# In progress router table



## colinc (21 Mar 2006)

Having been following CD's topic on his router table I thought I'd show progress so far on my own efforts. Am now 2 part weekends into the project and enjoying it. It's based upon the one in Woodworking with the Router by Bill Hylton just like George mentioned in CD's topic. 







The plan called for the drawers to be bit holders but having decided I'll never be able to afford (or need) eight drawers worth, I've made them conventional ply boxes instead with planted on fronts. have finished the bottom four, the upper four in the photo are just faces so far.

Have built it from 18mm birch ply with edging, plinth and drawers from some leftover french oak floorboards. I have yet to make the top but it will be two layers of 18mm mdf with formica top and bottom - if I can locate some white formica locally. I have some (red) to hand but the surface is not the smoothest, it has a slight texture to it and I'd prefer the sort I used to be able to buy at the local diy shop.

I've bought a Unilift from Woodworkersworkshop and am now researching fence designs if anyone has any suggestions.

Edit: I meant to ask if anyone could suggest a suitable top size and spindle position that might suit the smaller (17") Incra LS (in case I can ever afford it) I'd be grateful.

regards

Colin


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## AndyG (22 Mar 2006)

How good it that!! Very smart. Beats my bit of ply with a router hanging under it by miles!!
Andy


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## Midnight (22 Mar 2006)

have a look at Pat Warner's router table fence... awesome piece of design...


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## colinc (22 Mar 2006)

Thanks Andy, still a way to go yet though.

Mike, yes I have seen Pat Warner'd fence, I'm sure that I had an article on it somewhere but cannot find it. there is a bit on his website.

regards

Colin


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## Waka (23 Mar 2006)

Colin

Nice start on the table, out of interest what are you using for the top and insert?


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## Chris Knight (23 Mar 2006)

Colin,
That's a very nice looking router table. Only an Incra fence will do it justice! Possibly a Jointech which I am not familiar with but looks as if it will do a similar job.


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## colinc (23 Mar 2006)

Waka, am planning making a top from two layers of mdf with formica top & bottom. I have a sheet of red that will be fine for the bottom but am searching out some white for the top. If I can't find it I may just go with mdf sealed and waxed, never been a problem in my horizontal table.

The insert is a Unilift - the tax man sent me some cash back so I splashed out. Have got a good deal (£190 inc vat) on a DW625EK to go in it. Also bought an eliminator chuck which makes up for the lost height due to the unilift without being too long - bit changes should be easy from above too.

My motivation to do all this came from realising just how flexible the mounting plate is in my old table - it wasn't too flat either and I think this will solve those issues. I was making rebates around 4 sides of some box tops recently and the wandering was quite noticeable in the finished product.

Chris, am tempted by the incra and was thinking I should size the top accordingly. I was hoping that someone could suggest dimensions. The book drawing calls for 30" (or 36") wide x 24" deep. I think the incra will need deeper.

regards

Colin


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## RogerS (23 Mar 2006)

Colin

re Incra and router tables, you might find this thread useful

Mmmmm...What Incra should I buy?


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## colinc (23 Mar 2006)

Roger, thanks for that link. Neil has created a very useful source there and I do like his extra fence too. I don't know how I missed that post in the first place. I do believe I have a suitable piece of aluminium around somewhere.

I may have to start thinking seriously about the incra but for now I'd be happy to track down some white formica locally.

regards

Colin


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## Neil (23 Mar 2006)

Hi Colin,

This post has more details about the add-on fence I made, and this one has the table size for the Incra Ultra-Lite. 

Hope that helps - nice cabinet BTW  

Cheers,
Neil


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## tx2man (23 Mar 2006)

Looking good Colin,
I made the same one from Bill Hylton's book as well as the
horizontal R T., both of which work well.
Regarding the bit drawers, i use one for collet spanners, height guides,
etc. Another one for drill bits, using the same method of arrangement
as the router bits, except the holes are angled so the drawer will shut.
The rest for router bits.
I altered the height of the table and added locking casters, so it can be used as an extension to my TS

Cheers TX


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## Mcluma (24 Mar 2006)

That is going to be a very nice kit.

Can't wait to see it in action


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## Jaco (26 Mar 2006)

Colin, nice job!
Built same one number of years ago.
Make all the draws, good for storing the spanners and other odds and ends for the router, as well as the bits.
One mistake i made was on the base. I find there is not enough "foot" space when i stand using it.
Looking forward to see the complete unit!
Phil


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## colinc (26 Mar 2006)

Hi, have made a bit more progress now. Cabinet's virtually done now. I finished the drawers yesterday and made the top today. It is a very substantial unit now. My wife did comment that it has more handles than the bedside cabinets (I think that was a hint as have getting around to those for ages). The bit of board in the middle drops into two dados in the sides to form the back of the router compartment - I need to think about extraction now.






I have to decide now what to do with the top. It's two layers of 18mm mdf edged with oak. I was planning surfacing it with formica but am struggling to lay my hands on a suitable piece of white at a sensible price. I've been reading a router book by Pat Warner that I bought of Ebay last week and he seems quite happy to recommend plain mdf. I may just seal it and use it like this - what do people think about that? 

The top is 37 1/2 wide x 25 1/2 deep - not deep enough for the incra but I can always make another or add a bracket if I go that way - another reason for keeping it cheap for now.

I am about ready to cut out the top recess for the unilift but decided to save that for another day as it was getting late and there's no room for error there.

regards

Colin


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## tibbs (26 Mar 2006)

colinc":2yi47z7c said:


> I've been reading a router book by Pat Warner that I bought of Ebay last week and he seems quite happy to recommend plain mdf. I may just seal it and use it like this - what do people think about that?



I seem to remember reading somewhere about someone using spray varnish on their MDF top & then wax polishing it - I was going to try that out myself on a scrap piece in due course just to see if it might be adequate - getting hold of laminate at sensible prices seems to be a general problem in the UK, so I'm hoping it might prove to be a viable alternative.

Richard


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## MikeW (27 Mar 2006)

> I have to decide now what to do with the top. It's two layers of 18mm mdf edged with oak. I was planning surfacing it with formica but am struggling to lay my hands on a suitable piece of white at a sensible price. I've been reading a router book by Pat Warner that I bought of Ebay last week and he seems quite happy to recommend plain mdf. I may just seal it and use it like this - what do people think about that?


Hi Colin,

Quite a nice cabinet! Probably nicer than my bedside cabinets which I too have never gotten around to updating :roll: 

As Richard indicates, lacquer or shellac, then buffed with 0000 steel wool or very fine sandpaper and waxed MDF is great stuff for a tabletop.

Here in the US, Formica is dirt cheap and readily available and still nearly every shop I have been into simply uses MDF as above. I prefer to actually oil the stuff with Teak oil [it dries fastest] for a nice color and then shelleac and wax as I always have shellac mixed on hand. But even a spary can of lacquer works well for the film finish. Just don't use any type of poly as it will create a sticky surface.

Take care--as mentioned, the cabinet looks great.

Mike


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## tibbs (27 Mar 2006)

MikeW":s930syna said:


> Just don't use any type of poly as it will create a sticky surface.



Ahhh - thanks for that Mike - just saved me an abortive first attempt.

I'm not much up with finishes etc yet - Do you think this Acrylic Lacquer Spray would be adequate ?

Richard


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## colinc (27 Mar 2006)

Had a bit of luck, made a few calls today and Harlows in Derby had just had a delivery of white formica sheets - that has solved my dilemma about finishing the top.

regards

Colin


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## Neomorph (27 Mar 2006)

colinc":28dv1dby said:


> Had a bit of luck, made a few calls today and Harlows in Derby had just had a delivery of white formica sheets - that has solved my dilemma about finishing the top.
> 
> regards
> 
> Colin



How much are they are going to cost you? Remember you need to formica both sides of the top to stop it warping apparently.

I've heard of a few other ways of doing the low friction surface which starts off with sealing the mdf, applying several coats of lacquer and then finish it off with clear wax buffed off to a shine. Apparently it works really good and is extrememly low friction.


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## colinc (27 Mar 2006)

Neo,

I bought a 10ft x 4ft sheet for £27 + vat. I thought that was a good price. I already had some of a dull red colour that I bought from my local timber merchants as old stock for £1 for a 6ft x 4ft sheet so that's gone on the underside. - so cost of material used is about £10 - I spent that much on glue too.

Please excuse the mess in the workshop - I tidy between jobs or when I can't find a flat surface to use - I do envy those tidy people.

I would have been quite happy to go the waxed mdf route too but for an evenings work I have a nice result:











I have laminated both sides and tidied up the edges with a small chamfer. Now I have to make a big hole in it.... Actually, am making a template and will practice on scrap first.

By the way, I've been following your fence ideas with interest - best of luck.

regards

Colin


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## Neomorph (28 Mar 2006)

Colin that thing is't a router station... it's a piece of bedroom furniture.  

I'm very impressed with it to say the least. Is it from the New Yankee Workshop plans? My one is going to be somewhat different as I have very limited space and so will be on gate legs to enable it to fold down when I'm not using it. My biggest concern is going to be stopping the top warping as it won't have the support your nice cabinet has. Only having a 10'x6' shed to work in you see.

What wood did you use for your drawer fronts and doors?


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## Chris Knight (28 Mar 2006)

Colin,
It looks very good indeed. That was a great price on the laminate - very timely!


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## colinc (28 Mar 2006)

Thanks for the encouraging comments, it has been an enjoyable project and has dragged me back to the workshop after the winter layoff.

The design came from Woodworking with the Router by Bill Hylton & Fred Matlack. ISBN 1861081286, currently on offer at £11.18 on Amazon - well worth buying.

The drawer fronts, carcase & table edging and plinth are made of some french oak floorboards I've had hanging around for ages. I used the best part of an 8x4 of birch ply for the carcase and about 4x3 of 10mm birch ply for the drawer boxes. The top is two layers of 18mm mdf.

I think if I was short of space I'd still build a decent cabinet like this, a 3x2ft top is plent big enough, then make an mdf top to drop over it for protection when not in use. That way you get a good router table and additional general work surface with built in storage - think about it. 

I think I'm lucky as far as space goes, I have a double garage with a 16ft x 8ft workshop behind.

regards

Colin


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## Neomorph (28 Mar 2006)

One of the reasons I'm making it the way I am is that I can move it out of the shed and onto the drive. That way I've got some decent amount of space to work with. Having the top drop down will mean it's easier to get through the doorway. If I had more space I wouldn't hesitate to make one like yours.

As they say... "necessity is the mother of invention."


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## colinc (6 Apr 2006)

I made more progress over the weekend - and I finally raised the courage to make the hole in the top for the plate.

I don't know if it's the approved way but I made a template from 18mm mdf for the actual cut. To make that I accurately cut the four corner radii (at 3/4" rad) then placed the plate over that and nailed four battens around it. I then nailed some more inside to give the router something to run on and cut the opening with a 3/4 template following bit (my first buy from Wealden - excellent next day service). I did nick the template in a couple of places but filled and sanded them smooth.

To cut the top I clamped the template in place and ran a groove all around just over 3/8" deep. I was a bit stumped by the actual hole as I only had a 30mm guide bush and a 1/2" worktop cutter to hand which would have left imo too little lip for the plate to sit on. However a wander around the garage produced a length of plastic drain pipe which was a tight fit over the bush and gave me about an extra 3mm on the lip. Several passes around the template at increasing depth soon had the hole done.

The corner radii turned out to be too tight a fit on the plate, I had made them too big fortunately, but otherwise the template was fine. I scribed the corner lines from the plate and then relieved the corners with a small drum sander in a drill - worked great and I got a perfect fit, much to my relief  

Here's a picture of it in situ:







A check for flatness showed that my previously perfect top had taken a slight bow but I worked out that the left and right supports were not perfectly aligned and by screwing the top on tight I had distorted it - amazing when you consider that it's 2x18mm thicknesses of mdf. An appropriate shim cured that problem and it is now as flat as I am able to measure.

Am very pleased with the job as a whole and it was a good way of getting warmed up after the winter layoff. I still have to think through dust collection but I'll use it for a bit first to assess the problem. I guess that I should give the thing a coat of something too just to keep it clean.

It wasn't a cheap exercise, the Unilift was expensive but is real quality. I keep thinking that I should motorize it as at 1/32" a turn it takes a bit of winding (cheap electric screwdriver perhaps for the peak of laziness). It's incredibly rigid and am looking forward to using it in anger.

Bit changing is very easy as I fitted an Eliminator Chuck. The top of the chuck rises to just a couple of mm below the working surface and changes are so much easier than with a conventional collet and all done from above.

I've started making a fence tonight based on a micro-adjustable one published in GWW although I can see that this is an area for development. I haven't bothered with tee track for now as I want to see what needs develop.



regards

Colin


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## Adam (6 Apr 2006)

Looks great.

Adam


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## Chris Knight (6 Apr 2006)

Colin,

It looks very smart. Re Tee track- you will find that 90% of what you need a Tee track for can be done by using the front of the table as a registration aid with suitable sleds for example.


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## Neomorph (6 Apr 2006)

If you want T-Track get it from Wood Workers Workshop. It comes to less than half of the price of the cost from Axminster would you believe (£10.95 for 48" from WWW)


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## devonwoody (6 Apr 2006)

Triton have a very good fence which fits their router table, I would give the Triton agents a telephone call in Wales (Hills Industries) and they might supply the fence or let you order opne from an agent.
The beauty of the triton fence is that it has a chip top extractor, finger guard (keeps you away from the rotating bit) and a very hand moveable fence with calibrations marked up. It should fit your table without modifications.


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## ajbell (12 Apr 2006)

Colin

Very impressed with your table. I am working on the same project
but you are making much more progress!

I see you have cut a dado in the divider sides for the router compartment
back. I think I will copy your "improvement" on the original plans.

I really liked your use of oak for the doors and drawers - I have already
bought the ply so will use it now.
Still need to order the illusive laminate for the top!

Andy


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## colinc (12 Apr 2006)

Thanks - have still to sort extraction but was brought up to do the experiments first, and then find the solution, so am leaving it until I've used it for a while. See pm re laminate.

Colin


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