Router Table Surface - How to make it slicker?

[Eamon McElduff]

My router table top is made of top quality plywood and is quite smooth and slippery to the finger.
However, it is still not smooth enough to enable the stock to be pushed without friction resistance.
This friction results in the stock jumping forward step by step in very small increments and sometimes in larger increments.
I put a wax coating on but this has not solved the problem completely.
Does anyone know of a powder that could be sprinkled on the surface to reduce the friction?
Any other suggestions will be welcome.

Novice Woodworker

[George Bokros]

A wood to IMHO is not for a router table or any surface you want wood slide on easily. Most tops are laminate of some kind, steel, or phenolic.

[Wayne Lomman]

Eamon, the wax is good but don't overdo it. Get a rag and get stuck in and rub the wax hard to melt it into the timber. Lightly scrape off any excess. Give it a light sprinkle with ordinary talcum powder, and it should work okay. When it starts to drag a bit, scribble on the surface with a wax candle and it will be good to go again. Cheers

[Eamon McElduff]

Thanks Wayne,
Sounds good advise which I will take up.

Eamon

[lowell holmes]

I have plastic laminate on my router table, which is a table saw wing extension. I have no issues with it.

[Keith Outten]

For future reference the best router table top I ever had was made from 1/2" thick Dupont Corian counter top. With a coat of paste wax everything slides as smooth as silk which is important on the days I have to edge route over a hundred plaques per day.

My current router table is machined steel, perfectly flat but its not near as smooth as my old Corian top so I am in the process of making another table from an old piece of 3/4" thick Corian I found in a scrap pile last year.

[Don Orr]

I used polyurethane on my table and it works well. A little wax couldn't hurt either.

[John Lankers]

Wayne has given you good advise, you could make the job easier by setting your RO Sander on a wad of 0000 steel whool to work the wax in, it'll make the surface so slick a gecko would lose it's mind.

[Lee Schierer]

I used polyurethane on my table and it works well. A little wax couldn't hurt either.

That's what my table has and I don't have any issues sliding work around.

[Thomas Canfield]

A couple of coats of thin shellac sanding in between and after with 220 grit will give you a slick surface to wax. You will be surprised how slick the final surface is and holds up pretty well if you do not have a lot of moisture issue.

[Randy Red Bemont]

I've always used a laminate top for my router table. Works great too.

Red

[Robert Engel]

Laminate ++

[Jim Dwight]

The top of my router table is a sink cutout edged with maple and backed with 3/4 plywood. A coat of wax makes it slick enough.

The OP may also be pressing down harder than necessary. The frictional resistance is a function of the coefficient of friction AND the force pushing the pieces together. Feather boards are a good way to apply a measured and consistent force.

[pat warner]

Friction, static or kinetic, is always a problem without rollers or bearings.
A close fit of 2 bodies, whether spinning or sliding, can minimize that friction with a good match of materials, compressed gas, minimum surface contact or a lubricant. We haven't the luxury of an oil lube on a router table, But the surface issue can be addressed.
In my case, most of my work is small and can be managed on a sled. (For sizing, joinery etc.)
I have 2 sleds, one for ripping the other for x-cuts. (http://patwarner.com/images/new_router_table2.jpg)
In either case the sled is aluminum (center guided) and the track is paper
phenolic. A minimum of surfaces.
2 materials that like each other (often waxed, however) and the work never touches the work surface. An uncommon approach but a possibility for some.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Try rubbing you top with a dryer sheet. I have a dado jig for my router when building cubbies. It's made from plywood. When things start to grab, I rub it with a dryer sheet.

[Greg Hines, MD]

Mine is Melamine, and its very slippery.

Doc