Archive for the ‘Bench Dog Tables’ Category

This is Bench Dog’s only small router table. It is what we call a “mini cabinet” It has all the features of their larger cabinets but in a smaller size that is designed to fit under your work bench. This table would be good to take on the job if you do any sort of contracting work. It has all the good design features that you come to expect from Bench Dog and the price is reasonable. $239

Top

• 24” x 16”
• Laminate covered
• Miter Gauge slot with ¼ accessory t-slot
• 8 Leveling screws
• Fits all standard Bench Dog Inserts

Fence

• 22” x 3 5/8”
• Adjustable sub fences
• Bit guard included
• Jointing capabilities

Insert

• 2” bit hole
• Phenolic
• Predrilled for these routers only: Bosch 1617series, DW616/618series, DW621, DW625, Fein RT1800, Hitachi M12VC, Makita 1100series, Milwaukee 5615/16/19 series, Milwaukee 5625, All Porter Cable, Triton MOF001 and TRA001

Cabinet

• 15” inside height 22” outside height
• Birch Ply
• Rubber Feet
• Twin steel rail supports

Customer reviews

There are quite a few customer reviews for this product. I have taken a brief snapshot of them to give you an idea.

1. Excellent portable router table
2. Better Than Most, But Still Some Issues
3. Well-Made Table
4. A Best Buy in Router Tables
5. Perfect router table for a weekend warrior
6. The FINEST Benchtop router table at ANY price!
7. Quality well built table
8. Excellent Portable Router Table
9. quality product
10. solid, well-built router table

You can find this table at Bench Dog 40-001 Router Table

They should have called this one “the Big Dog” instead of Bench Dog, cause its the top of the line in their series. If you want to pull out all the stops on adding a table to your shop this is where you go. Cast iron on the top of a cabinet is the best of the best, giving you strength and stability no matter what season or humidity level in your shop. The cabinet provides some great storage and keeps all your router bits and accessories in one spot. You have to buy the insert separate, but if you spending this much money it really should not matter. $840

The Bench Dog 40-300 is a the Cast Iron top, Pro Fence 32 and Cabinet system. All you have to do is choose your insert of choice.

This cast iron top is heavy duty, it will meet all your expectations for any project that you can throw at it. It is a solid one piece unit weighing in at 100lbs.

• machine ground to .008
• 12 point leveling and locking capabilities
• Fits both Baltic Birch Cabinet and the Steel ProStand
• Dual track miter and t-track, molded into top.
• Fence Slots fit Pro Fence 32
• Insert is sold seperately

Pro Fence (Bench Dog 40-132)

Pro cabinet (Bench Dog 40-110)

• Baltic Birch
• bolt and cross dowel construction
• pull out router bit tray
• built in dust port
• fits pro caster 40-188 (sold seperately)
• Best looking cabinet on the market!

If your looking to order the top and the fence, that item number is called the Bench Dog Pro Max 40-301, Cast Iron table and fence combo

Make sure your order your insert for this table

Bench Dog Large Router Group 1 Insert

Bench Dog Standard Group I Insert

Bench Dog Large Router Group 2

Bench Dog Standard Group 2 Insert

Are you the type of guy that wants to buy something once, and never again?  For some tools , I find myself doing just that.  If I know the tool I really don’t want to buy a inexpensive one to see if I like it.  If it is something I know I am going to use a lot, I go out and buy something that I know my kids will fight over when I am dead.  Certain big items like table saws, router tables, drill presses, band saws and dust collectors all fit this mindset (for me).  Although expensive ,this top is one of those items where you buy once and you never have to think about replacing it.  Its heavy duty and will last several lifetimes if you take care of it.  Quality is not an issue with this since your really cannot due a whole lot to damage a cast iron top.  This one tops out at $429, and you have to purchase an insert and a fence.  See the product review at the bottom.

Features and Specs:

Do you need the toughest router table top on the market?  Then look no further than the Bench Dog 40-100 cast iron table top.

This cast iron top is heavy duty, it will meet all your expectations for any project that you can throw at it.  It is a solid one piece unit weighing in at 100lbs.

• machine ground to .008
• 12 point leveling and locking capabilities
• Fits both Baltic Birch Cabinet and the Steel ProStand
• Dual track miter and t-track, molded into top.
• Fence Slots fit Pro Fence 32
• This model number (40-100) is for the top only, Insert is sold seperately

If your looking to order the top and the fence, that item number is called the Bench Dog Pro Max 40-301, Cast Iron table and fence combo

If your looking to order this top, Pro Fence and Pro Cabinet, that is called the Bench Dog RT Complete 40-300

I also found a helpful review on Amazon that gives some good insight to the stability issue I mention above.  This is a amazon product review.  When I find more, I will reference them here.

A couple years ago I spent nearly $300 on a Rockler MDF router table. I thought I was buying quality – wrong. After about a year the blasted thing warped with just the weight of the router. It now has a bow of about 3/16″ from the sides to the center. Talk about disappointing. You can’t do quality routing on a warped router table.

So, I went on a determined search to find a quality router table. I had decide that if I couldn’t find a commercially available unit I would have one custom made. But I wasn’t wasting any more money on junk.

Lo’ and behold I found that Benchdog makes a cast iron router table. $429 Sounds expensive but not when you consider that junk costs 2/3rds of that…it’s inexpensive in the long run.

I’ve been using it now for several months. This is one nice router table. I customized it a little bit because I needed to mount it to my work bench to accommodate my Incra micro-adjustable split router fence. The support table frame that I bought with it is also quality. I drilled two holes in the cast iron edge and bolted it to my (heavy) work bench. The set up works great. I do precision routing with this setup and am very pleased with the stability of the entire set up.

Note well since it is cast iron, it will rust. So, I clean it with Windex with ammonia, then spray a wax based corrosion inhibitor which also lubricates the surface (between uses). Note well, this router table weighs about a 100 lbs.

I also purchased the Benchdog router lift. Very nice. My first experience with a router lift. the only caveat is that the lift will not raise the router high enough to change bits. You have to lower the router and change bits below the table. Overall, I am extremely pleased.

Bench Dog Pro Top Phenolic is an intersting table since it is made entirely of Phenolic material.  This would mostly come down to preference since it is not made of MDF, which is very stable in my opinion, nor is it made of cast iron.  Any of the those materials make good flat table tops, so it really comes down to weight and personal preference when buying this table top.  Keep in mind Bench Dog now requires you to buy their inserts seperatly.  This is not a bad idea, because it keeps you from settling with what they give you verses what you would really rather have.

This top and fence sells for $340 on average.

The Bench Dog 40-201 Top and Fence set includes Bench Dogs 40-101 Pro Top and 40-132 Pro Fence all in one package.

• Enjoy a solid 3/4″ Phenolic top for amazing durability and stability.
• 31 1/2″ x 23 1/4″
• Built in dual miter track and t-track gives you amazing versatility that can be used with standard accessories.
• Mounts to any Bench Dog Cabinet or steel stand.  You can also mount it to fit your own design.
• The Insert for Bench Dog tables are now sold SEPERATELY

40-132 Fence

• Heavy duty Aluminum, one piece
• Fence length is 32″ x 3 1/2″
• Adjustable Subfences
• Bit Guard included
• 28” x 3 5/8”
• accessory t-lock, accepts 1/4″ & 5/16″ t-bolt plus 1/4″ hex bolt
• Dust Port 2 ½”
• Hole free sub fences

Bench Dog Router Table Inserts

You will notice that Bench Dog has changed their product line around a bunch and the changes can be a bit confusing. RTD is trying to make the transition a bit easier for you by providing an overview of the old product verses the new one. Sitting down and figuring out the differences can be time consuming, so we will be including a comparison for all the products they produce for easy evaluation.

Bench Dog Pro Top Phenolic Complete

Old Number is 40-099 Old Price $499.95

New Number is 40-200 New Price=$440.00

Old info

Included a phenolic top (40-098), cabinet (40-097), 32” Pro fence and included Group 1 predrilled phenolic insert. (router table insert)

New Info

Includes phenolic top (now numbered 40-101)

Cabinet (now numbered 40-110)

32” Pro Fence (now numbered 40-132)

Main Differences

Besides the change in numbers, the main difference is when you order the Pro Top Phenolic complete you do not get the insert. You must order this separately. Bench Dog does not carry phenolic inserts anymore which is good in one sense but a bit pricier in another. However they did lower the aluminum insert prices down from $89 to $59.99 which helps. This gives you the same $499.95 price tag, but you get a better insert.

Evaluation:

Great value because of the better insert

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See the Bench Dog Pro Phenolic Complete 40-201