Dream Router Table?

[Eduard Nemirovsky]

I am planning to build a "dream" router table. I decided that I will buy the best router table top - BenchDog cast iron, best router lift - BenchDog Pro and will build Deluxe router Station from NW shop. Router - i want to buy PC 3 1/4hp motor or Milwaukee motor with remote. I planning to use this router only for table, I do have others for hand works.
But all these best items in a list - only my opinion base on info I have.
What will be your BEST router table system, or what will be your dream system, please?

[Don Bullock]

Edward, that sounds like a great dream to me. I'd love to have the funds to do exactly the same thing with the addition to an Incra LS Positioner Super System.

[Keith Outten]

Edward,

If you really want the best your going to have to get your router table from Quality Grinding and Machine. They are new on the horizon but their quality and features are certainly the best in the business IMO.

Visit their FreeStuff thread that is onging right now for more details. They also have a thread concerning their upcoming free standng router table that will be available real quick. The advantages of steel over cast iron are significant, do yourself a favor and consider Quality Grinding.
.

[Jim Becker]

If you really want the best your going to have to get your router table from Quality Grinding and Machine.

Keith beat me to it!! I know that Chris is planning a router table "as we speak". Perhaps you can work with him on that project and be one of the first for the "dream" router table setup...

[Barry Richardson]

Nice! but sounds very expensive! BTW, what's the purpose of a remote on a router as you mentioned?

[frank shic]

earlier this year i constructed a four router table station to do raised panel doors and drawer fronts. unfortunately, the router plate for the panel raiser took up all the space that was supposed to be used for the dust port

the other mistake i made was building the base entirely out of face frames so that i could have ready access to all the routers. once i start rolling it out of the garage - since dust collection is so poor - everything starts racking and the doors start coming out of alignment.

otherwise it's pretty convenient not having to swap out routers or bits when it comes time to build raised panel doors although lately i've been trying to do them by hand

[pat warner]

A variation on the theme that has served me well. Designed from a medium duty shaper.

[Eduard Nemirovsky]

Nice! but sounds very expensive! BTW, what's the purpose of a remote on a router as you mentioned?

Barry, I am talking about Milwaukee 3-1/2 Max HP EVS motor with power and variable speed controls moved down the cord to a remote control box, sell by Woodcraft.
Keith, thank you for reminding me about Quality Grinding and Machine top. I agreed , it is a very good quality. I will think about it too.
Anybody has a remarks about lift?

[Bob Genovesi]

My best router table system.

[Don Bullock]

Edward,

If you really want the best your going to have to get your router table from Quality Grinding and Machine. ...The advantages of steel over cast iron are significant, do yourself a favor and consider Quality Grinding.
.

As usual, someone has a better idea than I do. Keith is correct. I'm looking forward to seeing their new "free standing" table.

[Eduard Nemirovsky]

My best router table system.

Bob, I did look at molder, but with my limited knowledge of this machine - it is not for me. First, I am hobbyist, second I will be very restricted in bits I can put on and third - speed control for machine restricted and feeding speed for material difficult to manage without power feeder.

[Jim Becker]

Edward, on the lift question, there are several choices that will fit the router you have chosen quite nicely. I happen to be using the BenchDog lift and really like it a lot. Chris would have no problem machining the top to fit, either.

[Eric DeSilva]

Bob, I did look at molder, but with my limited knowledge of this machine - it is not for me.

I'd think about that again... Between the Bench Dog top ($300+), Lift ($300+), and Milwaukee ($500?), you are looking at more than I spent for a nearly new JET 25Cs 3HP shaper *and* a never used Grizzly 2HP power feeder from Craigslist. I've got a bench dog extension on my TS, but having a dedicated shaper makes a world of difference. Its a solid, solid machine, adjustment is easier, and it is capable of spinning big bits. All the little high RPM bits I use I can slap in my Bosch Colt...

For the record, I'm a hobbyist too...

[Sonny Edmonds]

... but I built mine into my TS side table so it shares the out feed of the Table Saw.
I missed the first shipment of the Bench Dog Pro Lifts when they first became available, so mine is from the second production batch.
That is after waiting for 4 months for them to come on the market.
But true to their word, I got mine as soon as the second run was boxed and shipped. And not have I ever been disappointed for the wait!
Built in the deep run roots of the Norths impeccable machinists who pride themselves on their accuracy and finish. If you appreciate fine machining, you'll love your lift as much as I do mine.

Since I had a Rousseau plate in the hole already, I had to remake the table for the narrower Pro Lift plate. But I also reinforced the table while doing it.
I bought a refurbished PC 7518 router to get my motor for the lift. Since all but one of my hand held are PC as well, collets abound in my shop for 1/2" or 1/4" bits. (Some of the tiny intricate patterns I run only come in 1/4" shafts.)

The 8 TPI Acme screw in the Bench Dog has worked flawlessly. And I have never had or felt I needed to adjust the anti-backlash on it. But it shows their fore thought in going the extra miles to incorporate it into their design.
(Acme threads are the same design you'll find on most fine machinery like metal working lathes and mills, down to the lowly C-clamp and pipe clamps.)

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the Pro Lift, nor any other equipment made by Bench Dog, based on my experience with it in my shop. They didn't offer tables or Table Saw wings back when I bought mine, so I built it in myself.

I made a purchase of a Band Saw Mill, thinking it would be a nice addition to my band saw. Well, as soon as I opened the box and pulled it out I knew it wouldn't work for me, nor for its advertised use either. So I shelved it thinking maybe someday I'd find a use for it.
I did.
When I built my fence system for my router station it became the adjusting mechanism for the fence. Also an 8 TPI Acme screw, it allows for the lateral sneak on progressive cuts while the Bench Dog lift allows for the vertical adjustment.

Some pictures for Ya:

My fence set-up: (Old shop)

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Why I made two stations: (Rousseau Plates, two 690 PC's, and a PC Oscillating Spindle Sander. All share the same dust collection box.)

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Great collet access: (This main station has it's own dust collection box and through the fence dust collection as well. Works nearly 100 % of collection. And it does not take a drill motor to raise the collet wide of the table.)

[Sonny Edmonds]

[quote=Eric DeSilva;997789]I'd think about that again... Between the Bench Dog top ($300+), Lift ($300+), and Milwaukee ($500?), you are looking at more than I spent for a nearly new JET 25Cs 3HP shaper *and* a never used Grizzly 2HP power feeder from Craigslist. I've got a bench dog extension on my TS, but having a dedicated shaper makes a world of difference. Its a solid, solid machine, adjustment is easier, and it is capable of spinning big bits. All the little high RPM bits I use I can slap in my Bosch Colt...

For the record, I'm a hobbyist too...[/quote]

But, a shaper is a shaper. And is limited to the cutting attachments available (and their whore house pricing).
Where with a Router table set up and a hand full of bits, you (I) can create many different custom patterned moldings.
The limit is imagination, not what the supplier can supply.