Centering router on table base

[Oleg Lego]

The Mark & Juanita entity posted thusly:

How would the transparent base be any better for the purpose than the router base itself?

[Mark & Juanita]

I think the idea is that you can paste the tranparency to whatever you are planning to mill and leave it attached during the milling process -- that way you avoid accidentally milling the real base. Disadvantage: the real base provides you with a drill guide to assure your holes are accurately aligned.

Not necessarily advocating so much as pointing out another method.

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ If you're gonna be dumb, you better be tough +--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

[George]

It's not locating the holes properly for attachment, rather locating them properly for collet center that counts. Means you begin with collet/bit center as your prime reference. Unfortunately, that tends to fall in the middle of a large hole in your new base. You'd have to make an insert and center properly on the center point to begin.

[Bugs]

The step diameters on my bushing set happenen to match the dia's. of my router bit set. Need to set the plunge depth carefully or you will ruin the whole job. It's just a matter of being careful. Bugs

[andypack]

Hi Larry.

One easy way to transfer correctly centered drill hole locations from your router to the table insert would be to use an intermediate base made of a flat, rigid and cheap material such as 1/4-inch hardboard.

Using your original baseplate, mark screw hole locations in a piece of hardboard or other suitable material. Drill holes the exact size of the screw used (no need to countersink / counterbore here) then mount the new base on your router. If the base holes won?t align with the ones on the router casting, you?ll have to redo the marking / drilling with suitable corrections (this has to be precise). Mark the outside surface of the board as ?TOP? and an arrow to show the orientation you want for the router once installed (remember that your router will be mounted upside down on the table). Put a bit in the router collet of the same size as the external dimension of the guide bushing you will put in the plastic insert (you may have a 3/8, 1/2 or 5/8? inch bushing and a correspondingly-sized bit).

Now plunge the bit through the hardboard plate. With a fixed-base router, you may have to take special precautions to avoid motor wobble and consequent precision loss. For this, you may have to partially tighten whatever locking mechanism you have on the router and carefully lower the bit into the base.

It?s almost finished. Insert your bushing in the plastic insert on the table, lay the hardboard base over it (with the TOP marking showing) and mark the screw hole locations on the table?s mounting plate. Double, even triple check everything, be careful, and everything should be all right. Then, take a deep breath and drill the insert plate.

Hope this help!

Andre from Montreal

[J T]

Thu, Jan 12, 2006, 7:05am George@least (George) doth amaze me: It's not locating the holes properly for attachment, rather locating them properly for collet center that counts. Means you begin with collet/bit center as your prime reference. Unfortunately, that tends to fall in the middle of a large hole in your new base. You'd have to make an insert and center properly on the center point to begin.

This thread is absolutely fasciating. Hard for me to decide that either I'm a total genius (possible - LOL), or I made my router table

100% wrong - and I don't think so.

My router lives in the router table, so I didn't worry about taking it in and out. Would have been easy enough to do tho.

What I did was drill a hole in the middle of the table, for the bit to go thru. Then used the router base to lay out the screw holes. Drilled, and counter sunk the holes. I used 3/4" plywood for the table top, so did have to take a bit out on the underside, but that was no prob - too thick otherwise, should have cut a lalge hold in the 3/4", then topped with 1/4", and put the screw holes in that. But, didn't have any 1/4" on hand, so just went with what I had. Anyway, just screwed the router in. No prob.

I didn't measure any of this, just eyeballed it. Would have been simple enough to square out tho. Find the exact center of the table (just go from corner to corner), mark it. Then reference the screw holes, et all, from the center. No prob.

If I'd wanted the router so I could slip it in and out of the table, I'd probably have gone with 1/4" ply over 3/4". Square base on the router, sqpare hole in the 1/4". Smaller, round hole, to take the router, in the 3/4".

The router bit hole is maybe 1 1/2" to 2". The hole size is no prob. I opened up the previous router that was there, and there was absolutely NO sawdust in it. The router running blows it away, so sawdust dosn't drop in.

I've used this version, for years, with no problems at all. I'm gonna need a slightly different router table soon tho, but pretty sure I'll keep this one, and just make another.

What's really fascinating to me is, I didn't ask anyone anything about how to do it. Just looked at the router, and decided how to do it, did it. Probably took me a couple of hours, not including glue drying time. All I bought was the screws, and some nuts, washers, bolts. Couldn't hve bought anything that would have worked for me. I did look at a couple of store-bought router tables first, but, basically, that was it.

JOAT You'll never get anywhere if you believe what you "hear". What do you "know"?

- Granny Weatherwax

[Mark & Juanita]

What I did to make an accurately centered base for my Bosch 1613EVS was:

1. Used the old base as a template to shape a new base from 1/4" melamine coated MDF,
2. Drilled all the mounting holes as accurately as possible in the newly shaped base,
3. Attached the new base to the router with a centering bit mounted in the router.
4. I then plunged the centering bit gently onto the new base, using the mark left by the centering bit the same way one would use a center punch. [note, I did say gently plunged in an unplugged router, I did not want to damage the point of the centering bit].
5. Using the center point, I then used the drill press and a small, straight drill bit to drill a pilot hole
6. Used the appropriately dimensioned forstner bit to drill a hole for the top portion of a PC brass template ring using the top of the pilot hole for the starting point and the drill press depth stop to attain the proper depth.
7. Used the appropriately dimensioned forstner bit to drill a hole for the lower portion of the PC brass template using the bottom of the pilot hole and the drill press depth stop to attain the proper depth.
8. Re-attached to router base and confirmed that my 1/32" plus centering error had been reduced below my means to measure it.
9. Celebrated with great joy and gusto in preparation for making many dovetails with leigh jig for Captain's bed drawers

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ If you're gonna be dumb, you better be tough

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

[Oleg Lego]

The J T entity posted thusly:

OK, but I am trying to attach the router to a table base (Freud Universal Table Base). I guess you might call it an insert. It requires a rectangular hole in the table top, with a step/ledge. I managed to mount the base on the table.

There are two problems with the next step.

1. The table base has a 1 3/8 hole in its smallest insert (it has two inserts, one inside the other)
2. The router base has a central hole somewhat larger than 1 3/8 (I don't know how big. I didn't measure it).

I did not wish to buy a Skil guide bushing set, as I already own a Freud set, which fits the table base insert. So, I can mount a Freud guide bushing, and can then chuck a bit in the router to approximately centre it (have to eyeball, because the IDs of the guide bushings are not an exact fit for any of the bits I have that would be suitable for centering (ie. pilot bit).

So, I then mount the router, with the bit sticking through the guide bushing, and get set to drill the holes. Oops... the router base is not visible, so I have to take the router out and leave the base in place in order to use the router base as a template.

Well, I tried that using tape to hold the router base to the table base, with the result that the bit rubbed on the guide bushing when I reassembled everything. It was close, but I don't think it was close enough.

After following the suggestion to use pan-head screws and a flat bottomed counterbore, I finally got the darn thing centred. Now I am going to try making a base for the plunge base, using some Lexan I picked up today.

Well, that sounds easy enough, but of course I ran into problems you didn't, because of the weird hole size in the router base, and my requirement to incorporate guide bushings.

I do want to slip it in and out, mainly to change bits and guide bushings. For hand-held work, I will swap the motor to the plunge base, which will have the Lexan on the bottom.

Well, 1 1/2" to 2" is definitely not what I need. If it was, I could tolerate a few 32nds in centering. I need a stepped hole, accurate to a 64th or so, and the router centered to that.

That's what I tried. It didn't work worth beans, so I thought I'd find out how others would approach the problem. Looks like the right way to go would have been to make a new router base first, centering it on the router, then using that as a template for the table base.

[dadiOH]

And that incorporated bushing requirement is the entire source of your difficulties. Frankly, I can't see any reason to use them on the table insert. Much easier and more accurate to simply use bushings on the router plate itself rather than the table insert. A whole set is cheap (less than $20)...and one really doesn't need a whole set.

-- dadiOH ____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06... ...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that. Get it at

[J T]

Thu, Jan 12, 2006, 11:04pm (EST-1) [e-mail] (Oleg=A0Lego) doth spread his tale of woe thusly: =A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0What I did was drill a hole in the middle of the table, for the bit to go thru. OK, but I am trying to attach the router to a table base (Freud Universal Table Base). I guess you might call it an insert. It requires a rectangular hole in the table top, with a step/ledge. I managed to mount the base on the table.

Now maybe you are starting to realize some of many reasons some of us prefer to make our own router table(s). We can do it our way, not someone else's way.

JOAT You'll never get anywhere if you believe what you "hear". What do you "know"?

- Granny Weatherwax

[Oleg Lego]

The J T entity posted thusly:

I must not be making myself clear. The problem is not with the purchased table base/insert. It is with the router base that has a weird nonstandard size central hole that provided no common alignment possibilities. I had no problem at all mounting the table base/insert to the tabletop.

In fact, I am trying to do it "my way", but my way includes allowing the mounting of guide bushings to the table. I gather from dadiOH's post, that this is not always done.

[Oleg Lego]

The dadiOH entity posted thusly:

Hmm... are you saying that you don't use bushings when routing with the router mounted in the table?

[J T]

Fri, Jan 13, 2006, 7:25pm (EST-1) [e-mail] (Oleg=A0Lego) doth admit: I am trying to do it "my way", but my way includes allowing the mounting of guide bushings to the table. I gather from dadiOH's post, that this is not always done.

No, it's "not" always done that way, probably ever. I use flush trim bits. I've got a set of guide bushings, but have never used them - and wouldn't "even" want to mess with them on a router table.

If it was me, and I wanted to spend time dorking with a router table, I'd make a pin router.

So WHY?

JOAT You'll never get anywhere if you believe what you "hear". What do you "know"?

- Granny Weatherwax

[J T]

Fri, Jan 13, 2006, 8:11pm (EST-1) [e-mail] (Oleg=A0Lego) hath decided to asketh: Hmm... are you saying that you don't use bushings when routing with the router mounted in the table?

Do you think?

JOAT You'll never get anywhere if you believe what you "hear". What do you "know"?

- Granny Weatherwax

[dadiOH]

Offhand I don't recall doing so but there is no reason I couldn't. But I'd mount them on the router base and let the barrel stick up through the hole in the table insert (to which the router base is screwed). True, you'd lose part of the length of the template barrel but they are too long anyway (for non-table use) and I always grind mine down to 1/4" or a bit less long.

dadiOH

[Oleg Lego]

The J T entity posted thusly:

I didn't know. That's why I asked. I could not determine from his wording whether he did not use guide bushings at all when using a table, or if he mounted the bushing to the router base. Turns out that both were true, but that answer (and your reaction) only tells me that we are all looking at the elephant from different perspectives.

[Oleg Lego]

The dadiOH entity posted thusly:

I just measured my Freud guide bushings. Some of the barrels are quite long, two are about 1/4" already, and 1 is about 3/16 or a tad less.

Of course I cannot mount any of the bushings to my router base, as the hole in the router base is far too large. I did not mount the router base to the table insert. It never occurred to me to do so. I used the router base only as a drilling template. I then mounted the router fixed base directly to the table base. In case we are speaking different languages here (it would not surprise me)...

router base: plastic 'foot' attached to fixed (or plunge) base

fixed (or plunge) base: metal thingy that the motor fits into, with holes to mount router base

table base: plastic rectangular thingy that holds two concentric removable inserts, the innermost of which is the right size to hold the Freud guide bushings.

I suppose I could buy Skil's adapter and guide bushings, but I do plan on getting another (better) router at some future point, and it would be better to be able to use all the same bushings, I think.

[Oleg Lego]

The J T entity posted thusly:

I see flush trim bits as good for routing to a pattern, but aren't there other good uses for guide bushings?

I don't know what to call the operation, but using a guide bushing as a sort of 'fence' looks to me like it would be real handy. The idea is to make a sort of 'sled' with a slot that rides on each side of the guide bushing(with little or no slop, side to side), with a fence on it, that guides the work over the bit.

Hey, I'm just a novice at this stuff, so maybe there are better ways to do these things. I'd be happy to learn.

They look kind of neat, but aren't they overkill and useful for only a few types of operations?

[CW]

I have seen the sled that runs on a bushing used on the Router Workshop. Interesting idea but nothing you couldn't do with a fence. A pin router would be more versatile than a bushing setup. The pin takes the place of a bearing or bushing. Only difference is that your template is on top. The pin has an advantage over a bushing as it can be the same size as the bit so no pattern offset is needed.

[dadiOH]

But you could make an insert to fit that hole...an insert of the correct size to mount the bushings.

Most of us (I would guess) have a large hole in our table inserts to accomodate big bits. However, little bits are used much more frequently and a big hole with them is a PITA; the answer is to make inserts with various sized holes. Easy to do...use the router to rout a rabbet on the top edge of the table insert hole, use router to cut out and rabbet circles of some material so they will fit in the table insert hole, put new circle in table insert hole. Then put a bit of size desired in router, mount router under table, use fence to hold down the circle, push router bit up through it. Just like a zero clearance table saw insert.

-- dadiOH ____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06... ...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that. Get it at