I have decided that I would like to buy/build a router table but there seems to be a large selection at various prices/sizes/materials etc. I would appreciate any advice on what to look for and any recommendations as to any particular make or model. Likewise the names of any to avoid would also be appreciated. I am hoping to get a table for about £100 or less and it will be for occasional use only. Is it worth making a router table as I have a small steel framed table that would make a good base? From looking at the Axminster catalogue it seemed that the various parts added up to as much as a complete table. Thanks for any advice. Peter
To me the price is too high to buy one. There are plenty of plans available for decent fences. I just built this one fairly cheaply; haven't really used it yet, but it seems like it will be very useful.
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router table just needs to be flat and sturdy, if you already have a sturdy frame you are halfway there. I mounted mine in the extension table of my saw but judging by the '=A3' you probably don't have that option.
Wed, Jan 5, 2005, 7:57pm (EST+5) snipped-for-privacy@ukgo.com (Peter=A0Holt) claims: I have decided that I would like to buy/build a router table
Make one. If it doesn't turn out to be quite what you want, either modify it, or make another. Be a LOT cheaper, and you'll wind up with something that does what you want. I'm on, I think, the 3d version of mine, probably got $5 (US) max, invested, total. Plywood top, 2X4 framing, glue to hold it together, some bolts to hold it down. I've had the latest version for years, does just what I want. Later, if you want a change, modify what you've got, or make another.
If you don't have the money burning a hole in your pocket, just make the thing. People waste a _huge_ amount on buying really awful router tables when there's no need to, and the ones they get aren't even much good.
My router table is very probably the nastiest in the newsgroup, but it works. Top is 3/4" MDF with a frame of 1"x2" around the edge. The insert is cement board from an old gas fire (an excellent material! buy it new as Viroc Versapanel). Legs are purchased, from sheer laziness, as a ten-quid Chinese Workmutt knock-off.
The fence is an L girder of 1/2" MDF, with buttresses in the corner. Fit false fences of 3/8" MDF and make a couple of spares. Box in the centre buttresses with offcuts of clear Perspex and turn it into a dust extract box. Adjustment is by _pivoting_, not sliding, because it works just as well and is much easier to make. Mine is simply some M8 handwheel bolts into a couple of threaded inserts screwed into the worktop. Wax finish all round.
Use a few other threaded inserts to take goodies like a horseshoe guard, Perspex overguard, dust extract nozzle, or a starter pin for freehand work on a bearing-guided cutter.
Buy a router (like my Freud 2000) with a good depth adjuster and a switch that locks on. Then fit a separate switchbox somewhere accessible with a proper no-volt release switch and a socket for the router to plug into (eBay or Axminster).
On 5 Jan 2005 12:11:26 -0800, "Ray" calmly ranted:
Get thee to the library and look for Pat Warner's "The Router Book" and Carol Reed's "Router Joinery Workshop". I bought Pat's and just returned Carol's to the library this morning.
Both are full of jigs you can use, including routah tables. Pat's is more comprehensive, BTW, but I liked both.
Make one. If it doesn't turn out to be quite what you want, either modify it, or make another. Be a LOT cheaper, and you'll wind up with something that does what you want. I'm on, I think, the 3d version of mine, probably got $5 (US) max, invested, total. Plywood top, 2X4 framing, glue to hold it together, some bolts to hold it down. I've had the latest version for years, does just what I want. Later, if you want a change, modify what you've got, or make another.
JOAT EVERY THING THAT HAPPENS STAYS HAPPENED.
- Death
2X4 for framing? Why? Heck the one I use is just the top and I use a couple of c-clamps to secure it to the table of my radial arm saw. Seems to work for me. It's just a chunk of ply I had kicking round and the fence is any old stright board I happen to have at the moment.
Yes. There's a hole in one end of the fence, a slot in the other. The slot is about an inch long, barely curved because it's 18" or so from the pivot. For coarse adjustments there are two or three "pivot" inserts screwed into the table.
It's ugly. But if it didn't work, I'd have got round to making something better by now.
The table is also deeper than it is wide, because I have an Incra fence too and they need a lot of space at the back. This is mounted on a plywood plate that's screwed down to the table by four more stove bolts and threaded inserts. Incidentally although I have the Incra, I prefer to use my own fence.
Pike wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@lisp.secretlab.net:
Mine's done the same way, except I use a clamp on the 'swing' end. The intent was to do it Andy's way, but this has been working for maybe three years.
Other things were more important. Like furniture and work.
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