They went into bankruptcy (nothing to do with the products) and were picked up by Rockler. So if you shop Rockler, who had their own line prior to picking up Bench Dog, you get a lot of options. The Bench dog products I've bought have been outstanding.

[Mr__Bill]

If I were buying a router table today I would look seriously at the MLCS Precision Sliding Router Table At $500 with free shipping it's not cheap but looks to be a good sturdy take some abuse router table and it has a micro adjustable fence.


Bill, on the Sunny Oregon Coast

I don't work for MLCS (heck I don't even know what it stands for) I just like their prices and how they do business.

[poolhound]

The woodpeckers RT2432 package is on ale right now for $299. You still need to add the plate or lift of your choice and a fence but they make nice stuff. I just ordered their Quick lift.

[Crockett]

Check this one out also, I have had it for about a year now and use almost every single weekend. Very sturdy, mobile, great fence system:

http://www.kregtool.com/products/prs...?PRODUCT_ID=91

Al