Router table / router question

[Pete Wild]

Hi all,

I am pretty new to routers and router tables but have a question.

I bought my router a while ago and router table more recently, but I have a couple of questions regarding mounting the two together.

Firstly, please excuse my terminology, I don't know the correct names for things, so Ill do my best to describe.

1. When I mount the router under the removable router table bed/plate/whatever, the fixing screw holes in the router don't line up exactly with those on the table., they are close, in as much as I can get them fixed by screwing the fixing screws in at a very slight angle, but it's not 'right'
2. When the router is mounted, the chuck is off centre? See photo. Is this how its supposed to be? It means that currently I have to run it as per the photo, minus the plastic insert as the insert will foul most bits when its running

Or are my two problems related? Do I need to redrill the fixing holes in such a way as to a} Line them up more accurately and b} line the chuck up centrally?
Can you even do that?

 

[Spectric]

That is very wrong, the cutter needs to be central to the plate and you need to drill the holes to suit the router. First thing is to accurately measure the routers base plate to find the PCD of the fixings and the angle between them before transfering these measurements to the insert plate.

The plastic insert is there to minimise the gap around the cutter and is essential, it supports the work as it passes the cutter and is why they come in sets with different sized holes.

 

[Sideways]

Router tables / insert plates either come undrilled and you have to drill and tap your own holes, or they come predrilled for one or sometimes several different models of router. Normally the popular models.
It is clear your router and table don't match. Either because the router isn't one of the models that table is drilled to suit, or because the table has been DIY drilled but not to the necessary precision.

There is no reason why you can't redo the fixing holes. Typically you just rotate the router body a little (or even nearly 90 degrees !) so that the holes can be drilled through fresh metal.

Getting the alignment correct is the challenge. If you don't have the skills to do that, you need to buy a commercial ready drilled combo that match.
Worst case is if you are using an obscure router, a DIY drilled table and never took metalwork at school .... sorry !

 

[Pete Wild]

That is very wrong, the cutter needs to be central to the plate and you need to drill the holes to suit the router. First thing is to accurately measure the routers base plate to find the PCD of the fixings and the angle between them before transfering these measurements to the insert plate.

The plastic insert is there to minimise the gap around the cutter and is essential, it supports the work as it passes the cutter and is why they come in sets with different sized holes.

Cheers Roy,
Even with my limited experience, common sense was telling me what you guys were going to say, but its nice to hear it from the horses mouth so to speak

Thanks again, Ill investigate a set of varying sized inserts, and measure many times and drill once.

 

[Orraloon]

Good advice above and of course pictures can be worth a thousand words so this kind of explains what you need to do.


How to Drill Holes in the Kreg Precision Router Table Insert Plate - YouTube
Regards
John

 

[Pete Wild]

Good advice above and of course pictures can be worth a thousand words so this kind of explains what you need to do.


How to Drill Holes in the Kreg Precision Router Table Insert Plate - YouTube
Regards
John

Perfecto, I think even I can follow that !

 

[sammy.se]

Judging from your photo, you have the trend Pro router table? The one with the adjustable metal legs? I have the exact same one.

I drilled holes in my router plate to get my router to fit. It's not 100% in the middle of the hole, i'd say around 98%, and it works perfectly fine, since the router plate inserts fit ok.

Quick guide if you have the same router as me.

1/ remove the router from your table.
2/ remove the plate from your table, you'll be working from the underside of the plate (or turn your table upside down
3/ fit a router bit to your router
4/ add a router plate insert that fits snugly around the router bit you inserted. For example, if you added a 45 degree chamfer bit, fit the smallest router plate insert. Lock the router so that the bit is just proud of the base.
5/ Place the router onto the plate, so that the router bit 'self centres' in the hole. Draw around your router base. Now you have a centred outline.
6/ Create a paper template of your router base, mark the holes and cut it out
7/ Tape it to your router plate and drill.
8/ Counter sink the top of the holes (from the top of the plate) so that the screws aren't sticking out of the surface.

job done.

 

[Pete Wild]

Judging from your photo, you have the trend Pro router table? The one with the adjustable metal legs? I have the exact same one.

I drilled holes in my router plate to get my router to fit. It's not 100% in the middle of the hole, i'd say around 98%, and it works perfectly fine, since the router plate inserts fit ok.

Quick guide if you have the same router as me.

1/ remove the router from your table.
2/ remove the plate from your table, you'll be working from the underside of the plate (or turn your table upside down
3/ fit a router bit to your router
4/ add a router plate insert that fits snugly around the router bit you inserted. For example, if you added a 45 degree chamfer bit, fit the smallest router plate insert. Lock the router so that the bit is just proud of the base.
5/ Place the router onto the plate, so that the router bit 'self centres' in the hole. Draw around your router base. Now you have a centred outline.
6/ Create a paper template of your router base, mark the holes and cut it out
7/ Tape it to your router plate and drill.
8/ Counter sink the top of the holes (from the top of the plate) so that the screws aren't sticking out of the surface.

job done.

Well spotted, it is indeed the Trend Pro, and thanks for the detailed steps, I think its just biting the bullet and going for it.

 

[TomGW]

An alternative method would be:
Get a sheet of plain card eg side of Cornflakes box
Remove your router from the table
Fit screws into your router base and bit into the router
Dab paint onto screw heads and tip of router bit
Set onto the card and plunge the bit till it marks the card
Now you will have the centre and screw positions marked on the card. Using a compass you can mark the size and position of the table cut out and create a template to show the required position of new holes to centre your router in the plate. Just remember, the side you have marked is the underside of the plate, so label the template top & bottom.

 

[MorrisWoodman12]

And of course if you have access to a 3D printer you can always print a simple jig to either make a circular jig to give you an accurate centre to mark out from or a larger one you can drill through where your router mounting holes should be or something in between.
Have fun
Martin

 

[Pete Wild]

Thanks all for the suggestions

I now have a template and am about to drill the new holes in the router table base plate, but have a sort of related question.

The screws that fix the router base plate to the router are about 5mm long, plenty for that purpose, but I estimate Im going to need approx 15mm overall length screws to reach through the router table base plate and into the router itself. (Router is an Erbauer ER2100)
Does anyone have any idea what diameter size of countersunk screw I'm looking for? I'm guessing in the region of an M4 but has anyone been here before with an Erbauer?
Short of that its going to be dragging the router itself, and / or example screws that DO fit, around my local hardware shops until I can find someone that knows what the hell they are talking about!
I need the old fella in the brown coat that can take one look at a screw and know instantly what size it is !

 

[Pete Wild]

It was an M4 if anyone was wondering. Ended up buying a selection box from Amazon, which had M3/M4/M5s in three lengths of each 10mm/15mm/20mm

£12 so not bad really, I expect they will always come in useful