Building a router table, looking for suggestions. [Archive]

Tim Morton

03-09-2005, 8:12 PM

I have a tabletop and fence coming Friday, and I want to build the carcass this weekend. The top is a rockler 24x32 which I traded for and the fence is a Rockler as well, bought on woodnet. I think they will both be good starting points for my first table, and if I change them out I would still like to be able to keep the carcass I build. I found this site and it seems like a nice table, so if you have built it let me know what you think, if you have a better plan let me know too. I like the idea of having a cut list and instructions and am not opposed to paying for a download, but I want to do it this weeknd so that leaves out the Yankee worksop table. O really only need plans for the crcass and DC. Check out this site and let me know what you think. The router is a Hitachi MV12 and I will be ordering a plunglift when I get the email that says woodpeck is having them on sale. In the mean time I have a phenolic base and the undercabinet lift that came with the Hitachi.

http://www.ronan.net/~woodwork/router.htm

Jim DeLaney

03-09-2005, 9:44 PM

I just (today) finished building my own router table cabinet. No pix yet, but I'll have some soon (when I get my camera back).

I patterned mine after the one in Woodhaven's catalog, but used 3/4" birch ply for the carcase. Four drawers for router bits - used LV's new bit holders (great product!) - and one drawer for wrenches, etc.

Made my own (24" X 32")top. 1/2" white Corian epoxied to 3/4" plywood. Router (MV12, with Router Raizer) is mounted directly to the Corian. The top is hinged using a full length heavy duty piano hinge. Also mounted a 'muffin' fan on the back of the cabinet to provide cooling air to the router motor.

Switch is a pushbutton Jet switch. The whole thing weighs about 200#, so it's plenty solid. I put it on a Shop Fox mobile base.

BTW, the Woodhaven cabinet is very similar to the one in your link.

Jim Stastny

03-09-2005, 9:49 PM

Tim,

Your plans look great. Depending on your needs I might suggest some sort of mobile base maybe using built-in, locking casters.

Corey Hallagan

03-09-2005, 10:07 PM

Tim, I like the design to. Very similar to "Norms" design. I will be using a Rockler Top and accessories for my router table when I build it as well. I was going to use Norms, but have decided to something similar but a little different design. Mine will need to be portable so I will have locking castors on it. Good luck, can't wait to see how it comes out!
Corey

Tim Morton

03-09-2005, 10:10 PM

BTW, the Woodhaven cabinet is very similar to the one in your link.

Sounds like you made a great table, can't wait to see pictures. I may choose to morph the 2 together once I sit down to cut out the wood. I like the idea of making as few drawers as possible. :D
The one on the left is the picture of the linked table, and the one on the right is the woodhaven i believe.

Mine will need to be portable so I will have locking castors on it. Good luck, can't wait to see how it comes out!

I saw a nice set of plans for a 2-piece portable whihc was my second choice for a table.
http://store.yahoo.com/plansnow/ultrouttabl.html

Bryan Nuss

03-10-2005, 6:48 AM

Tim, if you have the time, I would suggest hinging the table top with a piano hinge at the back and using a hinged prop-stick to hold it open. It makes the changing of bits and setting bit heights so much easier. I would also make the cabinet dust collection port at least 4" diameter. 2-1/2" for the fence should be sufficient.

Norm's split fence (which I find a pleasure to use), while it may take time to make, makes it possible to edge-joint boards for glue-ups by the use of a shim on the outfeed fence, but you could do the same by somehow attaching a shim to your fence on the outfeed side.

Check out this thread:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=13841

Tim Morton

03-10-2005, 7:05 AM

Thanks Bryan!! great link, i will be refering to your table alot when buildsing mine this weekend. I like the hinge.

JayStPeter

03-10-2005, 8:26 AM

Just a quick comment about insert plates. The Plungelift may or may not fit if there's already a cutout. It seems like the various plate mfrs. do their best to ensure that if you remove their plate, any other will not replace it. For example, I could not find a plate that had the long dimension large enough to replace a Rousseau insert (Rocklers x-large insert will now, but wasn't around then). You may have already done it, but make sure both dimensions of the PlungeLift are larger than the current cutout. I don't remember all the details, but I seem to remember Rocklers plates were larger in one dimension and Woodpecks in another.

Jay

Fred Voorhees

03-10-2005, 9:11 AM

Tim, just a point that you may want to consider. As I posted about a month ago, I had a problem with the registration card for my Hitachi M12V router. I promptly filled it out after my purchase through Amazon.com and mailed it out. A number of weeks went by and it suddenly turned up in my mailbox. Apparently, it couldn't get through to the address for Hitachi that was printed on the registration mail in card.

Apparently, these cards are of an older "vintage" and the mailing address on them is wrong. A call to Hitachi informed me that I could mail the returned registration card to the address that was printed as the "return address" on the mail in card. The person at Hitachi told me that it is occurring that some post offices are forwarding the card to the return address and the problem has been solved. However, others, such as mine apparently, are taking my home address off of the back information part of the card and returning it to the person who filled it out in the first place.

Anyhow, here is the straight poop. If you haven't filled out the card yet, or have and haven't mailed it the mailing address on the registration card is addressed to a location in Denver, Colorada. This is the wrong place. The place where I was told to mail it back to (and the address that was in the "return address" portion of the registration card) is located in Norcross, Georgia. You might want to check this out and more than likely save yourself some time, trouble and an extra postage stamp by mailing it directly to the Norcross location.

James Carmichael

03-10-2005, 9:57 AM

Looks good either way, Tim. A permanent router table is still on my "todo" list:-) I think router tables are just like the quote that goes around about workbenches, everybody that's ever built one wanted to build another.

We expect to see pretty pics of your completed router table come Monday:-)

Tom Kelley

03-10-2005, 11:25 AM

In the near future I am going to build a router table from plans in a book "Woodworking With The Router" by Bill Hylton & Fred Matlock. I like the idea about the light in your cabinet. Never thought of that. One problem I would be concerned about would be the added heat unless there was sufficient exchange of air through dust collection. Good luck!

Larry D. Wagner

03-10-2005, 11:46 AM

Tim

I agree with Bryan. I built my first table a little like one from WOOD magazine some time back. It has a hinged top and I love it. My second table was also built with a hinged top.(With INCRA Jig) I am just starting to build a NORM type table and I will be hinging that top also. Bit changing is so much easier on my back whether I remove the motor or change while attached. By the way I make my prop rods with arms on both sides. I like to think it puts less stress on the piano hinge by making the pressure more uniform across it!

Larry:) :) :)

Brad Knabel

03-10-2005, 11:56 AM

Here's a quick photo of mine. It was one of the first things I built. The cabinet is birch ply, the top is MDF with laminate on the top and bottom. I trimmed the edges with oak. The finish on the base is milk paint with a couple of thin coats of wiping varnish. There are 4" locking casters under the beast. It's a little on the wide side to accomodate the Incra Jig (which I probably wouldn't purchase again...)

There's a Freud FT2000 behind the cabinet door. There is a switched outlet inside the cabinet and another one on the back of the cabinet. The switch is easily accessible on the back. All of the electrical work is rated for 20 amps.

There is also a 2 1/2" dust port on the back that I need to upgrade to 4" soon. Sorry I don't have any pictures of the back at the moment. The small drawers contain router bits, templets and various wrenches for the router. The large drawer actually stores my Delta tenon jig at the moment.

It's survived 2 moves over the course of the last year and a half (Denver to Louisville to Pittsburgh...). I figure if it can survive being tossed around by the movers it should be fine in the shop.

Good luck with your table!

Greg Mann

03-10-2005, 12:38 PM

I also like a hinged top for accessibility, but with the Hitachi router and a bent wrench, you you can do your bit changing from the top, making the hinge less of an issue. I have a Bench Dog router plate, but if I were to do it again (and, like almost everyone else, I have long term plans to do it again:o ), I would forego the plate altogether. There are just too many holes and ridges to collect debris. Again like most others, once one puts the time and effort into milling the cavity for the plate, or the expense in purchasing a top with a cavity, one is reluctant to discard it and start over. I have come to believe Pat Warner is correct about uncluttered table-tops, but I have not yetaccepted his position regarding the unsuitability of plungers. I like the M12v in my table. I just wish I had mounted it directly.

Greg

Butch Collins

03-10-2005, 2:47 PM

Here is a photo, and a link to some pictures of my router table being built. I am using the M12V with the Woodpeckers plunge lift.

http://community.webshots.com/album/221054694oupTjC

Alan Mikkelsen

03-10-2005, 4:53 PM

I have used a bit of a different router table design for the last seven years or so. I'm getting a bit stiffer and I always hated to bend over to adjust a router, change bits, etc. I built a table with a hinged top. The fence is attached to the hinged top, not the cabinet, so it moves up and down with the top and doesn't need re-adjustment if you change heights. I raise the top to pull the router out of the base and change bits. I do height adjustments with the top raised and use the end rule marks on my shop ruler to adjust height. The router is in a totally dust proof cabinet. I really like this design, and my poor aching back and knees love it.

Steve Roxberg

03-12-2005, 10:22 PM

I just built a table, but it's pretty much a copy of the ones you have already been shown.

The one thing I did do differently that I really like is to purchase some router bit holders from Lee Valley. They are plastic and you screw them down to either a flat or vertical surface. The plastic then securely holds you bits. They come in 1/4 and 1/2 sizes and are fairly cheap.

Check them out and if someone wants pictures I can post them.

Ken Gartin

03-12-2005, 11:16 PM

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=17865

I went the cheaper route and used some 8/4 fir that was leftover from a crate that contained some press equipment (See link above). This stuff was amazing...I've never seen anything like it. It was EXTREMELY dense (much more so than any fir I've ever seen)...almost like a hardwood! Anyway, I thought the grain pattern was beautiful so used it for the leg system. Everything is M&T'd.

My original plans were to build this and use it temporarily until I could find time to build the Norm-type cabinet. This is working out so well that I'll probably just build a cabinet insert for the bottom at some point.

Hmmm...Still need to break down and buy that switch though. Maybe that magnetic switch at Woodpecker's.........Yeah right! Maybe NOT! :eek: :D

Ernie Kuhn

03-13-2005, 12:01 AM

Router table using "Norms" plans, with the M12V and Rout-R-Lift. Plexiglass "window", black walnut drawer fronts and large drawer is bookmatched elm. This was as much as an exercise in different techniques for me, a beginner as it was to build something functional.
Ernie

Ernie Kuhn

03-13-2005, 12:03 AM

Sorry, let me try the upload again,
Ernie Wouldn't work since it already appeared in a different thread e.g. walnut paste filler

Christopher Stahl

03-13-2005, 12:47 AM

Tim,
I think that's Norm's router table. :) It's a good design.

chris

Tim Morton

03-13-2005, 6:12 AM

I have not had any time this weekend to work on the table, most of it has been taken up discussing a possible move to a new house. My wife has applied for and accepted a new job 40 miles north of us. That is good for her as her current job has been something she has been wanting to get out of for 3 years. So we have been going back and forth about commuting or moving. It is too the point where I gathered all my HD parts for an upcoming electrical install inthe shop and returned them yesterday, and will cancel the electrican until we get this under control. The HD lady was not thrilled when she saw me pull up with a cart full of plugs and breakers and wire to be returned. But they were great...I have been buying this stuff little by little over the past 4 month's, and with not all my reciepts and bought in different ways they never once questioned it...so I have a store credit for $388 bucks....I wish they sold somethng like a bandsaw. I told my wife if we do move that she can have all the votes on the house as long as I get a little spot out back to build a shop..I figure 24x24 ought to "get er done" :D

Mike Kelly

03-13-2005, 10:26 AM

Tim, here are some more ideas from a previous thread. Some similar to your design. Have fun when you get settled. This was my third router table, but probably not my last. Several more "new ideas" have emerged since I finished mine. None yet to make me want to start a new one yet though.

Mike Kelly

03-13-2005, 10:27 AM

Guess I should include the link!

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=8507

Duke Jones

03-13-2005, 11:16 AM

Tim,

I just finished what my wife has termed the "Green Monster" but which I more affectionately call Mean Green. I researched many different avenues and this is what I finally came away with. It might provide you some ideas.
http://www.dukejones.com/photo.htm

Regards,

Duke

David LaRue

03-13-2005, 11:22 AM

WELCOME DUKE! And, nice router table. For a moment I thought maybe you worked for Jointech! :eek: :D

David

Duke Jones

03-13-2005, 11:35 AM

WELCOME DUKE! And, nice router table. For a moment I thought maybe you worked for Jointech! :eek: :D

David Thanks David glad to be here. Looking forward to digging through the archives.

As for Jointech, between what my father and I have spent there we FEEL like owners! :-) They are a nice family run business, have great products and we like to support them.

Regards,

Duke

Tim Morton

03-13-2005, 1:42 PM

WOW...so many great repsonses. Lots of reading to do. Like I said, life got in the way of woodworking this weekend so I will digest all these tables and come up with a plan for next weekend hopefully. But moving foward, when my wife asked me for a birthday suggestion since the electrical work was being cancelled, I told her I had my eye on a plungelift from woodpeck. She handed me her CC and said get whatever I wanted. I took that to mean she wouldn't mind if I threw an incra 1000SE on the card as well :D

Jeff Sudmeier

03-14-2005, 8:08 AM

Aaron Montgomery

03-14-2005, 8:15 AM

I built mine around this time last year. I had a CMT top and fence that precluded using Norms plans, although it did end up looking a lot like the NYW table. The full write-up can be seen here. (http://home.insightbb.com/~apmonte/RouterTable.html)

http://home.insightbb.com/~apmonte/Graphics/RouterTable_16.jpg

Ken Gartin

03-14-2005, 8:52 AM

Robert Wimmer

03-14-2005, 11:28 AM

Tim, I built mine from plans I got from Jointech.com a couple of years ago and am very pleased with it. Their bit storage system works well and their electrical switch system is a plus, and would be even if you don't use the Jointech fence system. At any rate I find that a good router table is one of the most used tools in my shop. Good luck.

Tim Morton

03-22-2005, 10:36 PM

Just a quick update on the table building. I started a different thread about the plungelift and posted a few pictures in there. If I knew how to combine them I would. But I thought I would throw a pic in here as well in case anyone searches for router tables later and wants to look at pictures. I know how people like pictures, even of lousy woodworking. I tolf my wife that in 10 years or so I might be able to build her some new kitchen cabinets. She asked me if they would all look like router tables? :D :D

Jerry Olexa

03-22-2005, 11:15 PM

Tim sounds like you are already into the project and have other important issues on your mind (the move). I started w the same top and fence and added some accessories but, wanted to start routing now. So built legs and underpinnings quickly w/o cabinet. Works fine and sometimes regret no cabinet but this way, it is v mobile. One EXCELLENT book on router tables is "Router Magic" by Bill Hylton. He has several unique approaches/ideas on router tables. I agree though now the move is the more important decision. My 2 cents is don't move unless you absolutely have to AND take your time on that decision. The router table can wait a day or 2. I wish you well.

Tim Morton

03-23-2005, 5:56 AM

My 2 cents is don't move unless you absolutely have to AND take your time on that decision.

Thats good advice. I thnk thats our plan as well. I work for a very small company and have felt for years my job was being phased out. I just want to make it through for a few more years until my kids are out of high school. I think my wife has resigned her self that we have a "pretty good thing going" here in our little part of the world and we want to hang on to it. i think she is going to trade in her Xterra for something more comfortable and better at the pumps. It doesn't make sense to pull up stakes for a 20 minute extra commute. Thanks for thinking about us though!! Glad you like the table, I find building things for the shop is the best distraction from the stress right now :cool: