Router table design advice

[chaoticbob]

I'm planning to make a router table based on some 19mm melamine faced chipboard I scrounged from a kitchen refit. There are loads of plans (too many!) out there I know, but it would make life easier if you guys could advise on features which are actually useful, given that I'm going to try and do this properly rather than a lash-up to address my immediate need, which is what I characteristically do. I probably have dozens of questions, but it never works well if one asks too much in a single post, so just two for starters:

1) Some fancy tables have independently adjustable infeed and outfeed fences. As far as I know this is to allow the table to be used as a jointer (ie planer!), but given that I have a PT, or JP (albeit one of those 8" benchtop screamers which I hate, but it works) maybe it would just be an unnecessary complication. But are there other advantages to doing it like that which I can't see at the moment?

2) What is the point of the insert plate, as opposed to just bolting the router to the underside of the table? All I can think of at the mo is that (a) it is likely to be thinner than the body of the table, so giving more reach to the router spindle, and (b) that it is replaceable, so allowing other fixtures (eg a lifting thing) to be slotted in. But again I'm probably missing summat. And then [OK third question, but I'll call it 2b subclause (i) ] why are are they always rectanglar - it would be marginally easier for me to make the insert round but perhaps there's a reason for this design decision which escapes me?
Regards, Robin.

PS Sorry, this should be in Jigs, homemade tools etc! R.

 

[marcros]

1. that is one advantage. Another is where you run a cutter in the same way as you describe, but it is profiled, so the stock is reduced after the cut. If you think of a roundover being used against the fence, you dont need a split fence because you only remove te corner of the workpiece. If you used a bullnosed cutter, you wouldnt be able to cut the full profile without having to remove at least a little all the way across, or you would have a flat spot. If you are not likely to use the feature often, just stick a shim to the outfeed fence when you do need it.

2. The main advantage is a)

2b. just make sure that it is big enough to get the router up through the hole. The routers handles can be a pain here.

Another suggestion is to make a quick one, bolting the router to the chipboard, and see the frustrations in your design over the next 12 months. The chances are that this would do most of what you need it to.

 

[sunnybob]

First, is this melamine completely FLAT? I mean engineering flat. I used worksurface for my first table, it took one use to find that the wood was going up and down like a roller coaster when slid across the table.
If it isnt FLAT, dont use it.
Second, make it as BIG as you have space for. small is not beautiful with a router table. mine is 90cm square and I use it for all sorts of things.

Third, again from my own experience, dont buy a resin plate. mine has warped within 1 year. the company has replaced it, but thats inconvenience i dont need, and i dont know if the next one is going to go or not.

Fourth (because i can) a split fence is very useful for a number of reasons, and it doesnt take very long to make.

 

[Lons]

Assuming the melamine is flat, and I'd agree with sunnybobs' comments, I would double up the thickness.
I recently bought a table after using a home made for years and it came with a 9mm thick insert which is rubbish so I invested in an Incra magnaloc which is excellent. I think an insert is a must unless you can dedicate a router to the table and just leave it fixed. Might be the cheapest option tbh as you can pick up s/h ones quite cheaply.

Collet extension is useful to save your knuckles and I bought a Router Raizer from Peter Sefton for my DeWalt 625 which makes adjustment a doddle.

Bob

 

[mseries]

My router table is a piece of very old kitchen worktop. The surface laminate is paper based and is peeling off. My routers are fixed to a rebate in the inderside leaving the top about 9mm thick at this point. On the top side I use 6mm MDF discs to create smaller/larger apertures for the cutters. My table is flat enough and has remained so for the last 18 years. Maybe not certifiable flat but if I use it to cut rebates they are consistent depth.

I use a split fence for 'planing' operations.

I intend to make a new table this year and may, if I can afford one, use a metal plate instead.

 

[Steve Maskery]

FWIW, I've not yet found a RT design to better Norm's DeLuxe RT. And believe me, I've tried. It's very well designed. I have improved the DX and the fence itself, but the cabinet is just about perfect.

Also it is worth splashing out on a good aluminium router plate rather than the phenolic ones. They are not flatm they are not even designed to be flat and they are a pain. Check how easy it is to change the insert rings. Mine are magnetic and require no tools other than some kind of lever. If you have to undo screws every time it becomes tedious.

 

[siggy_7]

For planing/jointing of solid wood, I personally don't bother with the router table approach. You are limited by the height of the cutter, about 2.5-3" for the very longest router cutters. It can be useful for thin, wide boards though if you are struggling to balance them on their narrow edge against the planer fence when squaring the two sides - turning the workpiece through 90° means you can use the wide surface of the router table to give excellent workpiece stability. Where I think the router table really excels in jointing is with engineered wood if you need to straighten some up - your planer blades will be HSS and quickly dull if you ran some plywood over it, no such concerns with carbide router cutters. Likewise if you wanted to plane a workpiece with a melamine veneer.

 

[deema]

I know I'm probably completely out of step, but I don't understand the attraction of a router table rather than having for similar money (total cost of a router and table) a fully dedicated, properly driven spindle with a big solid fence system that takes proper sized cutters that have replaceable inserts that are far cheaper than a router cutter? Which can depending on what model you select also take router cutters.

The logically tool would be a Spindle Moulder.....which is, when is boiled down, a router table and router.

 

[sunnybob]

from a very quick search, a spndle moulder is more than three times the price of a router and table, and takes about twice the floor space.

I can cut comb joints on my router table in pieces of wood that are only 120mm x 40mm x 7mm. cant see a spindle moulder matching that

 

[Logger]

My router table hasaw a melamine top, but it sits on 18mm plywood give a solid top. The cupboard it sits on was the timber from a bunk bed so I kept costs down.

I made the fence from melamine with one solid piece the length of the table, the second is in 2 pieces which can slide to increase the space the the router cutter but as they are attached together with bolts and wing nuts so you can put a shim in if needed.

The only thing I bought for the table was the kreg insert and for about £40 is well worth it. I have a triton tra001 permanently attached, so I can change the cutter above the table and then pop ib the different sized inserts.

My design was based on a number, but it is the best bit of kit in my workshop and is it used most days when I am not out fitting.

All the best

Nick

 

[Lons]

I know I'm probably completely out of step, but I don't understand the attraction of a router table rather than having for similar money (total cost of a router and table) a fully dedicated, properly driven spindle with a big solid fence system that takes proper sized cutters that have replaceable inserts that are far cheaper than a router cutter? Which can depending on what model you select also take router cutters.

The logically tool would be a Spindle Moulder.....which is, when is boiled down, a router table and router.

Because of cost, not only the machine but more importantly the tooling. Assuming you already have a router and selection of bits a table makes perfect sense.

I actually have a Kity K5 and 3 routers so a bit biased but I also had a nice old Kity 623 spindle moulder which I sold a few months ago to a UKW member as having completed the work I bought it for it had remained largely unused taking up valuable space.

Bob

 

[Lons]

Also it is worth splashing out on a good aluminium router plate rather than the phenolic ones. They are not flatm they are not even designed to be flat and they are a pain. Check how easy it is to change the insert rings. Mine are magnetic and require no tools other than some kind of lever. If you have to undo screws every time it becomes tedious.

You have the Incra magnaloc same as me don't you Steve? It's expensive but superb IMHO.

 

[sunnybob]

My warped router plate is a Kreg. Cant fault their service, a replacement was sent instantly with no proof required, but I wont buy another resin plate.

 

[Logger]

My kreg is about 8 months old and still no warp. I check regularly for squareness. Having said that, with the use my table gets, if i needed a new one I would get the incra.

Nick

 

[sunnybob]

Theres a lot of kregs out there, so it stands to reason some will fail. i only noticed mine was wrong when I found that while using the trend comb cutter, the fingers had a downwards slope. When i did a very careful check, the plate had moved in both planes. left to right across the whole plate, and front to back on the right hand side.
Not noticeable on most cuts, but enough to make the box joints look bad.

 

[chaoticbob]

Thanks for all your replies - all very helpful in clarifying my thoughts. It sounds like the split fence is worth the extra effort - I hadn't thought about profiling taking material off the whole thickness of the piece, I would have tripped up there, so thanks for that marcros.
Sunnybob - I had read somewhere that melamine faced chipboard is 'surprisingly flat'. That would have been on an engineering forum, so I assumed it would be OK, but I shall check, make the table as big as is possible, and double up the thickness as per Lons' advice.
SteveM - thanks for the pointer to Norm's table, never heard of the guy, but Google found him. More food for thought!

There's obviously a lot of dissatisfaction with resin plates. I have metalmangling equipment so I can make an ali or steel plate OK, the commercial offerings seem overpriced for what they are.

Robin.

 

[sunnybob]

Robin, youre right, the best part of a hundred quid for less than a square foot of alloy is ridiculous.
if you can make metal plates at less than the cost of my firstborn, I'm first on your customer base!
But if you think thats dear, check out some T track that is handy for sliding adjustments on the table. How about 50 pence per INCH of track thats 3/4" x 1/2" square.

 

[Doug B]

I made my fence from aluminium angle with false sliding MDF cheeks which are held on with bolts & wingnuts, this allows packers to be placed between the fence & outfeed cheek to allow for removed material.
There's a load of pictures of my router table on my Facebook page in my signature.

 

[mseries]

The main reason I have not used a metal plate so far is the cost.

 

[chaoticbob]

Doug - thanks for the pointer to your facebook pages, which I had a look at. Nice work! My table won't be half so pretty, but you have answered a lot of the questions I was going to ask.
Sunnybob - when you put it in square footage 100 quid does seem a tad excessive. I'm certainly going to make my own plate - I'll see how it works out for cost.

Thanks again to everyone who has replied. I think I know what I'm doing now, my first effort won't quite work of course (I'm used to that), but I'll probably have to make it only twice rather than the three of four times it usually takes.
Robin.