Grizzly Router Table with Stand

[Edward Henry]

I am a rank novice just beginning wood worker with lots to learn I bought a Grizzly T10432 - Router Table with Stand 2 years ago and just getting around to putting the Porter Cable router on it that I purchased the same day. I had issues lining it up so I took it to Grizzly and they kindly aligned and drilled the mounting holes for me, However in the process of drilling they chipped out the top surface badly on two of the screw holes, did not counter sink deep enough, and stripped the top threads slightly on the router body (Unless it came from the factory like that as I never touched the router till yesterday) I am trying to decide on buying a replacement plate but am worried as when we tried to put mine into their display my plate was slightly larger and did not fit. Or a 3rd party plate, OR save up and buy a Kreg router Table and lift or similar quality. Never used a router yet and was hoping to learn before starting to try and make some scroll saw signs then use a cove or round over bit to dress up the edges.

What would you all do? I was informed that Grizzly is not responsible as it is not a "Service" the employee was just trying to help, and it has sat in my Garage 2 years so no warranty.

If honest with myself I am not confident in the quality or flatness of this table. Worse case scenario I can re-purpose it as a table to hold my small sander.
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[Alex Zeller]

The plates don't seam to have a standard size. 9 1/4" x 11 3/4" seams to be the size that Kreg and Woodpeckers use. If I was going to replace the router plate I would want to go to that size. But to do it would require you to modify the table top to make it fit. I get the feeling that this might be something you may not feel comfortable with doing yet. You can get a template that will guide your router to make the correct size hole.

Or you could just buy a new top for it along with a new insert. The MDF currently on your router table needs to be well supported or it will start to sag. Replacing it with a phenolic top with the size opening for what ever insert you replace it with would be a step up. I'm not sure how much, if any savings it would be over just buying a whole new table. I have seen a Woodpecker's replacement table that should allow you to use the current fence you have.

If you are just starting out you could just use what you have to get your feet wet. If a hole is not countersunk deep enough you can pick up a bit and as long as you have a drill make it deeper. The chipping shouldn't be too much of an issue and you might be able to put a nut under the stripped hole. I suspect that if you go this route it'll help give you insight as to what you really would like in a router table. I have a cast iron dedicated router table that was great when I got it but now that I have a router in a table saw extension and a shaper I rarely use it. You may decide that a power lift is what you really want so spending money now on a manual one might be money not well spent.

[Edward Henry]

I am a disabled Vet trying to learn enough wood working to pay off the $7,000 I paid for the shop tools, and earn an extra $879 or less each month (Over that I risk loosing my Social Security).

I am hoping to learn to make scroll sawed and eventually CNC'd signs to sell (No clue what to price them at yet) and got the router table and a Porter Cable 8902 router in the hopes I could learn to make some nicer shaped signs that did not look like straight edge slaps of wood.

Here are a few images of a test cut on thin cheap paneling to see if I could cut the type of signs, and a few images of designs I have made on the computer in Silhouette Design Studio (I also know how to make them in Inkscape) I know I need to increase the gap between the 2 different fonts. they will be made with 1/4-3/4" wood once I feel I am good enough to make the designs a reality. I hope they are worth the effort and learning curve.

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[Edward Henry]

Bought a new router plate, If this one chips out I will upgrade to a Kreg router table setup.