Posts Tagged ‘router table’

Router table lifts are very popular right now.  There are several brands out there and they all seem to cost in the same general price range.  People are really buying them up pretty fast.  In my opinion you do not always need one.  Consider the type of routing you will be doing and let that help you figure out whether you should buy one or not.  If you spend the majority of your time on the router table, then maybe it’s a good idea.  If you only use your table for edge profiling stock, then you might put your $300 bucks to a better purchase.  If you are advanced in your skills then buying a lift is a natural way to improve and make your woodworking more time effective.

How to Use a Router Table when Using a Plunge Router — powered by eHow.com

Router Table, Custom, Reader’s Project

Here is another custom project router table from my friend Chip.  He originally posted it on Lumberjocks and has graceiously given us permission to reprint it.  It has some really good information and a lot of pictures.  One of the things I like about this router table is its enormous attention to detail.  It has been well thought out and its design leans more towards practicality and useability instead of upscale design and finish.  It has slide out bit drawers (one of my personal favorites and a design I use myself)  An Incra fence with a custom design for dust control and a stable cabinet stand.  Nothing against all the truely gorgeous router tables we have featured in the past, but this one screams out “please use me now”

Well, I am sure some of you have seen my old router table in my workshop pictures. It was thrown together out of necessity and time and material restrictions. Well last night I had a dream, no really, I had a dream I made a new router table out of some extra wood I had laying around in the shop. I was very specific in my dream how to make it too. So I followed my plans to a tee and holy shit, I had just the right pieces and just enough of them too to complete my task out of 3/4 inch Maple Plywood and other bits and pieces laying around.

I learned from past experience it is not good to put your router in a vacuum box and suck the waste from under the table. It works great for removing debris but it will destroy your router sooner than latter. and for those of you who have not made the switch to Ridgid Tools this can be a very expensive repair (replace) Lucky for me I have two Routers and I sent my Ridgid in and they fixed it for free. I also have a Dewalt, but it does not have the same features as my ridgid and would not work as well under a table. The Ridgid has a built in feature to adjust depth/ height from under the router with a T handle. So when you use it in a table you can adjust from the table top. It also has more horse Powers and better Speed adjustments suitable for under table mounting.

I also have an IncraJig fence with a custom Fence on it that I can hook up to my Dust Collection system, if you look you can see I can turn the section on and off at the table with a control handle that goes to the front of the table. This allows me to remove the fence, and unhook the vacuum line or rehook the vacuum line in to a dust should or other collector and have control of it from the table.

Hope you enjoy.
Chip

There was a very interesting question in the forum that really deserves to be revisited, I have posted it for your information.

Could you please explain why under the table vacuum port is bad in a router table? I thought it was pretty common. I was actually thinking of enclosing my router table from underneath for sound deadening and better vacuuming from underneath.

A router draws air from the bottom of the tool and runs it past the motor and bearings for cooling then it blows it out past the bit to clear dust and keep bit cool too. If you enclose the router in a vacuum box to suck the dust right back into the enviorment the router lives in you then recycle some of the dust through the router. PS some routers are not as noisy as others, my dewalt is LOUD! Back to dust, you can hook up an isolator to the bottom of the router to suck dust down and avoid going through the router case with it, but then you need to move more air than the router forces through its self, you need a big shop vac. Shop vac’s are noisier than routers. My Dust Collector moves more air than a shop vac but at a lower volocity so to keep particles in suspension you need to maintain airflow. My sugestion is to make the oppening for fresh air to the back of the table and have an access door on the front for ajustments to deaden the sound. I like this idea but I also like having access to the router more for speed adjustments and locking the case after making slight hight adjustments. So I opter to leave the front open and I push most of my excess dust and particles off to the rear and that could cause issues. Point is if you run your router alot you need to keep it clean and cool. Heat is the electric motors enemy

Bench Dog Router Table Extension 40-102

This is printed with permission from my friend Deke at Lumberjocks.  I will also add some more information about the table over time to give you a complete research.

Okay, this is slightly premature as this thing is half way mounted to my table saw, but already I can tell this was a smart purchase well over due for me. I have a small basement shop and space is tight. After a lot of reorganizing I can now do almost anything (table saw, bandsaw, jointer, planer, miter saw, drill press…) the minute I want to with no rolling things around and dust collection ready to go on all of it. The one missing piece was a router table. I recently sold my Bench Dog contractor table (positive review posted) and bought this extension for my tables saw.

The fit and finish is top notch. Absolutely no issues here. This thing is a beast at about 50 pounds and the miter and t-track slots on this new model are right there in the iron top. It is lining up with my top very well and I suspect it is flatter than anything else on the table saw.

I am being slightly unorthodox with this by mounting on the right side of my Delta contractor saw and attaching it to the existing right side iron extension. Instructions are clear – for this set up I need to reinforce with bolts through the rails for my fence on both sides to support this. I will also be adding legs, but in the future (maybe this weekend), I will build a cabinet to go beneath it to collect dust form below, support the table and give me some drawers for bits and other router stuff. The only issue was only two of the bolts on my table saw lined up with Bench Dog. I think this is due to my attaching to the Delta right side extension. So, I was able to use two of the threaded connections on my extension, but had to drill two holes in my table saw and am using my own bolts/nuts for the other two. Attaching to the fence rails will also require some drilling. Kind of surprising this all doesn’t “plug and play” with a Delta of all things, but my saw is old and lord knows what the original owner did when he put this together.

Nothing fancy here yet in terms of the router. I have a PC 690 and no lift. Some day I hope to upgrade to a triton or some other table friendly router, but I will be fine. I am new to routing (a year or so) and I can work with this. Of course I will may to shell out another $50 for a new insert from Bench Dog when I get a new router (depending on the router model), but I can live with that.

Will combining my router table and table saw be the smart move in the end? I have to say yes. I simply do not have space for a dedicated router table and this sort of “dual purpose” space is exactly the kind of thing I need to have a shop where not only everything fits, but is usable with little hassle so I can concentrate on wood working and not moving things around. I know there are many articles and advice on mobility in small shops, but I tried all that and taking the time to build a functioning shop with minimal mobility is better. It’s not easy, but it’s worth it. I think this Bench Dog product is a perfect fit.

Pickings are slim with this kind of product. MCLS has one, but without the t slot for feather boards on the table. I did not feel an mdf or phenolic table was what I wanted and wanted iron all the way.

TRM Note

I thought it was worth mentioning that this extension was formally the older model with a few design changes.  You used to get the insert with the tablesaw extension, but now you need to order one separate.  On that note, you can only use bench dog inserts since they are the only brand that fits this saw.  If you have another insert and think you can make it fit, you will be disappointed.  The good news is that all Bench Dog inserts are aluminum.

Shopping Comparisons

Bench Dog Tablesaw Router Table  Router Table Dep0t, $299.99

Rockler  $349.99

Resources

Another review of the Bench Dog

Review summarys

Customer Rating:
This is a high quality,

Customer Rating:
Installed on old Delta Table saw

Customer Rating:
Installed this on my Craftsman hybrid saw

Customer Rating:
I added this to my Jet JPS-10 ProShop table saw

Very Pleased, Typical Bench Dog Quality

well built,

great addition to saw

 

I found this last night and thought  Iwould share it will all of you.  Its pretty much self explanitory. 

Bosch RA1181 Router Table

The Bosch 1181 is fairly easy to find router table.  Frequently you can find it at Lowe’s and several places online. It is a decent table with several features that would be a step up from something like a Skil.  The table has some full features like the drop in router insert plate, adjustable fence and power switch.  It even comes with a featherboard, which everyone seems to get excited about for some reason.  The base is plastic and the size of the fence is somewhat limiting in my opinion.

I think that for $190 bucks or so, you can have lots of options and can even get a full size table that you can grow with.  Some people prefer the bench top size, which is fine if space is an issue.  But the price is the killer here since I really believe there are some other bench top router tables that have a nicer fence and some better features.

There is a really good review here by new woodworker.

Bosch RA1181 Specifications:

• Amperage: 120V – 15AMP
• Height: 14-1/2″
• Depth: 18″
• Width: 27″
• Max. Fence Opening: 3-3/16″
• Max. Throat Opening: 3-5/8″
• Cord Length: 6′

Bosch RA1181 Includes:

• (1) Set of 3 Mounting Plate Insert Rings to adjust opening to bit size
• (1) Hardware for Mounting Most Bosch Routers
• (2) Adjustable Featherboards
• (1) Adjustable Clear Guard
• (1) Starter Pin and Guard
• (2) Outfeed Fence Shims – 1/16″ Thick
• Predrilled for following routers:
  BOSCH 1617 series*, 1613 series, 1619EVS; Porter Cable 690, 892-895 series*, 7529; Milwaukee: 5615, 5616; Hitachi: M12VC; DeWalt: DW616, DW618*; Makita: RF1100, RF1101; Ryobi: R161K, R162K; Craftsman: Fixed base models with 1/2? collet capacity

Pretty good setup for the money

Almost perfect

Great Table

There are some really cool stuff going on out there and I like roaming around finding the good stuff and posting it here.  I will try to give you all the information as organized as possible.

Router Table Depot

• Buy Select router tables and get a 35 Piece router bit set  for FREE, coupon code is “35forme” 
• $10 off the Super Bench top router table, coupon code “tenbucks”
• $10 off the RTD 1200 Mini Cabinet router table coupon code “tenbucks”
• $20 off Router Table saw extensions  coupon code “twentybucks”

Sears

• All Lawn and Garden tools on sale

CPO DeWalt

• Up to $50 off cordless drill combo kits..CPO DeWalt

Northern Tools

• 15 % off all “northern tool brand’ tools

Rockler

• $11.99 Bench Cookie Pack
• Big Discounts in the Outlet section
• The newest innovations in dust collection.

Tool King

• DeWalt reconditioned D26451KR Orbital Sander $34
• Get 10% off 3 or 4 router bits
• Get  20% off 5 or more router bits
• Bosch 1617 PK Router Combo kit $147.55 (whoa)

Here is another readers project table and its a beauty.  In fact I think I would be afraid to scratch it.  This is a good example of detail if you are building your own table.  The fence is nice and high which gives you the ability to vertical router cabinet doors with a good degree of safety.  T-track is in all the right places as well.  Another great feature is drawers.  Drawers are key to keeping all your components for routing in one place.  I once built a table with two drawers and was amazed at how much stuff I had for my router table when I started gathering it all.  Keeping it in one spot will make you work more efficiently and keep things organized.  Again I found this table on Lumberjocks and asked Wisty for permission to post it here.  He has done an amazing job!

Here is a design for a stand that I really like.  Part of the reason I like it so much is that it is very stable and very easy to build.  The other is, well, it was my idea.  You can make this stand out of anything that you have laying around the shop.  It will work with plywood, hardwood, soft woods, and MDF.  I have built some with MDF and then laminated over it to give it a touch of class.  I have used laminate to just trim out some edges on plywood as well.  Either way, you can make it really slick or basic and fucntional.  You will notice on the bottom I have put in supports for a optional shelf.  Even if you do not add a shelf, it really helps with the stability of the stand.  However I have never known a woodworker who has not needed a bit extra space or turned down a shelf.

The main feature of the design is the leg.  It has an “L” shape and lends to the stability of the stand.  You can join two pieces together with any type of joint that you like.  I have screwed them, glued them and brad nailed them together.  I have found that gluing them and then hitting it with the brad gun works very very well and is fast.  You can literally have the four legs together as quickly as you can prep the wood. 

Cutting the lengths and widths of the stand is another straight forward operation.  I used screws for joining them to the legs so that I could make sure I can make small adjustments for my shop floor.  You can dress up the screws with trim washers if you want it to look a little different.

 

                                                    

I just stumbled on a new bench top router table that is being offered at RTD. After looking at it for a few minutes I decided to buy it and do a review on it. After a few more minutes of staring at it, I noticed a few things about the table that is interesting. It resembles another brand table (kreg) in different colors. I will include the specs for the table so that you can look it over. The best part is the price, its well priced under $50 cheaper and it ships for $10. It may be a holiday thing or maybe an introduction price. I will be posting a video review of the table shortly. I really like the fence, it has the built in ability to do some jointing. Granted it is not a jointer, but being able to take off even 1/16th would help me with some of my projects.

Table Top

• 23 ¾” x 15 ¾” x 1”
• Laminated both sides
• Miter track, ¾” inside diameter (std) accepts all 3^rd party accessories
• Slotted for fence operation
• Finished edge

Insert

• 12” x 9” x 3/8”
• Acrylic
• Set Screws Levelers included in insert
• Starter Pin
• 3 snap out rings 4” , 2 5/8”, 1 ¼” (accepts Porter Cable Style Bushings and templates)
• Not pre drilled for routers, this is very easy and you use your router base plate for a template, see directions link below.

Fence

• 23 ¾” x 3 ½” Aluminum Core
• T-track built into front face and top of fence for versatile attachements of accessories such as featherboards
• Includes stop block
• Extensions are 12”x 2 ¾” x ¾”
• Router bit safety cover
• Unique offset bars included for jointing capabilities
• Through table adjustment
• Dust port

Stand

• High quality Steel
• Cambered out for extra stability
• Predrilled to accept a shelf of your design.
• Adjustable rubber feet

You can find this Bench Top router table here.