Router Table advice

[Londoner100]

Hi all, I am new to this forum and need a little advice. I am looking at getting a small hobby router table which are about £50, also plunge bars would be handy at about £40. The other option I have seen is a Fox F60-100A Variable Speed Router table which I can get for around £100. Does any one on here have any experience of these, as I don't want to buy anything and make a mistake.

all the best Ian

 

[wizer]

Welcome Ian

Might be a good idea to let us know what sort of work you want to do on the router table.

 

[floorman]

welcome ian , the fox is a clone to woodstar(kity) bs50 ,save and buy the woodstar bs52 from machine mart £164.48 inc vat ,top tool and you will take years to out grow it
Gary

 

[Londoner100]

Cheers for the quick replys, I will be mostly taking the square edges off of some 3/4 inch pine frames I am making, although in the future I might try my hand at some picture frames for the wife. The Woodstar bs52 looks very good but a little too much money for me at the moment. I think as long as it is a known brand and others are using them I cant go far wrong for the money.

all the best Ian

 

[Gary]

You could always go the shopmade way. Buy a decent mounting plate and make a table and fence from MDF. Once you have the need for something bigger recycle the plate and build a better table "a la Norm style". A half sheet of 18mm MDF shouldn't cost more than £10.

 

[Gary]

Like the one Chems made.

 

[Chems]

I am so proud to have my work used as an example. Thanks Gary!



I really recommend this method, Im no great shakes at this woodworking malark. The top cost me nothing as it was an old desk top I had and Im using the underside. The pine for the legs cost me a bout £15 . I cut the mortise and tenons that made up the construction by hand with a chisel and hand saw.

The router isnt a good one it s a McKeller from focus for £30 and I mounted it using some M6 bolts from B&Q which cost me less than £2 quid I believe from there pick and mix section. The fence I made from some scrap bits of wood I already had and used some wing nuts on bolts to slide the fence forward and back.

The router mounting:



Ive since improved the design by adding a very thing layer of ply about 1mm thick across the surface of the table so there is no space around the router for bits to get caught on and put the dust extraction onto the back of the fence. Cost for that nothing.

Really works well, I made tongue and groove on it this week that came out perfectly with out any special bits on a router table that cost me less than £50 including router.

I recommend you get an old vacuum, from the tip or someone you know and set it up as your dust extraction as the router really creates a lot of fine dust. The one Im using which you can see under the table is a old one I borrowed off a family member.

 

[George_N]

Hi all, I am new to this forum and need a little advice. I am looking at getting a small hobby router table which are about £50, also plunge bars would be handy at about £40. The other option I have seen is a Fox F60-100A Variable Speed Router table which I can get for around £100. Does any one on here have any experience of these, as I don't want to buy anything and make a mistake.

all the best Ian

I built my own router table from the plans in "Woodworking with the Router" by Bill Hylton and Fred Matlack. It probably cost me the best part of £100 when I add up the cost of a sheet of birch ply (now nearly £50 on its own) and a 10' x 4' sheet of laminate for the top. I was lucky enough to scavenge a piece of 10 mm phenolic plastic for the insert plate so that saved a bit there and I mounted the whole thing on 75 mm locking castors (Axminster). A set of Woodrat plunge bars is a great idea as it gives one handed bit height setting (in or out of the table) and a Trend height gauge is also very useful.
If you do go down the route of making your own table, or even if you don't, have a look at Ron Fox's router section on the Wealden website, lots of good info and the Wealden router cutters are good quality and value for money.

 

[Londoner100]

Great advice, many thanks for chippin in I am almost certainly going to try and make my own table now. Would it be ok to glue two pieces of laminated mdf together then sink a router table insert in to that ?

all the best Ian

 

[Digit]

I take it Ian that you mean MDF with a laminate on one face, if so then I see no problem. Ordinary kitchen worktop works as well.

Roy.

 

[Londoner100]

Many thanks for all of the advice and pictures, I decided to get a touter table insert from Axminsters, I glued 2 pieces of 18mm MDF together and mounted the insert in that. The MDF was sprayed black and the legs are just some 3/4 inch panels that have been living in the garage for the last couple of years. I have also removed the spring from my B&Q router which makes it a lot easier to get up and down.

cheers for the help Ian

http://s328.photobucket.com/albums/l342 ... 0_0765.jpg

http://s328.photobucket.com/albums/l342 ... 0_0766.jpg

 

[Digit]

Another model aero nut I see!

Roy.

 

[Londoner100]

Roy there is nothing I enjoy better than a bit of woodwork or flying my planes, the disappointing thing is not getting enough time to do either or watching a beautiful balsa planes wing fall off halfway through a loop LOL, this happened lat week with one of mine and if you don't laugh you would cry.

all the best Ian

 

[Digit]

Know the problem! I had to borrow a spade once to recover the engine on a model that dived under full power!

Roy.

 

[ronhayles]

hi guys. I see mention of the woodstar BS52. Have any of you experience of using this or know of someone who has. Am interested in their experience