Granite Router Table Finished - Pics

[Troy Cleckler]

Well here it is. Finally finished the table for the Granite top.:p The top was cut all the way through for the plate. So what I did was used 3/4" Birch Ply as a substraight and cut the hole 1" smaller and added spacers around it to bring the plate closer to the top. Added brass inserts and brass screws to level the plate and inserts with screws as hold downs for the plate.
The router that I'm using is a Freud FT1700VCE 2-1/2 hp with above the table adjustments and the fence is the Incra Ultra Light. I'm only going to use this fence system on this table so instead of clamping it using a larger piece of ply to the table I decided to use a smaller board and used epoxy to adhere it to the granite. Also will add some type of switch to the side of the table to make it easier to turn on and off.
Thanks for looking, tell me what you think.
http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u154/tcleckler/GRANITEROUTERTABLE001.jpg
http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u154/tcleckler/GRANITEROUTERTABLE002.jpg
http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u154/tcleckler/GRANITEROUTERTABLE003.jpg
http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u154/tcleckler/GRANITEROUTERTABLE004.jpg

[Peter Quinn]

Looks like rock solid work!:rolleyes:

[Greg Hines, MD]

Very nice table. How do you like the Incra fence?

Doc

[John Schreiber]

Looks great and should be super stable. That's what I'm looking for in a router table top. Now, did you choose the "Ultra Light" to keep weight down? If so, granite may have been the wrong choice. :p

[Bill Wyko]

Nice RT very tastefully done. Now you just need a matching table saw.:D BTW I love the incra stuff.

[Jude Tuliszewski]

That's pretty slick. I might have too check out some counter top places for off cuts :).

[Keith Outten]

Check large construction jobs for scrap granite and marble. Get to know the construction superintendent and let him know that you are interested in certain materials, it is a good idea to promise him or his company something in return. Last year I got two truckloads of black granite sink cutouts from the Student Union at CNU. It was a commercial kitchen so the sink cutouts are very large, some were over 48" long and 24" wide. I had to use a hydraulic table to move them to my truck.

I recently saved a large pallet of inch and a half thick blond marble from our Library construction project. It was headed for the dumpster, nobody wanted the stuff :) Last year I missed three truckloads of 24" square 1" thick blond marble tiles from another job, enough to put a new floor in a fair size room :( What i need now is to purchase a set of diamond polishing wheels and a grinder so I can start cutting plaques and polishing the edges. I have a piece of the blond marble in my truck to take to work today, it will be my first time trying to vcarve marble on the ShopBot.

The stuff that goes in dumpsters on construction jobs is sad. Steel, aluminum and copper is being recycled now but just about everything else goes to the dump :(

.

[Duncan Potter]

Did you have someone cut the square hole in the granite or did you do it yourself?

Nice looking table!

[scott spencer]

Nice! Very, very nice!

[Jim Becker]

Very nice...I bet the wood will slide across that top lickety-split. Seriously nice job on that!

And, of course, when you hold shop open houses, it will come in handy for the cheese roll station...LOL :D (sorry...couldn't resist)

[Dennis Lopeman]

I totally was thinking of using granite for a table or something!! I have a granite place up the street and I go take free pieces (wastes) every once in a while. Trying to come up with enough matching "big" pieces (like 3x3' is typical) to make an outdoor kitchen grill area.

But then I got to thinking - ppl sometimes mention that wood materials warp and change thicknesses, etc... Would Granite work?

Well - you answered that question! And VERY nicely. I like the metal plate (Freud) you used for the plate

I guess one of my other thoughts was I could not be assured how flat the slab was - but then it's machined so it should be pretty darn flat...

It would also be tough to put in T-slots, huh!!!

[Troy Cleckler]

It would also be tough to put in T-slots, huh!!!


Did you have someone cut the square hole in the granite or did you do it yourself?

Hey Dennis, as for the T-slots, I kinda wanted one only to attach a feather board to but this company is a counter top fabricator and the tools they use are cutting and polishing and edge work. They couldn't cut a dado in it so I'm thinking of a way to custom make a feather board that I can clamp on and make that work somehow.

Duncan, the insert plate hole was cut all the way through by the fabricator. I left the plate with them and the layout of where I wanted it. The only problem that I had was the plate was a really tight fit so I bought a diamond grinder blade and from the bottom side dressed up the corners a bit and now it fits perfect.

The only thing left to do now is build an auxiliary fence so as to use a larger raised panel bit. I'm thinking of building a split fence that I can bolt onto the slot in the incra fence. Haven't quite worked that out yet but can't wait to get all the small stuff done so I can start using it.

[Michael Schwartz]

Hey Dennis, as for the T-slots, I kinda wanted one only to attach a feather board to but this company is a counter top fabricator and the tools they use are cutting and polishing and edge work. They couldn't cut a dado in it so I'm thinking of a way to custom make a feather board that I can clamp on and make that work somehow.

Duncan, the insert plate hole was cut all the way through by the fabricator. I left the plate with them and the layout of where I wanted it. The only problem that I had was the plate was a really tight fit so I bought a diamond grinder blade and from the bottom side dressed up the corners a bit and now it fits perfect.

The only thing left to do now is build an auxiliary fence so as to use a larger raised panel bit. I'm thinking of building a split fence that I can bolt onto the slot in the incra fence. Haven't quite worked that out yet but can't wait to get all the small stuff done so I can start using it.

What about drilling a few holes and then gluing threaded inserts in with epoxy to bolt a featherbord too?

[Troy Cleckler]

What about drilling a few holes and then gluing threaded inserts in with epoxy to bolt a featherbord too?

There you go, Thinking again:D Excellent idea!

[Dennis Lopeman]

Hey Dennis, as for the T-slots, I kinda wanted one only to attach a feather board to but this company is a counter top fabricator and the tools they use are cutting and polishing and edge work. They couldn't cut a dado in it so I'm thinking of a way to custom make a feather board that I can clamp on and make that work somehow.



Well - I would NOT want to drill holes through it...

BUt try to picture this - make another "fence" on the front side that would clamp in some way on either side of the table... so you would have 2 fences - one is your Incra (or whichever it was) the other a home made one with T-slots in it! The you could make a feather board that would mount to the fence TSlot horizontally, with Oval long holes so you can tighten it flat to the surface... then move the whole fence up to the work piece.

Does that make sense? Maybe I oughta draw it... Somehow you have to clamp either side - maybe "build-in" a clamp to the fence... It would be a rigging, but functional - and you dont have to mess up that nice surface!!! Plus you can remove it when not in use...

[John Myers]

Wow! Nice table. BTW - where did you get the Freud mounting plate? I've been looking for those.

[Troy Cleckler]

Wow! Nice table. BTW - where did you get the Freud mounting plate? I've been looking for those.

John, I got the plate from a local Shop Fox / Delta dealer. I was in picking up a few things and seen a new Freud router table that he had and asked about ordering just the insert. He made a call and got it coming. It cost me about 69.00 which isn't an excellant buy but it's what I was looking for and I'm supporting my locally owned business. I also bought the incra ultra lite from him as well, got it for 100.00. So I guess I made up for the plate on this one.

[Dennis Lopeman]

Well here it is. Finally finished the table for the Granite top.:p The top was cut all the way through for the plate. So what I did was used 3/4" Birch Ply as a substraight and cut the hole 1" smaller and added spacers around it to bring the plate closer to the top. Added brass inserts and brass screws to level the plate and inserts with screws as hold downs for the plate.
The router that I'm using is a Freud FT1700VCE 2-1/2 hp with above the table adjustments and the fence is the Incra Ultra Light. I'm only going to use this fence system on this table so instead of clamping it using a larger piece of ply to the table I decided to use a smaller board and used epoxy to adhere it to the granite. Also will add some type of switch to the side of the table to make it easier to turn on and off.
Thanks for looking, tell me what you think.


Troy - I know that it's been like a year since your posting. I've finally gotten to the point where I'm ready to begin this project. I hope folks won't mind me rolling this thread again...

I was wondering if you could kindly post more pictures. Mainly, of detailed items specifically showing your construction methods and stuff. I'd like to see the insert pulled out and the "raw" granite underneath. Also, your leveling screws... and pictures of the epoxy’ed board for the fence... and whatever else one should consider when using granite...

I found a wet saw at HD for about $80. It takes 4 and 5" blades - I bought some granite blades from a place near me. I'm going to use it to cut the hole, but also the grooves for some T-slots... I'll approach it just like using a circular saw making dado's in wood... Not sure if i should use a router insert, or attempt to attach directly to the granite - it's pretty thick stuff!

I'm also thinking about using the "black" granite. I have my picks of any granite I want from that granite place up the street from me.

OH - and why did you make the table so square... and not rectangular? Maybe for a lot of working area - or free handing stuff? I may need to reread this thread to get reacquainted, huh!?

[Dennis Lopeman]

OH - and one more thing...

I cannot find ANY other examples of anyone doing this. Are there other resources that folks know about? Please enlighten me!

[Dennis Lopeman]

ping - still hoping to hear about my questions... :rolleyes:

[Craig Moulton]

Might be worth buying a CL skilsaw and a diamond blade and experimenting on scrap to cut T-Track slots. Should be doable, if you make a jig to control the side to side travel of the skilsaw base.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,

I found a wet saw at HD for about $80. It takes 4 and 5" blades - I bought some granite blades from a place near me. I'm going to use it to cut the hole, but also the grooves for some T-slots... I'll approach it just like using a circular saw making dado's in wood... Not sure if i should use a router insert, or attempt to attach directly to the granite - it's pretty thick stuff!

Google - cutting granite festool - and follow the first link (it's the Festool forum).

[Greg Hines, MD]

ping - still hoping to hear about my questions... :rolleyes:


I guess my question would be why would you want to mar the surface of such a nice table with any slots? If I were going to do it, I would not put a T-slot in it, as I would be worried that the upper lips of the T-slot would be fragile, and fracture. If I were to do anything to it, I would mill a miter slot, so that you can use Bench Dog or other miter slot fixtures in it. But, if all you are looking for is a feather board attachment, I would think that either a long traditional feather board, clamped in place, or one of those Magnetic feather boards, would be most appropriate, assuming you use a steel insert plate.

Doc

[Dennis Lopeman]

The granite that this fella used is not my first choice. I've worked with a bunch of this exact "species" and its very prone to chipping on the edges.

I have a granite place up the street from me. The often have big cutoffs of that black granite (like the stuff used in the new Steel City Table saws) - that stuff is heavy, dense, and has tight particles. It's much harder to cut.

It's like a hardwood is to pine... Black granite is to that pictured granite...

SO - that all being said - I think putting t-slot grooves in and then epoxying them in would be fine... You just need the right tools to make the cuts!

I suppose I could contract the granite place to do it all for me, huh!? I might just do that. hmmmmmmmmmm...

[Jason White]

Where's the faucet??
:D



Well here it is. Finally finished the table for the Granite top.:p The top was cut all the way through for the plate. So what I did was used 3/4" Birch Ply as a substraight and cut the hole 1" smaller and added spacers around it to bring the plate closer to the top. Added brass inserts and brass screws to level the plate and inserts with screws as hold downs for the plate.
The router that I'm using is a Freud FT1700VCE 2-1/2 hp with above the table adjustments and the fence is the Incra Ultra Light. I'm only going to use this fence system on this table so instead of clamping it using a larger piece of ply to the table I decided to use a smaller board and used epoxy to adhere it to the granite. Also will add some type of switch to the side of the table to make it easier to turn on and off.
Thanks for looking, tell me what you think.
http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u154/tcleckler/GRANITEROUTERTABLE001.jpg
http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u154/tcleckler/GRANITEROUTERTABLE002.jpg
http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u154/tcleckler/GRANITEROUTERTABLE003.jpg
http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u154/tcleckler/GRANITEROUTERTABLE004.jpg

[Jim Kountz]

I was reading this and thinking, what would be the feasibility of using a suction attached featherboard setup?? I got the idea from my gps on my windshield. That thing holds really tight so I would think a featherboard with a couple of these suction cups would more than hold it in place.
Just a thought.