Router in Saw Table?

[krw]

I've seen router lifts in saw tables and am considering pulling my lift out of my router table and dropping it into the saw's extension table. I could really use the floor space and as I see it the saw has a much better fence than any I could put on the router table.

Any idea how to set up a lift in a MDF table? I have it in a table now but the leveling screw dig into the MDF making adjustment difficult. Should I insert some angle iron or some such in the table? The top's going to get pretty thin inlaying both the lift and a piece of angle iron.

[Bored Borg]

On Tue, 7 Apr 2009 00:57:07 +0100, krw wrote (in article ):

make the routerlift hole go all the way through the table then screw straight irons around and overlapping the edge of the hole, underneath, to make a perimeter shelf. Drill down into the shelf through your existing routerplate holes then tap the holes to take 3 or 4mm socket head screws. You can then adjust level by going through the holes with a hex key, take the lift off and run a nut up or down the screw (while holding it on the key) to lock it.

You probably only need the corners supporting, so take an "L" bracket for each corner and screw it so the outside of the corner protrudes into the corner of your hole, with the arms of the "L" pointing away from the hole and giving you lots of area to screw up to the underside of the table.

Add a couple more midway along the long side if you wish.

You might want to file off the sharp corner to protect your hands from the inevitable.

[Leon]

Do you mind cutting a hole in your rip fence? I would say that 85% of the time I have my router bit behind the fence face.

[Dave in Houston]

I purchased a 30X60X1-1/2 thick laminated maple top from Woodcraft ($185

+/- with the 15% off). Had to rip it to 27 inch width to fit between the rails of my JET contractor saw and put a couple of legs under it (with some threaded-stemmed feet I'd been saving for about 20 years off what I can't remember now). I end drilled the legs and epoxied a nut into each hole for the stems to thread into. Makes it easy to level. I used my Woodhaven router plate as a template and cut a through hole about a half inch undersized all the way around. Then I set a straight bit to just slightly more than the depth of the plate and carefully free-handed a ledge for the plate to sit on. Some small flat head screws in the corners of the ledge allow for depth adjustment for the plate to sit flush.

Dave in Houston

[Bob S.]

This may give you some ideas...

[Bob S.]

Sorry, a bit fast on the trigger

Warner's site is an excellent read and full of sage advice that you can adapt to mounting a router in your tablesaw. I did it a few years back after building the fence Pat designed and described in an article he did for FWW.

The page above shows the version of the fence I built from Pat's plans - and I still use it today. I have a 52" Jet cabinet saw and mounted the router and fence at the very end with just enough room for the fence. I mounted a Jessem Router Lift and have not considered changing a thing since I installed everything. With the full table to the left and my outfeed table on the TS, I have a nice working area for routing which comes in handy when doing the final touches on some long cabinet door panels.

The fence Pat designed is rock solid and very well thought out. I see on his home page

he has a new version of the fence which is a simpler design that should provide some ideas for you to consider.

Bob S.

[Puckdropper]

"Leon" wrote in news:eOGdncGdo5d2PUfUnZ2dnUVZ [e-mail]:

I'm sure you know this, but just about every TS fence I've seen has had provisions for a semi-permanent sacrificial fence to be attached. All the OP would need is a suitable material such as a good dry hardwood or plastic.

Just be aware that if you want to use a large bit you might need to install a really thick sacrificial fence.

Puckdropper

[Leon]

I am aware of that but if you don't have a through hole all the debris comes back out at you.

[krw]

Very interesting idea. That essentially reverses the height adjustments of the lift. They're set screws in the lift that adjust down into the table. It certainly seems like it would work.

Thought you said "screw up the underside...". Yes, that's another good one. Gotta think about this some more before committing the table.

Already thought about that. ;-)

[krw]

The lift has a smaller fence, but yes it would require some work to make a sacrificial fence. I don't see chewing up a Biesemeyer.

Good points. Thanks.

[Ralph E Lindberg]

I just use a 2nd fence that clamps to the main fence

[Lowell Holmes]

">> The lift has a smaller fence, but yes it would require some work to

Me too! A second fence with Destaco clamps. If you make the fence hollow inside, a vacuum hose can be attached to collect the sawdust. I haven't done that yet, but I am going to.

[Brian Henderson]

Exactly, I have a secondary router table in my tablesaw and it uses a dedicated router fence, complete with split face, that fastens to the tablesaw fence. I really don't see how you could get the full range of router table functionality with just a straight fence and no opening for the bit.