Flat router table?

[Mark Rios]

Can I get some advice/info on flat router tables please? I won't make one right now because I don't have the time to go through the learning curve. My current table is a2 year old lower line Woodpecker. It's now got some small humps and swells in the top and is therefore no longer flat.

David Eisan has a steel table in a pic in his thread, sixth pic from the top, http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=24496&highlight=frame, seems like that would be pretty flat. It looks very sexy. :D I've got a cabinet to put a table on but I really don't know enough about router tables to buy one and be assured that it's flat and will stay flat.

I've decided to go with a new router table set-up instead of a shaper after much questioning both here in the Creek and reading on the net and asking locally. It seems that for me and my needs now and in the foreseeable future it will work best for me.

Personally, I don't like having to guess at what or where the cause lies when a problem arises. My own lack of experience and knowledge gives me enough trouble. I don't need my equipment to add to my variables. I feel that if I can get top-notch tools, reliable day in and day out, then when a problem comes up, I can KNOW that it's me doing something wrong instead of having to wonder if it's me or the tool. I do much better learning a new skill or technique being able to take the tool for granted (production wise, not safety wise of course).

Anyway, your help and advice will be greatly appreciated in helping me to choose a table.

Thanks very much.

[Jim Becker]

Personally, I think that a router table is something one should build unless there is zero time to do so or there is a particularly special feature of a commercial setup that you "need". By a lift; consider a commercial fence system if you like how it operates, but the table is a wonderful shop project by itself...including the top. Mine is 24" x 36" and made from two layers of MDF edged with walnut off the property and faced with plastic laminate from the 'borg...inexpensive to build and it's still flat after a number of years. Too many of the commercial table tops are only 3/4" or 1" thick. Great if it's phenolic like the CMT (very pricy, too), but not if it's any kind of "originally somewhate wood" product.........

[Travis Johnson]

I can help you with this problem I think because I had a similiar problem with my Craftsman Router Table set up. It was a cheap tin-thing.

To correct a sagging top, I just cut a 1/4 inch plate, drilled four mounting holes in it, counterbored the holes and cut a rather big hole in the center of the plate for the router bit. I think the hole is something like an inch an a half in diameter. I then centered the entire plate onto my existing router table and drilled the mounting holes through the top of the existing router table. Using four pan head bolts, I mounted the 1/4 inch plate and was done.

If I did it now I would mill the steel plate flat, but I did not have acess to a mill back then, and it has worked for 7 years without a problem just as I described. I will see if I can get some pictures if I can.

[Mark Rios]

Well, I say flat because mine isn't. :D

I don't really know if I have the skill that some of you longtimers do to build a really good, quality router table. Nor do I have the time right now to learn. My current table isn't up to the standrds that I need to start my next project/job.

I'm not sure if it was good or not but when I grew up in the body shop, I was taught to buy the best tools, Snap-On, and learn my job being able to rely on those tools. That's kind of how I've evolved into the person that I am now. As far as making a router table, I surely wish that I had the skills that you folks have to be sure that it WAS flat when I was done. I tried to laminate some MDF together to make a taller router fence and it wasn't very pretty. Took me four tries to get a fence that I could work with for the project that I had. It wasn't truly flat though, according to my straight edges.

My current table isn't just sagging a little or off a little, it has swells/bumps in the top, probably due to moisture. My router plate does sag however and I will get a lift with a plate to cure that.

[Travis Johnson]

Okay, I am back from my shop and got a picture of this thing. Just remember, the beauty lies in the simplicity of my router table.

Just for your information here, this is not my Main Router Table, this is a router table I have dedicated to my 1/4", 1 HP router. It is used 99% of the time for making round overs in stock. You will note that the legs of the cheap tin craftsman router table have been removed and I mounted it on drawer slides. This allows me to slide the router table under my bench quickly and easily. The leg, partially seen in the picture allows me to put down presure on the table without the drawer slides deflecting. Other than that, it is a great, simple router table that stays out of the way and is flat.

Hope this helps...

http://www.railroadmachinist.com/sitebuilder/images/Router_Table-600x450.jpg

[John Kain]

I'm with Jim. God created MDF to make flat router tables. You build a box of MDF and put in a plate and router. You could go all "Norm" if you wanted, but if a simple, flat router table is all you need, then MDF is perfect in every way.

EDIT: my table also is laminated. I found a chipped laminate at the Borg and they gave it to me for free when I bought a couple sheets of MDF.

[Allen Bookout]

Mark,

I think that to get a table top that is guaranteed to stay flat forever with no braceing you would have to go with some kind of metal. Either steel, cast or aluminum.

If you are willing to make a base for it that has a very flat top to attach it to then the laminated MDF tops would be fine. Woodpeckers has pretty good tops and they are 1 3/8 thick, laminated both sides and here is what they have to say:

"To achieve maximum flatness, we recommend a robust series of straight braces to support and stiffen this router table. Our standard steel leg set provides the need level of support."

I built mine and I think that it will be very flat for a long time. I lamintated one side of 3/4 inch MDF, turned it over and screwed it to a base frame that I assembled on my tablesaw so that I was assured that it was really flat. Then I glued another 3/4 inch piece of MDF to the first piece and edged it with wood. Then I laminated the top. What makes me confident that is is going to remain flat is not the thickness of the laminated top but the framework underneath.

You might want to look at Pat Warner's table that he uses. The top is very simple but well supported and has remained flat for a good while according to his discussion about the table. (patwarner.com)

I think that the fastest and easiest way to do it would be to buy a good top, such as the Woodpeckers, and make a very flat, solid framework to attach it to and then attach it to a table.

This, of course, is in lieu of a good metal top if you do not have the ability or tools to make one yourself or connections to have someone make one for you.

Allen

[Dave Falkenstein]

Mark - I have a Word document that describes how to build a router table top from MDF in a fair amount of detail. I built one several years ago, and it is dead flat today. If you want the document, email me and I'll send it to you.

[Chuck Trisdale]

I did this with mine - sorry for the poor quality on the pics - camera phone. The insert is one of the ones from Rockler - like 50 bucks. I did this as a quick fix, and it saved me some space

[David Rose]

Mark, this table at 2 years old started sagging in the unsupported area around the router. That was before the angle iron braces. I had thought that the cabinet bracing would be enough. The angle iron is held on and drawn up with lag bolts and washers to put pressure where needed. It works. But for a tilt top, it is heavy! :(

The table is 25 x 38". Two pieces of good 3/4" ply were laminated on my setup table. One side of the laminated ply ended up with a very slight convex crown so I turned that up and plastic laminated both top and bottom and edged it. The convex side stayed that way for a while. There is no insert other than a small ring. The router is directly attached to the table, again supposedly to help with sag and because it lives there. The roughly .015" high crown was gone in about 18 months. When it started sagging the other way, it dropped about .030 pretty fast and was greater than that when I started having trouble with projects because of it. Also, that is a door in the front middle, so support from the cabinet was weak in that area. But the sag was still worse toward the middle.


Lee Valley's steel table is small and about 3/16" thick. It is machined with about .015" crown. Some say it pulls out, others say it doesn't change.

I agree with Allen on the possibility of maintaining flatness. MDF starts out really flat, but will two laminated plies keep it that way? It seems to for some. I thought flat Baltic Birch would have more strength in that way, but it didn't prove out for me.

I have similar large laminated tables on my drill press and bandsaw. They are both as flat as when I glued them up, but neither has a weight hanging in the middle. That might be a good arguement for pulling the router when not in use.

Oh, for a nice large chunk of cast iron! :D

David

[tod evans]

mark, for a flat/fast/do-it-yourself table top use 1/2" aluminum plate. .02 tod