Router Table Specs

[Michael Conifer]

Can anyone help me with this: I've been thinking about buying a Trend WRT-Workshop Router Table. There's something included in the specs for this table which I'm not sure about, though. It states: Max Stock Width (with pressures)130mm. My questions are:

1. What do they mean by "with pressures"?
2. I'm assuming that the widest stock I can use on tis table is 130mm. Can anyone please confirm this?
3. Can I use wider pieces of stock when utilising the lead-on starter pin for producing curved work?
4. Can anyone recommend a decent, similarly priced table (£350ish) which will accommodate wider stock? I'll be using stock with a width of up to 150mm.

I have tried contacting Trend's technical department, and that of one of their suppliers, but they are yet to get back to me. Thanks in advance.

 

[Tris]

Looking at a picture I would expect it is the maximum width between the feather board (that presses the work to the fence) and the cutter

 

[Spectric]

You might be coming at this from the wrong direction, what are you wanting to get from the router table because that will determine what router table will meet your needs. Do an advanced search on these forums for router tables and you will get a lot of reading material about the table, suitable routers and cutters along with some threads about router tables v spindle moulders. Also think ahead, what might you be using it for in a years time once you appreciate what it can achieve and getting it right first time will actually be more cost effective, many of use have upgraded our systems along the way.

As for that trend, personally I would look at Kreg PRS1045 Precision Router Table System which I am currently using but there some really good packages depending upon the elasticity of your budget.

https://woodworkersworkshop.co.uk/routing/router-tables/router-table-combos/

 

[Michael Conifer]

Thanks for your reply, Roy. At this juncture, the only thing I need a router table for is curving. I run a gift shop, and I have ideas for a limited range of products which are made from wood. The stuff I plan to make is very basic and very doable, even for a novice like myself, owing to the fact that the tools and equipment I'll be using will, up to a point, compensate for my lack of experience. For example, a router, template and router table will enable me to curve my pieces with the kind of finish and accuracy which I could never hope to achieve using traditional hand tools. When I consider my immediate needs, I could buy the Trend table. That would do the job. However, and as you allude to in your response, I want to make my purchases as future proof as I can, within a limited budget, because I've no idea where this adventure might lead. As my skills improve, and as my ideas for new products expand, I want to be in a position where I can exploit them, but this means having the right equipment. In the case of the Trent table, for example, it would do me for now, but the maximum stock width it can accommodate appears to be just 130mm. The stock I'll be curving on it is 150mm wide, which is fine, because it won't be pushed against the fence. But my current ideas are all based on this same sized stock, and what if my needs develop to the point where I would like to use the feather boards? This is why I would like a slightly larger table. I'll have a look at the Kreg you mentioned. Thanks again for your input, Roy.

 

[Michael Conifer]

Looking at a picture I would expect it is the maximum width between the feather board (that presses the work to the fence) and the cutter

Thanks, Tris. I think you're right.

 

[Chippymint]

I would concur what Roy has tried to advise you about. So many go down a machine route to then upgrade it at a later date. It's sometimes not clear but in the end its cost effective.
Take a look at the Trend PRT router table. Very good working and support working surface. If you have a Trend T11 router you can use the quick release system meaning you dont have to have a second router. Work holding is flexable and good with great extraction. You can even set it up so for transporting to a work site or permanent in your workshop. Plus Trend have superb tech back up and spares.
Think it through.

 

[Michael Conifer]

You know, Chippymint, what you said about eventual upgrades is true, and it's a philosophy I've come to adopt. When I first thought about buying a router, I considered buying just the machine, then revised my idea to include a table. My original budget for both was about £500 to £600. However, the more I looked into it, and the more research I conducted (so much research!), I came to realise that my original plans were shortsighted and, as such, represented something of a false economy. I've already ordered an Incra table, and I'm going to pair this with an Auk router. My original budget has almost trebled. The only decision I have to make now (and maybe you or others might help me with this) is to decide which router lift to buy. Incra make their own, so at first sight this might seem like the most logical choice, but JessEm make one which is compatible with my table, and which is thirty quid, or so, cheaper. Both lifts look almost the same, and I'd be surprised to learn they don't share the same manufacturing process and are simply badged differently. In addition to this, sifting through the relevant posts on here, the JessEm brand seems to be regarded as the crème de la crème of router related equipment. Any thoughts?

 

[HOJ]

My comments will probably be too late now, but personally I would look at setting up as cheaply as possible if you are just looking at a proof of concept idea, I do a fair amount of curved work and my router table is a piece of kitchen worktop, bolted to an old Dexion metal leg frame, with a metal plate housed in to the top with my old Ryobi 1/2" router bolted on and hanging off it, no bells, frills or whistles, it's as rough as they get, but it works flawlessly, and I have no intention or need to alter it and least of all spend a mint on something that really in my view doesn't achieve anything more than what mine already does, very simply, and cheaply.

 

[Sideways]

I am one of the biggest sceptics out around router tables. Very much of the improvise one when you need it school. However I had the chance to play with an Incra master lift 2 (?) - the latest and best - paired with an auk tools 2400w remote variable speed combo last week and it's great. Eye wateringly dear but great.
A big non plunge motor in a well made lift is the best combo.
These lifts are basically the best jessem lift, made by jessem, but with steel table inserts held in with magnets and that's an incra idea. They collaborated. The jessem version of the same has plastic insert rings, slightly less sophisticated and a little cheaper. Take your pick.

The motor is powerful, takes er20 collets (brilliant idea) and has a long robust spindle that raises high enough to make bit changes easy.

The only thing I can imagine beating this setup in a fixed workshop is to adapt a quality chinese water cooled cnc type spindle into the same lift, but that's more faff and I don't know that it would give much benefit except quieter running under no load.

As it happens I do have some jobs coming up where a long skinny table will be handy for moulding the edges of long skinny stock, so I will knock up a custom table and hang my old elu177 underneath it. My one concession to technology is that I'm going to try out musclechuck for ease of cutter changing. It sounds like the shortest, most rigid and most accurate option to compensate for the thickness added by a router plate.

Derek Cohen's probably most to blame but what really sold the musclechuck to me was seeing the almost airtight fit when you drop a cutter into the chuck. That (would have been) decent.

Edit: the musclechuck landed, I think it's a sound design but quality control has dropped vs what I expected from John Derosa's youtube video. I'm not happy with the machining of the bore so it will be replace or return. They are too pricy to get away with less than decent manufacturing.

 

[Sideways]

Incidentally, "trespa" offcuts and secondhand sheet comes up from time to time on ebay. It is super high pressure mdf in effect but very high resin content making it stiff and waterproof plus it has hard wearing melamine surfaces both sides. You can saw it, drill it and rout it so it is great for homemade fence facings and for DIY router tables as long as you support the thinner sheet. I think that the better commercial tables are essentially very thick trespa type material.

Common uses are exterior cladding of buildings, laboratory tables because it is so impervious and washroom panelling and cubicles also because of the hygienic waterproof qualities.

 

[Spectric]

What no mention of the spindle moulder !!! I thought Deema was going to give us an article on the basic's of the spindle moulder and put some of the old wives tales to bed.

 

[HOJ]

I do have some jobs coming up where a long skinny table will be handy for moulding the edges of long skinny stock,

You wont need a long table to do that, when I'm making things like glazing beads and bars, I make an L shaped ply over table (false fence) with a batten on the vertical face and one on the base, set to the size of the stock, so the stock passes through, like a tunnel, to set it I push the the ply over table onto the spinning cutter to make its own aperture once that is all set, I just feed the stock in, then get to a point where I go and pull it out the other side, very simple to make and use (works very well for short pieces as well, probably a more appropriate use)

What no mention of the spindle moulder

That is generally my preferred option, but when I only have a small moulding detail to machine I would revert back to my cheap router table set up. + the above technique applies to the SM as well.

 

[Sideways]

I make an L shaped ply over table (false fence) with a batten on the vertical face and one on the base, set to the size of the stock, so the stock passes through, like a tunnel

My long skinny is about 90mm wide but that's a good idea. I'll work on that.
Part of the game is improvising based on what scraps you have to hand to make it, but next time you do this I'm sure I wouldn't be the only one who would like to see the photos

 

[TRITON]

What no mention of the spindle moulder !!! I thought Deema was going to give us an article on the basic's of the spindle moulder and put some of the old wives tales to bed.

Not forgetting someone else suggesting a track saw as an alternative.

 

[HOJ]

I wouldn't be the only one who would like to see the photos

Perhaps not everyone's idea of a high end 1st class solution or pretty, but it works, and has served me for 20+ years



And with my "tunnel fence" for small stock moulding, cheap and cheerful but effective for one job use:

 

[Sideways]

The tunnel's very practical. It certainly solves the challenge of controlling the stock and keeping fingers away from the cutter.
I could imagine improvising the same using a length of narrow plank on each of the table top and fence, secured with a one hand quick clamp at each end. The added width of the planks allowing for the relatively limited throat of most clamps. That would make it adjustable and save having to put screws in.

Thanks for the photos !

 

[benitod]

Why not make yours?
Keeping in mind your needs you can do that. There are tons of videos on YouTube about this topic.