How deep to route for a router plate?

[Toller]

I am putting in a 3/8" woodpecker plate. I bought the template, but there are no instructions.

Do I go for 3/8", or maybe 7/16" and rely on the leveling screws to adjust it?

[Edwin Pawlowski]

If you are doing it right, 3/8 is the way to go and never need to use leveling screws. If it does not sit flush, you just take another pass about

1/32" deeper until it does, then use the screws only if needed. You want the base to sit on the wood, not be suspended by tiny feet.

[RayV]

I would go at least a 1/16 deeper than the thickness of the plate. I would also 'break' the edge of the opening in your table, using a chamfer bit or laminate edging bit. I was able to get my insert 'just right' (BS detector goes off) but the sharp edge of the laminate chipped in a few spots during use because I didn't chamfer it.

[Stoutman]

I bought one, but I made my own template. I second Edwin's suggestion. Use the leveling screws only to 'tweak' or fine tune your fit.

You are gonna love that plate!

[Toller]

Turned out to be entirely academic. I was using 1/2 corian, and I build a frame under the "joint" so the frame was supporting the plate (well, actually a lift...) more than the corian, but I never got that far. After routing, when I was cutting the blank out with a jigsaw, the thin corian broke off in a few places. It probably would have been alright, but I flipped the table top over and just routed the part that would hold the plate away. I then epoxied in some 1/8" lexan on top of the frame to make up for the missing corian; and it came out fine. The plate is entirely supported by the frame, but I have the table top securely screwed to the same frame, so I don't think anything will move.

I could have saved myself a lot of work if I had just done it that way to start with; but I thought it best to try to tie the plate in with the table top. We'll see if that was actually necessary.

The lift (the little one for 2hp routers) works great, by the way.