Router insert plate

[Scruples]

Hi all

I have a cheap and cheerful, free-standing router table. I use a 1/2" router. It works OK but I'd like to get something a little better, so -

Is a 10mm thick aluminium plate the thing to go for?
Is a 1/2" router really necessary for small, light routing or would a 1/4" router bo OK for most projects? (mine is hobby stuff with ply and pine mostly, although I have a slab of mahogany waiting for a project).
I can see that it makes life easier to have a router lift. Are they worth it and do they give you better setting and control of router height?
Are there any other DIYers out there that have got router inserts, with a lift, who could recommend their choices?

Any helpful information or recommendations would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Spectric]

You will find a 1/2 router with the added power so much easier to use and get good results. 1/2 shank cutters are more rigid and come in larger sizes so you are not restricted in what you can do, even a 1/2 router on some jobs needs multiple passes so leave the smaller router to those hand held smaller jobs.

 

[HOJ]

I would suggest thinking more about your intended needs, demands and intentions, the more you rely on a router and its capabilities, the more in the way of an investment you may need to make.

However, I'm not a diyer so don't qualify, and most "woodworkers" would be horrified with my setup's, I have a little 1/4" DeWalt mains router jammed in a home made table in my shop for small work, like edge chamfering/rounding over etc, I also use various other bits and do slot cutting, key holes and just about anything else that only needs small diameter bits, works a treat and the cutters are fairly cheap to buy.

It only has a thinnish steel plate it's bolted to (on a simple leg/box that I can easily pick up and move around and put away) along with a shiny piece of MFC on the top, the fence, again shop made, is just clamped on, never felt a need for a lift thingy, and don't have an issue with setting it up, cost me a big fat £0

My other option is a Makita 1/4" battery one, which I also use, and have been known to jam that in my vice to make it work like a table top version.

However, I also have a 1/2" router in another homemade table, using the same principals but fixed to a 6mm steel plate, for more demanding heavier work, but behind them I have 2 spindle moulders for when things get really big and serious.

 

[meccarroll]

The above is has some good suggestions to start with.

For small mouldings or grooves a 1/4" router normally copes ok, for heavy work a 1/2" router might perform better.

Both 1/4" and 1/2" routers come with a wide range of motor sizes, also some do and some don't have speed control. Some have better height adjustment and depth stops.

You need to pick a router that will suite most if not all of your intended work.

When I make ply templates I like to use a 1/2" router but when I am moulding I will mostly use a 1/4" router.

If you use a 1/2" router you can normally use a step down bush to 1/4" but not the other way around.

Out of the two I'd probably go 1/2" if I had to make a choice between the two.

Ps: I'm in the trade not DIY.

 

[recipio]

I have two router tables for 1/2" and 1/4 " routers. In practice I use the 1/4" about 90% of the time. I have a Makita RP1111C installed which has an 1100 watt motor. Starting out I would prioritize motor power over everything else although I appreciate it's not exactly cheap.
One advantage is being able to use 8 mm bits which are stiffer than 1/4" . You also need variable speed for the bigger bits.
If making a DIY table an insert plate is worth the investment to maximise router travel . Install a switched plug on the table which saves having to reach underneath all the time to use the router.
A lift is nice but not essential. I splurged out for a Woodmaster lift for the 1/2" but find it hard to use. The ' bicycle chain ' mechanism is continuously clogged with wood dust. It will remain in place for the moment because the upmarket lifts like Jessem are serious money.
Think about the fence. I have on old Veritas fence on the 1/4" table and have to use playing cards to shim out the out feed fence all the time.
The only adjustable fence I know of is the Jessem TA fence which is only suitable for bigger tables and again serious money.
Just my tuppence worth on how I would approach the problem. Good luck.

 

[Sideways]

I'm not a router table fan.
Handheld 1/4 and 1/2" machines for freehand use, especially the old style 1/4".
Tables get improvised for a job and packed up or scrapped afterwards.
I'm very unimpressed with the majority of commercial tables, esp the Axminster stuff. Poor value. Not great to use.
If you spend top money at Woodworkers Workshop you'll get an impressive setup based on jessem gear and those are very nice, work very well but ££. I don't do the kind of projects that justifies those.

An elu mof177e / DW625 router is a good half inch machine and was designed to work hanging upside down. One of those and a home built table might be better value for money.

 

[Scruples]

Thanks for all the advice, guys. I am thinking alone the lines of a 1/2" router (which I have) but mounting in a plate to insert into my workbench. Anybody have any ideas/recommendations for insert plates?

 

[Distinterior]

You could just make your own?.....I made this one recently and if I remember correctly, the 8mm thick aluminium plate cost me about £12....

 

[Sideways]

DIY is perfectly feasible.
Make up a template to help you control it but your router will cut aluminium, no drama. Just use a cheap TCT cutter.
The prices of ready made insert plates are a bit silly for something so simple and the colourful anodising that is so popular adds almost nothing to the durability. If you could buy an insert plate that was properly MIL SPEC hard anodised so properly resistant to scratching, that might make them worth it, but you can't.

I intend to try an 8mm diy plate. I have a need as it happens. If it sags a little, I'll just put a couple of stiffening bars underneath it. The thicker the plate, the more you lose from the router's depth of cut ...

Think about the shapes you intend to cut on the router table. For me it's all about long and thin. If it were wide, I'd just use the router handheld on top of the whatever. So longer, narrower are the best proportions for an insert plate for my uses.

 

[Eshmiel]

The thing about router tables is that they generally have a heavy router hung underneath them. The router table therefore needs to be resilient against sag, both short term but also longer term. (Many man-made boards will sag very gradually as their particles succumb to moisture + gravity).

Even if the insert plate is robust and not a sagger itself, if the plate + router are hung from the centre of a larger table (and the whole point of a router table is to have a table of some decent-size area) the central weight will sag many of the typical sheet goods used to make router table. MDF will sag the worst but so will most wood-based sheet goods, even the best birch ply.

One way to resist table-sag is to use a thicker sheet-goods stuff. Alas, this can severely limit how far a bit can then protrude above the table top level. Even 19mm sheet is going to knock a lot off the max bit projection - and 19mm will still sag. 32mm thick board may (may) resist sag - but you can only get the bit up a teeny amount above the table.

One approach, then, is to build a table from relatively thin stuff, that has a small-as-possible hole for a router insert, then brace the table underneath all around the hole and out to the edges. Make an open-front carcass with enough under-bracing supporting the top and it will stay flat with the router hung in the middle. The braces could be quite crude - a triangle of 19mm ply with one true right angle corner X many.

Sag of even 0.5mm will spoil a router table. Any cuts made will vary in depth along the length of the cut. It might not matter with a decorative edge profile but it will if its a joint that's being routed.

 

[Distinterior]

The dimensions of the one above are 170mm x 235mm x 8mm thickness and it has an Elu 177 hanging below it, as that was the size of the existing cutout in my old router table.
I had it pre cut to those dimensions by the supplier and just added the 4 radii to the corners myself.
I've found the 8mm plate to be more than rigid enough, certainly when compared to the original s h I t plastic/ resin one that had cracked & crazed, although admittedly, it had lasted more than 20 years...!
The router table top is made of 26mm thick melamine coated( top & btm) MDF.
The plate is rebated into the top surface, thus reducing the removal of too much material and weakening the top by too much.

 

[Spectric]

The thing about router tables is that they generally have a heavy router hung underneath them.

A heavy plunge router not designed to go into the router table but with no other option apart from a spindle molder it was the norm for decades, now with these router motors and fancy lifts the machine is a lot better and with the router held round it's middle rather than hung by it's kneck.