Router Table

[xiphidius]

At some point in the future I would like to make a simple Router Table mostly from Plywood.
Has anyone built one?
What do I need (ie plates etc), has anyone got plans or links.....it must be simplistic for a novice.
Many Thanks
Regards
C

 

[MattRoberts]

I've built a few. My latest version is this - an oak worktop offcut with a Kreg insert plate.

I have the Triton TRA001 router underneath, which has its own raising mechanism built in:

They're simple enough to make - you just trim a recess for a plate and then attach a router underneath.

Before this set up, I had a 1/4 inch dewalt router attached via its fixed base underneath (which let me screw advance the router up and down, and then a piece of acrylic as the insert plate with a hole cut in it using a forstner bit.

And before that, I had a DIY lift using two vertical drawer runners.

So as you can see, plenty of options available. Just search on YouTube for DIY router table or router lift

What router do you have / are planning on using?

 

[Lons]

Mine is attached to my saw table like Matts however I used a cheap Rutlands table as thought by the time I bought the track and fence it wasn't worth making. I've since adapted it to take an Incra insert and Router Razer lift instead of the cr*p insert in the pics

 

[xiphidius]

Great advice there guys, plenty of ideas...I'm liking the scrap worktop idea as I dont mind building a little table or utilising an existing one.
I only have a hobbyist small cheap router Argos special. small chuck size (good enough for me for now) but certainly is no Big Boys toy. I will buy a better one later. Thanks for the advice guys appreciated. That profiles did you use for the guide rails, router aperture etc..how do you secure them in position (clamping)
Regards
C

 

[MattRoberts]

With an insert plate, you position the plate in place on the surface, and then use some strong double sided tape to stick down some small strips of wood around the perimeter. You can then use a pattern cutting bit to create the recess

https://goo.gl/images/Ko6CL5

 

[xiphidius]

Thanks again Matt.....tell me more about the actual fences over the router after its been fitted to run against sliders...what do you use (homemade) how do you make them and anything surrounding these ...stops etc.....
Also I noticed your dust extraction system (blue barrel with some sort of concertina on top) could you explain this also hahaha
Sorry for the newbie numpty questions
Regards
C

 

[sunnybob]

My first router table was a 3 ft offcut of kitchen work surface. I outgrew that very quickly due to its wavy surface.
I'm on my third table now and its 90 cm x 80 cm x 40 mm of melamine faced chipboard on a (very) home made set of drawers with a home made lift made of a couple of sticks and a crank handle on the front. It doesnt have to be expensive or look good to do a good job..

2 important things;
1/ The kreg plate is very easy to fit and cheaply priced, but they are prone to minor warpage. I'm on my second.
Kreg service is first class, I reported the ripple in mine and got another sent free of charge by return post. But this one is now showing signs of uneveness. Its very small, but I only make small things and it shows up. I wont buy another kreg, I will buy a metal plate.

2/ Following on from above, the router table has to flat. I mean F.L.A.T. Normal worksurfaces and plywood arent flat enough to give perfect results.

1 not so important but useful thing; make it as big as you have room for. Having a flat layout table that is also a router table is very useful indeed.

 

[Eric The Viking]

I came back from one of Peter Sefton's open days recently with a piece of this:

https://woodworkersworkshop.co.uk/products/woodpeckers-track-super-track
I think it's brilliant... as a router fence.

I've cut mine (on the mitre saw!) so that I have a leftover piece for possibly a cross-cutting sled one day. I put a notch in it for the cutter, and the two different sets of slots (each side) mean I can mount it differently depending on what I'm doing, for example as a support for a tall fence.

Re-making the table top has been on the to-do list for yonks, when I do, I may well get another strip and let it in to the surface as the diagram, because having several slots available would be very good for things like featherboards.

Anyway, it's simple and jolly useful.

E.

PS: one tiny caveat -- it is intended for imperial sizes of machine screw (as shown holding it down in the picture). You can adapt coach bolts (dome-headed ones with a square bit at the top under the head), by grinding two flats on them, or simply make bigger metric machine screws narrower, or just use the intended imperial nuts and bolts. It was slightly annoying to notice this, but not a showstopper by any means. Just sayin'.

PPS: if anyone tells you that you need a split fence, so you can set infeed and outfeed planes at different distances from the axis of the cutter, just smile inwardly and walk away. Mine was a bought router table, and that "flexibility" has caused more wasted time and frustration than any other aspect of the design (which isn't very good). A one-pice straight, rigid and square fence (with a notch for the cutter), and with the abiltiy to clamp stuff to it easily, is the way to go. All other paths lead to madness...

 

[MattRoberts]

Thanks again Matt.....tell me more about the actual fences over the router after its been fitted to run against sliders...what do you use (homemade) how do you make them and anything surrounding these ...stops etc.....
Also I noticed your dust extraction system (blue barrel with some sort of concertina on top) could you explain this also hahaha
Sorry for the newbie numpty questions
Regards
C

I use my tablesaw fence as the router fence. Lots of people make their own, usually using T Track so that it can be adjusted and then locked in place.

That dust extractor in the picture is actually a thien baffle for my tablesaw. I just use a shop vac / cyclone setup for the router

 

[xiphidius]

Cheers guys lots of food for thought there..lots of ideas to run with and perhaps develop
Thank you.. its very much appreciated.

 

[Rustyroots]

I'm in the process of designing one myself, but need to hang on until I get a new router. There are loads of videoes online youtube that would be easy enough to copy.

Rusty