Rockler #1 Router Table Package thoughts

[KayCee]

Hi all-

I'm new to this NG, and have read many great posts in the past month or so of lurking.

I have a PC 8529 router and have had nothing but great success with it in hand-held freehand situations.

I have a need (read Honey-Do) to make several (200 or so BF) of moldings for several rooms of the house, plus I've promised a cabinet project for our sunroom.

I find myself in need of a router table.

I thought of building a table of my own design, but I really don't know my needs will be in the future. I'd like to have a table with a proven track record and go from there. I just don't know if there is anything available in this table's price range that'll offer as many features as the Rockler. BTW, I would also purchase the accessory kit with featherboards, dust collector and bit guard bringing the total price to ~$225.

Any 'Pros and Cons' of this table (and router combo), or other viable alternatives would be appreciated.

Thanks-

-- KayCee North Alabama Woodchipper

[KayCee]

Sorry, I meant to include a link to the Rockler Table:

give me your thoughts?

Thanks-

-- KayCee North Alabama Woodchipper

[Subw00er]

I battled with this decision recently too. I decided to spend more money on a good lift [Incra PRL

or jessem aka rockler aka jet xacta "Rout-r-lift" are good ones] and use my table saw's extension table to mount the router. That way I didnt have to pay for a table and it saved a little space in my workshop. There are several companies making router fences for this application. See this link for some examples: . They cost around $100. You could, of course, make your own for far less, which is what I plan to do. I'm going to use my Jet's microglide fence and mount a router fence to it. I'm going to buy some HDPE for the fence surface and some alum square tubing for dust control.

[Charlie Self]

KayCee asks:

I've got it, the old model with the oak legs. I like it. It is a fairly simple table, without some of the fancy items other tables have (drawers, among other things), but it does all I want from a router table, does it easily, and holds up well.

Charlie Self "Brevity is the soul of lingerie." Dorothy Parker

[Edwin Pawlowski]

My concern doing long moldings would be the ability to attach featherboards easily. If they can be clamped on, (and probably can be) it should serve your needs.

I started out with a lot less than that and upgraded to a Benchdog table, fence, lift, etc. While much fancier with full cabinet and a lift, the finished product is no better that what other tables can do. Ed [e-mail]

[dteckie]

economical and versitile. You can use fingerboards on table T track and on the fence which has T slots. I'm happy with the table.

[Bridger]

the table looks short to me for making moldings. for long flexible stock the more infeed and outfeed the better.

I have always made my own, usually out of stuff I have on hand. I've made a dozen or so of them in various configurations. the process of building a router table will teach you a lot about what a router table should be, which has a lot to do with what you're making on it.

one-size-fits-all solutions rarely do.

Bridger

[Gregg Germain]

Charlie Self wrote: : KayCee asks:

:>Sorry, I meant to include a link to the Rockler Table: :>

:>

:>Please give me your thoughts?

: I've got it, the old model with the oak legs. I like it. It is a fairly simple : table, without some of the fancy items other tables have (drawers, among other : things), but it does all I want from a router table, does it easily, and holds : up well.

: Charlie Self : "Brevity is the soul of lingerie." Dorothy Parker :

Charlie,

I take it the fence does a good job - easy to place accuratly and holds it's position?

thanks

--- Gregg

My woodworking projects:

Replicas of 15th-19th century nautical navigational instruments:

of my 82 year old Herreshoff S-Boat sailboat:

FAQ with photos:

"Improvise, adapt, overcome." [e-mail] Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Phone: [phone]

[James D Kountz]

The Rockler table is a good one no doubt and the aluminum insert looks good. The only thing I didnt like were the routed t-slots instead of the aluminum track type. My thinking was if you ever had to replace the fence halves you would then find yourself purchasing one of those t-slot bits to rout the slots in the new fence. MLCS has a top and fence combo they sell for $189 that is basically the same as the Rockler with the exception of a phenolic insert which is fine but it has aluminum t-tracks inserted in the fence halves that could be used over and over. Just something to think about.

Jim

[Charlie Self]

James Kountz notes:

Or just use a straight bit, rout out the current T slot and install an aluminum track.

Charlie Self "Brevity is the soul of lingerie." Dorothy Parker

[g]

Bought that kit and it was decent: The table was flat (which is a good thing in routerdom), the 0.25" aluminum plate was very strong.

All and all a good starter system, and excellently priced if you look at similar offerings from competitors.

The only caveat being that is you decide to upgrade it later, you may end up having to buy a bigger table (for example if you buy an Incra fence for it, you will need a longer table... this happened to me). Its thick, so attaching extension tables (either your home-made ones or Rockler's) is not a daunting task.

[Richard Zellmer]

If you or someone else wanted to make there own I have a brand new in the bag rocker router plate. The blue plate that is in that picture. I think the rockler plate costs $50.00 I bought it and the decided to buy a new table saw which had a mount for the router built in to the table. It is still in the bag. Rockler says that they take returns up to 30 or maybe 60 days out and it was about 90 before I made this decision. If anyone here wants it I could sell it at a discount.

Email me at r_zellmer at hotmail dot com if interested

[Steve]

I recently bought the Rockler table kit along with a stand for it. All in all, I'm not all that thrilled with it and am thinking that it's reputation is pretty over-blown. Now mind you, I do think that the table is "OK" -- but it's nothing to brag about. It's also light weight and far from the most solid feeling table I've seen or used -- and that doesn't inspire a great deal of confidence in itself.

The fence itself is gludgy and it is taking me a while to get used to it. That orange bit guard they have for the table is a worthless nuisance as well -- it sits so close to the work that it blocks the push stick from doing any pushing and it's too darned dark to see through. I am also not convinced that 'dead center in the table top' is the best place for the router to be. (I'd rather have the tool offset toward the back of the table.)

IMHO the Rockler #1 Router Table is just plain severely over-priced. (But then, almost all router tables and components are way over-priced in my book. It strikes me as a "captive audience" thing. I'm not sure where you'd 'go' to get more 'bang for your buck'. )

BTW, here's where I'm coming from... about three years ago I got the Porter+Cable Router Table Kit (complete with 690 router) at Lowes for $139.00. I never liked the little aluminum table top very well, so I went whole-hog and blew a whopping $10.50 on a piece of melamine and made myself a new top and fence for the old PC frame and stand. You can see that at

. It's very solid and has worked well for me, but I did want a better mounting plate and fancier fence than I had.

I had been considering the Sears Professional Router Table and fence as well at the time I bought the Rockler table. I'm just not at all convinced that I made the better choice.

[James D Kountz]

I'll take it if you still have it.

Jim

[KayCee]

Thanks for all the posts on this subject. The end result is that I bought the Rockler table with the accessory kit for my PC router. It arrived a few days ago and I must say I'm quite impressed with the overall quality of the table and its parts. I have been practicing cuts in many situations with scrap wood and so far all is well. I did make one modification--I added a higher fence to the table. I can now safely rout panels on-edge such as when using a vertical panel bit. All things considered I think the table will serve me well in the future.

Thanks again-

-- KayCee North Alabama Woodchipper

I wrote: