Shop Built Festool Router Base

[Dan Larson]

Just thought I'd post some pics of a base extension that I recently built for my Festool router. I wanted something to help steady the router when I do edge forming operations. Although the offset base sold by Festool is nice, I wanted something bigger & with a handle that I could hold onto. So here's my solution.
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The base is 3/4" baltic birch ply with a 1/4" phenolic base. It attaches to the router using the edge guide bars that come with the router.
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Here's a cutting board that I made so that I could test out the new base.
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Works great!

Dan

[Cecil Arnold]

Great idea, thanks for sharing.

[Jim Becker]

Looks great...and very sturdy! Nice idea...thanks for sharing it.

[Bruce Page]

Cool!
It looks rock solid!

[Frank Pellow]

Dan, it looks good! There is a good chance that I will copy your design. I will certainly let you know if I do.

[Don Bergren]

I like it! It's a good and simple approach to gain a lot of control of a router. It gives one much better handle options than the various standard offset bases we usually see offered. I think I might be copying your idea as well.

[Jay Knoll]

Dan,

Great idea, nicely done!

Did you put "t" nuts in the underside of the plywood before you attached the plastic bottom?

Do the hold down clamps have a strip that rides in the groove?

Jay

[Dan Larson]

Thanks for the comments!

Jay, t-nuts would have been my first choice. But I didn't have any on hand with the correct diameter & thread pitch. So I just used regular nuts and epoxied them into the holes. We'll have to see how well the epoxy holds up over time. The clamping pieces slide into a shallow mortice, which does a good job of securing the rods.

[John Stevens]

Dan, nice job. Just one question: how'd you get the bottom of your auxiliary base to be on the same plane as the router base?

[Dan Larson]

Dan, nice job. Just one question: how'd you get the bottom of your auxiliary base to be on the same plane as the router base?
This is determined by the depth of the stopped dados that the router bars sit in. I got the depth to be dead on by...

1. Put router with guide bars on a flat bench top.
2. Measure with dial calipers the distance from the bottom of the guide bars to the bench top.
3. Measure the combined thickness of the plywood and phenolic sheet.
4. Subtract the measurement in step 2 from the measurement in step 3. The resulting measurement will be the depth needed for the dado that the router bars sit in.

I made the stopped dados with the router, edge guide, & a straight cutting bit. I set the router plunge depth to the measurement that I got from step #4.