Any ideas for installing a router into a mobile workbench?

Making your own router plate, and using your router to recess it in the top of your mobile workbench, is a simple, cost effective way to go.

I used a piece of plywood with an inlaid phenolic router plate, between two saw horses, for a long time before going the dedicated router table route.

There are also, depending upon your budget, a lot of commercial options/router plates available also, among them, strictly for ideas:

Thu, Sep 27, 2007, 1:23pm (EDT-3) snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com (Dave) doth sayeth: Maybe it would be easier to recess a piece of aluminum into the

Or a piece of plywood.

JOAT What is life without challenge and a constant stream of new humiliations?

- Peter Egan

I think I like this plywood idea for now. It is much cheaper and easier to work with than aluminum and will work until I get a shaper.

Thanks for the website. Like to mentioned I can use these for ideas and rough templates. That must of been annoying using the router table on saw-horses. My workbench was built 1/8" shorter than my table saw which also has a stand with wheels. (No workshop, just a garage with minimal storage)

Amazing how well it worked and how mobile it was, not to mention how little room it took up ... a big consideration in a small shop. :)

Sag is a problem with plywood, so the thicker the better, which can be a problem because it cuts back on your bit height adjustment room.

That's why I like your idea of an aluminum plate, particularly if you reinforce your workbench top from underneath to keep it flat. You can also make an aluminum plate once and use it on any future iterations of a router table.

I need to make one (an aluminum plate) for my router table because my PC

Good luck ...

Bob's Plans has a mobile worktable with a router table installed in it. Maybe you could look at that one. I think it is a free download.

Thanks Bob, I presume you are referring to Bob Vila's website. The plans I did find there were for sale not a free download. But no biggie, I found links on that site to other sites that has them. My brother uses a lot of aluminum for making drain covers for retention ponds and found a 9"x12" piece he is going to give me. I can use other plans for templates, ideas, mistakes to look out for, etc...

Thanks again for all the ideas everyone. Dave FL

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