Kirk Simmons
01-24-2010, 6:12 PM
Greetings!
This past week I got an amazing deal on a Benchdog router table top and a blank 3/8" aluminum plate, shelling out only $75 combined on some returned mail-order product from my local Rockler store clearance aisle. The plan is (obviously) to make myself a new router table. However, I do need to drill the plate. Still not a problem, I'm perfectly capable of using a center punch and a drill press. My issue relates to the router I plan to mount - the fixed base from a Milwaukee 5615-24 two-base combo kit. I know 1.75 HP can be low for a router table, but it's what I have.
Now this Milwaukee router has an above the table height adjustment, and I view this as a good thing, something I want to make use of. The problem is I can't figure out what tool I'll use to make these adjustments. If I want to use a 3/8" socket, well, a socket like that is a hair over 1/2" in diameter. This means I have to drill a giant honking hole in the plate so I can get the socket in and out.
I've thought of a few possible options.
1. Drill the hole at 1/2", file it slightly bigger so the socket fits through (it is 35/64's in diameter) and use a socket extender to change the height.
2. Permanently glue a socket onto the plastic Milwaukee bolt head. Drill a hole big enough for the socket extender to fit through, then attach it to the socket as needed. Make sure the router body can still be removed from the base with the socket attached. Then I only need a hole big enough for the socket extender to pass through.
3. Use the Milwaukee T-Handle tool, which i have never seen. Does it somehow require a smaller hole?
4. Cut a grove in the plastic Milwaukee bolt head which would allow me to use a screwdriver for adjustment. Then I only need a hole big enough for the screwdriver head to pass through.
Plenty of people own these routers, what tool do you folks use to make these adjustments? How big a hole did you bore in your router plate to accommodate it?
This past week I got an amazing deal on a Benchdog router table top and a blank 3/8" aluminum plate, shelling out only $75 combined on some returned mail-order product from my local Rockler store clearance aisle. The plan is (obviously) to make myself a new router table. However, I do need to drill the plate. Still not a problem, I'm perfectly capable of using a center punch and a drill press. My issue relates to the router I plan to mount - the fixed base from a Milwaukee 5615-24 two-base combo kit. I know 1.75 HP can be low for a router table, but it's what I have.
Now this Milwaukee router has an above the table height adjustment, and I view this as a good thing, something I want to make use of. The problem is I can't figure out what tool I'll use to make these adjustments. If I want to use a 3/8" socket, well, a socket like that is a hair over 1/2" in diameter. This means I have to drill a giant honking hole in the plate so I can get the socket in and out.
I've thought of a few possible options.
1. Drill the hole at 1/2", file it slightly bigger so the socket fits through (it is 35/64's in diameter) and use a socket extender to change the height.
2. Permanently glue a socket onto the plastic Milwaukee bolt head. Drill a hole big enough for the socket extender to fit through, then attach it to the socket as needed. Make sure the router body can still be removed from the base with the socket attached. Then I only need a hole big enough for the socket extender to pass through.
3. Use the Milwaukee T-Handle tool, which i have never seen. Does it somehow require a smaller hole?
4. Cut a grove in the plastic Milwaukee bolt head which would allow me to use a screwdriver for adjustment. Then I only need a hole big enough for the screwdriver head to pass through.
Plenty of people own these routers, what tool do you folks use to make these adjustments? How big a hole did you bore in your router plate to accommodate it?