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Thread: New Router Setup

  1. #16
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Helensburgh, Australia
    Posts
    2,700
    Google "just another router table build" and follow the first link. The dust collection on that table is beyond criticism and it is all done through the table and cost basically nothing. You will have to register to see the pictures I think but there is a wealth of information on modern control and dust extraction for router tables being assembled in that forum.
    Chris

    Everything I like is either illegal, immoral or fattening

  2. #17
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Coastal Southern Maine
    Posts
    350
    Chris, did you mean "yet another router table build"?

  3. #18
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Manistique, Michigan
    Posts
    1,367
    Two years ago I purchased a Triton 3-1/4 HP router and love it. It was designed for a router table with the lift built into the router. It is actually a plunge router and comes with a handle so that when the router is installed in a table, the handle is used to adjust the height of the bit - just like a lift. You do have to lock the plunge when you get the bit adjusted so it doesn't drift. The cooling air for the motor goes towards the bit so dust extraction actually helps motor cooling. Keep in mind this router replaced a Freud 3-1/4 HP router, so this was a huge step up.

    I have an MLCS router table top wilth the fence and dust extraction - nothing special but it works for now. It is mounted on a cabinet that my uncle made and I ended up with it. Its a decent cabinet - something I couldn't find the time to make.
    Thank you,

    Rich Aldrich

    65 miles SE of Steve Schlumpf.

    "To a pessimist, the glass is half empty; to an optimist, the glass is half full; to an engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be." Unknown author



  4. #19
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Helensburgh, Australia
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    2,700
    Quote Originally Posted by Frank Drackman View Post
    Chris, did you mean "yet another router table build"?
    Yes, sorry for the typo, senility is to blame.
    Chris

    Everything I like is either illegal, immoral or fattening

  5. #20
    My router table is shaped like Norm's but it has a home made lift based upon a design in an old American Woodworker article. It has two 1 inch diameter machined steel rods I got from McMaster Carr. I have in the box + fence dust collection. When I had a DC it worked well. With a shop vac, there isn't enough air flow. I have another DC but it isn't set up yet. I set the dust collection in the box where it pulls from up where the collet is. That way it doesn't pull against the fan of the router motor.

  6. #21
    Join Date
    Nov 2014
    Location
    Johannesburg, ZA
    Posts
    51
    Quote Originally Posted by Frank Drackman View Post
    Chris, did you mean "yet another router table build"?
    That yields less than perfect results for me ????

    Annotation 2019-03-25 125953.jpg

  7. #22
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Helensburgh, Australia
    Posts
    2,700
    Chris

    Everything I like is either illegal, immoral or fattening

  8. #23
    Join Date
    Nov 2014
    Location
    Johannesburg, ZA
    Posts
    51
    Google not Youtube duh

  9. #24
    Join Date
    Mar 2016
    Location
    Millstone, NJ
    Posts
    1,590
    I bought the jessem before they added the casters and stock guides and a motor to this package. I built up the stand (easily i might add, 1/2 ply has fits a slot in the legs) added 2 drawers and built a box around the upper section and added a dust port. It works very well. I am very satisfied with this setup with the exception that I would have bought the sawstop setup if it were available at the time I bought this.
    https://jessem.com/collections/route...cel-ii-package

  10. #25
    Quote Originally Posted by Frank Drackman View Post
    Thanks for all of the great information. I guess it is time to investigate the different brands and products. I have plenty of routers so I think that I will look at getting a router motor instead of a complete router. I'm aware of the Porter-Cable 75182, the Jessem Pow-R-Tek & the Portamate. Are there others that you recommend?
    I recently purchased the Jessem PowRTek. I absolutely love the remote speed control. I also purchased the MastRLift II. So far I've been very happy with it. So far, I've not had to open the door at all for anything

    I like your idea of collecting the box from the bottom. I gave up on trying to collect the box, as it was too much for my shop vac to handle. Rather, I just vacuum it out regularly.

    Keep in mind there needs to be enough inflow to collect whichever way you go.

  11. #26
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Helensburgh, Australia
    Posts
    2,700
    Quote Originally Posted by John Patric View Post
    Google not Youtube duh
    Enjoy a great read on what is without doubt the most advanced router table with the best dust extraction possible, it is simply a router table way ahead of anything else. I am building the same RT using a CNC spindle which is way better in every way than a router motor.
    Chris

    Everything I like is either illegal, immoral or fattening

  12. #27
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    Carlisle, Pa
    Posts
    285
    Blog Entries
    1
    Quote Originally Posted by Robert Engel View Post
    I recently purchased the Jessem PowRTek. I absolutely love the remote speed control. I also purchased the MastRLift II. So far I've been very happy with it. So far, I've not had to open the door at all for anything
    Robert,

    Now that you had the PowRTek for a little while. How do you like it? Any issues?
    I'm thinking of getting one and any advise would be appreciated.

    All the Best
    Curt

  13. #28
    I had a setup in the extension table of my table saw and it included a box with a door around the router for dust collection. 4 inch hose in the bottom. The dust collection was good (also had a collection point on the fence) but I thought the router was getting hot. The DC is pulling air from the collet to the top of the motor and the cooling fan of the router is trying to pull it from the top of the motor to the collet. So they fight each other.

    My current and probably final router table is shaped like Norm's but has a home made lift which is based upon plans from an American Woodworking article. You can use any router motor you want and it slides on 1 inch machined steel bars attached to the back of the router table. That allows the top to tilt up for bit changes. Works really well. I do not have the dust collection hooked up right, I modified it to try using just the shop vac and it was not powerful enough. But it is built to have a 4 inch hose into the router compartment but pulling from the collet area - so it helps and does not fight the cooling fan. That plus a connection on the fence worked well with my old 1hp Delta and I am confident it will work even better with my 2hp HF.

    If you are doing this for a living and time is money, it probably makes sense to buy a router table. But if it is a hobby, as it is for me, I think that a router table is a great thing to just make. A heavy wood structure helps dampen vibration and the home built one can work at least as well as a commercial one.

    I also added a setup on the back of the table so it can be used with the router horizontal. I do not use it much but it has been handy a time or two.
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