OK, one more router table question....

[Jim O'Dell]

....or two. I see most everyone has a glass or plexiglass framed door to see the router while it is in the table. Is there a reason for this? Is it only to make sure dust is not piling up on the motor in case there is a blockage in the duct collecting from the tool? What other reason is there to need to see in? I made mine solid, but can open a hole and slap on some plexiglass if need be, or even make a plexiglass door if there is a reason to need to be able to get my hand in from the side instead of just the top. I will be able to change bits from the top, so that isn't an issue.
I'm also curious to see if anyone knows of a good way to bring the power cord out of this chamber and still be sealed off? I have an idea of how to do it, but wondered what you have done. Pictures would help my mind comprehend what you tell me. I know many put an electrical outlet in the chamber, and shorten the cord on the router. I'm not comfortable with an outlet inside there with all the dust, even with my cyclone.
Thanks for your help and ideas! Jim.

[mike holden]

Jim,
No idea why the clear door, but for the cord - cut a hole large enough for the plug, pull through, then wrap with foam sheet (from some tool you had mailed to you - grin) around the cord till it jams in the hole. Easily removable when you need to, yet stops the migration of dust. You might have some thicker foam available to you, whatever works, even a rag.
Mike

[glenn bradley]

I made a dummy door and cut holes for air flow or taped over them till I had the airflow I wanted. It was then easy to duplicate the size of the opening(s) on what became the real door. My door is 1/4" peg board in a rail/stile frame. Tacked to the back is some luan where I cut the holes.

The gap between the pegboard surface which allows air in and the luan back with the holes was not scientific. I'm sure there's a formula based on motor cabinet volume, exit duct, air velocity and all that but I got here through a small amount of trial and error with the dummy door. It was not the area of an opening I thought I would come up with. This configuration left the least dust in the cabinet so here I am. Pegboard gives me somewhere to hang my wrenches, depth gauge and a flashlight (old eyes).

[John Thompson]

Afternoon JIm...

Mikes idea will work like a charm.. but if you want to get extravagant, a fire-wall grommet for a speedometer cable and casing would add that touch of eloquence. he.... :)

Sarge..

[Jim Becker]

The material you use doesn't matter. Transparent just looks kewel and it does make monitoring dust extraction more convenient. But solid material will work just the same.

[Chuck Lenz]

The material you use doesn't matter. Transparent just looks kewel and it does make monitoring dust extraction more convenient. But solid material will work just the same.
True Jim, but if he puts a window in it, then he's got to wire up a light for inside too. And then for that added look so it wasn't like someone elses table, have the glass sandblasted with some type of decoration in the corners of the glass, or stained glass. :D

[Jim O'Dell]

Chuck, you've got me confused with someone who has a studio,...I just have a shop.:eek: :D :D
Good solutions guys. In fact, it sparked an idea. What do you think about drilling a hole that the cord is a tight fit in, then make it a slot. Then drilling a hole overlapping the slot a bit, that the cord end will be able to pass through. Take another piece of the same material and drill another small hole made into a slot, so that it fits around the cord, but covers the big hole, then is screwed into the box to seal it off? Some foam around the cord might still be needed unless I'm successful in making a tight fit.
Thanks! Hearing others talk of their solutions always gets the creative juices flowing. Jim.

[Ken Stevens]

While slightly off the original question in the thread, this is related: I have seen some designs with a sloped bottom to the chamber where the router hangs. The slope is usually toward the back wall and there is the vacuum outlet. Obviously the slope helps the dust/debris migrate towards the vac outlet plus there is less change for dust building up in corners (locations for low velocity eddy currents).

Have any of you ever considered or applied a sloped (or v-shaped) bottom to the router housing chamber?

Ken

[Bill Arnold]

... What do you think about drilling a hole that the cord is a tight fit in, then make it a slot. Then drilling a hole overlapping the slot a bit, that the cord end will be able to pass through. Take another piece of the same material and drill another small hole made into a slot, so that it fits around the cord, but covers the big hole, then is screwed into the box to seal it off? Some foam around the cord might still be needed unless I'm successful in making a tight fit. ...Jim,

That would certainly be an elegant solution if you want to take the time. In my case, the dust box is under the table so the hole stuffed with foam isn't visible -- unless I've had one too many after a hard day's work! :eek:

[Bill Huber]

Jim, go take a look at this post, I am just making a new router cabinet and the way I have done it is working out very good.
I did some testing today with some scrap MDF, cut 1/4 rounds like mad and then cut them off and cut them again to see how this system would handle the dust.
It worked really great, no dust on the router and there was just a very little and I do mean a very little dust on the frame of the lift.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=65058

[Chuck Lenz]

Chuck, you've got me confused with someone who has a studio,...I just have a shop.:eek: :D :D
Good solutions guys. In fact, it sparked an idea. What do you think about drilling a hole that the cord is a tight fit in, then make it a slot. Then drilling a hole overlapping the slot a bit, that the cord end will be able to pass through. Take another piece of the same material and drill another small hole made into a slot, so that it fits around the cord, but covers the big hole, then is screwed into the box to seal it off? Some foam around the cord might still be needed unless I'm successful in making a tight fit.
Thanks! Hearing others talk of their solutions always gets the creative juices flowing. Jim.
Do you mean like a key hole ? If so, sounds great to me.

[Bill Huber]

Now on the cord you could do something like this.....


71579

[Jim O'Dell]

While slightly off the original question in the thread, this is related: I have seen some designs with a sloped bottom to the chamber where the router hangs. The slope is usually toward the back wall and there is the vacuum outlet. Obviously the slope helps the dust/debris migrate towards the vac outlet plus there is less change for dust building up in corners (locations for low velocity eddy currents).

Have any of you ever considered or applied a sloped (or v-shaped) bottom to the router housing chamber?

Ken


Ken, great idea. I have a metal piece from Woodpecker that does just that. Although the outlet is straight down, then I'll have to curve from there.


Jim,

That would certainly be an elegant solution if you want to take the time. In my case, the dust box is under the table so the hole stuffed with foam isn't visible -- unless I've had one too many after a hard day's work! :eek:

Bill, I don't care so much for elegant, I'm thinking it will seal off better.


Jim, go take a look at this post, I am just making a new router cabinet and the way I have done it is working out very good.
I did some testing today with some scrap MDF, cut 1/4 rounds like mad and then cut them off and cut them again to see how this system would handle the dust.
It worked really great, no dust on the router and there was just a very little and I do mean a very little dust on the frame of the lift.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=65058

Bill, I have something in mind that may work in a similar fashion. Not real sure I can explain it well, but I'll try. I'm going to drill three 1.25" holes on two sides at the top of the chamber. On the outside of the chamber will be a blast gate of sorts in a slide. I'll attach the slide to a nut, and threaded rod from there out the side of the cabinet with a twist knob. Hopefully it will allow me to easily increase or decrease the amount of make-up air that enters the chamber to carry the dust to the duct work. And also, hopefully, it will keep the lower and upper dust collections from fighting for the same dust particles.:D


Do you mean like a key hole ? If so, sounds great to me.
Yes, exactly. I started to use that term, then failed to. But that is exactly right. I'm thinking now to make the outside part in 2 halves, with a hole for the cord across the split, and screw one section ito the other and to the box. Sounds more complicated than the picture in my head. :D

Thanks again for all the suggestions today. I'm going to upload a few pictures of my progress on my shop rehab thread if you're interested in looking in. Jim.

[Greg Dykes]

Why don't you make a dedicated outlet in your router table for the plug?

In the table I just built, I put the recptecale directly in the box where my router sits. This way, anytime I have to work on the router the plug is right there and I don't have to fish the cord through any openings.

I wired the recptecale to a switch located on the front of my table and then put a 12/2 x 15' cord. I have my DC remoted epoxed right next to the switch so I remember to turn it on as well.

[Jim O'Dell]

I will probably do something similar, it just won't be in the router chamber. I figure a duplex that will work the router and the light in the router chamber will work well. I just prefer not to cut the cords on portable equipment. Until I repair or replace my PC 8529, I'm having to use the 7518 for handheld work also. Jim.

[Bill Huber]

Bill, I have something in mind that may work in a similar fashion. Not real sure I can explain it well, but I'll try. I'm going to drill three 1.25" holes on two sides at the top of the chamber. On the outside of the chamber will be a blast gate of sorts in a slide. I'll attach the slide to a nut, and threaded rod from there out the side of the cabinet with a twist knob. Hopefully it will allow me to easily increase or decrease the amount of make-up air that enters the chamber to carry the dust to the duct work. And also, hopefully, it will keep the lower and upper dust collections from fighting for the same dust particles.:D


Jim I am not sure you understood what I am doing with my cabinet.
With a closed cabinet and the router is in that closed cabinet it makes no difference how little dust gets in the cabinet area. Any dust that gets in there will get into the motor.
My intent is to keep the dust out of the motor so I did not enclose the router in a cabinet. I enclosed the top of the router and the lift and that is all. The lower part of the cabinet will get no dust and there will be no dust getting sucked in by the motor.
With my Bosch table anytime I used it dust would get into the lower part of the cabinet and some would be sucked into the motor. If I was cutting a groove where the board was flat and no dust was going to the fence DC and all was going to the dust collector in the cabinet the router would be just covered in dust.
The way I have my new table set up no dust gets sucked into the motor. I routed a bunch of MDF this afternoon just to see how it worked and it worked very well, no dust on or in the motor.

[Jim O'Dell]

You're right I did miss that. Ok so it's an updraft instead of a down draft set up. Doubt that I can modify my set up at this point, but I may have to spend some time seeing if something might work. I could get a hole saw in there with my right angle drill...might be able to get a hole in up high that way, then put my idea for controlling the input air at the bottom. I'll play with that some. Thanks for pointing it out. I'll go back and re-read and look at the drawings a little closer. Jim.

[Jim O'Dell]

OK, so I have yet another question. In gluing the two 3/4" MDF parts together for the top, should I use my Tite-bond glue? or use the contact cement? I had thought all along that I would use the Tite-bond, but now I'm wondering which would be best. TIA!
OH! and I have decided to do a version of Bill's updraft box. I won't have the plate around the router as he does, but I'll report my findings when I finally get it finished. I really like the idea that the dust isn't drawn to the inlet of the motor. Jim.

[Doug Shepard]

.... What other reason is there to need to see in?
...

Anything else is just gonna clash with the decor of your cyclone.:D

[Jim O'Dell]

Nah, dust is dust. :D In fact I made the window out of a scrap piece of PTEG that I got from Ed. So it's like it is part of the family! :p Jim.

[Jim Dunn]

Jim,

I glued, with tite-bond, the two pieces of MDF together. I them placed a piece of masonite on the top and bottom of that. (I had read some where that the masonite would help keep the MDF from attracting moisture. Not sure if it works or not, but what the heck.) Again I used tite-bond. I them used contact cement to apply the Melamine to top of the masonite. All together the top is 2.045 thick.

Stout and so far no deflection or sag.

[Jim O'Dell]

Thanks Jim. I guess no one else has an opinion, so I'll take yours, especially since it reinforces my first thought. Thanks! Jim.