Router Table Selection

[Clint Schlosser]

I recently purchased a Dewalt 618 router set and I am about to embark on my first project involving the router and table saw. The project is an above the toilet cabinet for storing medicine and other bathroom items.

My question is what kind of router table can I secure cheaply (under $250) that will allow me to do some basic edges on the materials. I have seen the Kreg, Porter Cable, and Bosch tables but I would like to hear some opinions before I make a decision.

P.S. I would prefer not have to make my own

Thanks,
Clint

[Allen Boynton]

If you can spare another 50 bucks or so...amazon.com has the following on sale for $307.00 plus free shipping.
Bench Dog 40-031 ProMax Cast Iron Router Table Extension for a Table Saw includes fence and Insert Plate

I got one a year ago and am really pleased with it

[Jim Becker]

Clint, IMHO, the absolute best and most cost effective router table you can come up with is to build one. But if you don't want to do that, you can go "basic" from any number of places, such as Rockler, or use the cast iron product that Allen mentioned to add your router setup directly to your table saw. (I own the BenchDog cast iron system and it's fabulous...)

[Greg Cole]

Clint,
I'd advise to get a steel or cast iron one too. My next one will be shop built or one of the 2 afore-mentioned.
I have a phenolic one from Woodpeck. After one year of having it with a PC 892 and the Jess'em lift made for Woodpeck, it sags around the plate. Sags enough I won't bother to measure sag, with a straight edge and THAT much daylight showing, there's little need to measure it. :mad:
The router table top has 2 pieces of angle iron under it as stiffeners, but angle iron is NEVER truly flat (nor 90* for that matter).... I am thinking of making a couple supports that will help flatten the table before I make-buy another.

Greg

[Greg Cole]

Hey Norm-errr-Jim,
If the shop built one is the best, why did ya sell yours? :rolleyes:
As said above, my next will most likely be the same as you have on your slider. Bench Dog CI.

Hardy har.....

Greg

[John Grossi]

Take a minute and check out ebay's item no. 2201175254942. A Canadian company makes these tables and sells on ebay and on their website. I was lucky enough recently to pick up one on Craigslist. It is a top quality tool. John

[Todd Burch]

I have the orange CMT router table. I like the fence and the dust hookup. Even though the cabinet comes with RTA fasteners, it's sturdy and has held up well. My complaint is the open shelf under the top is a catchall for chips/dust that didn't make it into my vacuum system. If I didn't store all my router bits in the same place, this would not be a complaint!

Todd

[Lance Norris]

Clint... This is the one I have, and have been happy with it. I dont have a lot of room in my shop, so I needed something I could hang on the wall, out of the way, and use with my Black & Decker Workmate. I bolted the table to a board with cleats on the underside so it will clamp into the Workmate. I got an extra base for my router, so I dont have to attach and re-attach it all the time. Also, I can take the router motor out to save weight when hanging the table up. If I had more room, I would have used one of the cast table saw extension wing tables.

http://www.cpotools.com/attachments/router_attachments/ra1181.html

[Guy Germaine]

I'll have to agree with Jim. Build one. I built this one with a $30 sheet of melamine and a scrap piece of walnut. It's a torsion box style and very sturdy. As for the fence, A nice straight piece of anything long enough to clamp to it will work just fine.

http://www.fototime.com/75B8D696C096675/standard.jpg

[Gary Muto]

Guy,
I'm curious. Why did you choose to place the router close to the table saw rather than at the far right end of your extension table?
Also, do you ever use the incra fence for ripping on your table saw?
I plan to eventually:rolleyes: mount my router at the end of my extension table (when I build one) and possibly get an Incra LS table saw fence system to use on both tools.
Thanks

[Al Garay]

Router Workshop table kit is in your budget, simple/effective
http://www.oak-park.com/index.html

[Mark Ball]

I have this one and really like it.
http://rt1000.com/index.html

[Jim Kountz]

I made my own version of Uncle Norms router table some 12 years or so ago when it first came out in Amercian Woodworker magazine and have been very happy with it since. While at the Muncy, PA Grizzly store though I looked at their cast iron/aluminum router table (G0528) with a slider on the side. Very cool but you would have to come up with some sort of dust collection system as it had none to speak of. This wouldnt be a problem though just rig a box of some sort with a hose port. I really liked the idea of the sliding table and I liked the way the entire top tilted up to get to the router for changing bits etc.
Take a look, though it is more $ than you said you wanted to spend but so were a lot of others mentioned here so far so I thought Id throw this one into the mix for you to look at.

[Guy Germaine]

Gary,
Why did you choose to place the router close to the table saw rather than at the far right end of your extension table? I put the router where I did so that I could use the full 24" of the Incra fence.

Also, do you ever use the incra fence for ripping on your table saw? Every once In a while I use it. I moved my Beise tube over about 10" to the right to get more right side rip capacity. Positioning the Incra where I did, gives me just a little more than that. All I have to do is remove the Biese fence and use the Incra. Works fine for me.

[Gary Muto]

Thanks. I see that it looks like it's easier to clamp the base of the fence down when it is to the right of the Beis fence rail.

[Bob DeWolfe]

I have just in the past month purchased the RT1000SE. I am very pleased with this unit and find the dust collection to be superior to many of the other units I have seen and tried.

[Guy Germaine]

Thanks. I see that it looks like it's easier to clamp the base of the fence down when it is to the right of the Beis fence rail.
Originally, I had also thought about using the Beise fence as my router fence, but decided that I didn't want to have to work from the other side of the table. I like being able to cut something on the saw, and then just step over and use the router table without having to walk around (yeah, lazy:rolleyes:)

[Clint Schlosser]

I believe I will choose the Bosch router table at around $169 from what I can see. However my next question is about mounting the Dewalt router (Model 618) to this table.

[Mike Newell]

I built my table from a piece of counter top that is 2' deep and 3' wide. I have since added a fence from router table depot. http://www.routertabledepot.com/index.html. They have parts or full tables. Seem reasonable on prices and were very helpful and quick when I e-mailed them with questions.

Good luck,
Mike

[Lance Norris]

I believe I will choose the Bosch router table at around $169 from what I can see. However my next question is about mounting the Dewalt router (Model 618) to this table.

Clint... the Bosch router table is pre-drilled for the Dewalt 618.

[Clint Schlosser]

I have decided to go with the Bosch Table as it seemed reasonably priced and will suffice for the time being. I will investigate the home built type once I own a house with a dedicated workshop area.

[Lance Norris]

I think you will like it. I like mine alot. One thing I noticed the other day was that the edges are slotted so you can add infeed and outfeed tables, and front and back tables. You could make a much larger table out of it if needed. I might make up a couple of extensions for mine. I dont have a lot of room in my shop, but sometimes need a little larger table.