Hi All
I am considering purchasing this unit instead of building my own fence for my Norm Router Table, currently under construction. It comes in
16" or 24" configurations and the choice between the two would significantly affect how I build the top.The uses will be mainly as a regular router fence, and I like the dust collection and split fence design. In addition, I would like to use it for dovetails for small boxes and possibly some straight line inlay work as well.
The base of my cabinet is 32 wide x 23 deep. The carcass is already constructed. Due to the placement of the drawers, router bay, etc., I can't use the fence side-to-side, it has to be front-to-back, which means I will need to make the table top much deeper to accomodate the fence (additional 8 inches), even deeper if I go with the 24 inch model (19 inches). Even though the 24 inch model is only 8 inches longer, based on what I can tell from the literature, it will need a table that is 11 inches longer (longer rear base?). I will be cutting my top from a 4x8 sheet of 1" melamine that has been collecting dust in my garage, and must weigh approx. 200lbs. I'm concerned the longer top (the extra depth will have to overhang the back as I don't want to interfere with access to the drawers/door) will make the table unstable or may flex without a base underneath it.
I would appreciate any comments or concerns with the proposed setup, as well as anyone who might have a take on 16 vs 24 (yeah, I know, it depends what I want to do with it).
Thanks Joe