Attaching router table top to cabinet?

[Jay Yoder]

I'm almost finished with my NYWS router table but have run into a slight problem. every time I tighten it down in the front it pulls it out of flat to the point that I can slide a playig card under it. I think that part of the problem is the stretcher spans too far of a distance unsupported and when th top is tightened it pulls it down slightly. As soon as I release the tension it goes back to flat. The table top is a 27 x 43 from Woodcraft and is made by woodpecker. I am using a PC 7518 motor in a Woodpecker PRL lift so there is a decent amount of weight there. I also build a sort of dust box around it with the sides of the box located under the cutout for the lift to give it more support. I guess my questions are as follows:

1) Is there any reason that I can't just leave the screws to keep it in place and not tension them? This would basically let the table top carry the full load.

2) For those who build an cabinet for their table top how did you attach the top to the cabinet/frame?

[Bill Huber]

When I built my table I put my steel Lee Valley straight edge across it and then put tape to shim it so it was all flat across all the supports. My cabinet is made of 3/4" plywood so I have good support, I just put the tape on edge of the plywood where it needed it to get it flat all the way across side to side, front to back and corner to corner. I used foil tape, not duct tape but the stuff you use to seal furnance runs with.

Then I put the top on and used L brackets to screw it down, still flat after 7 years and I have a 7518 in it.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

When I built my table I put my steel Lee Valley straight edge across it and then put tape to shim it ... .

Exactly what I was thinking. If you are pulling it out of flat, then you obviously have a gap between the support and the top (in other words, your support is not flat). So shim it.

[Jay Yoder]

I will shim it so that the table is flat. I like using playing cards for shim material. I can slide them in with the top on and immediately check if it helped out. Seems that there is always something to do after a project is "done". LOL.