Router table

[guineafowl21]

I’m looking for a router table, preferably with a stand, that I can buy as a pre-made unit. It will be for moulding, running grooves for door stiles, rebates etc. At the moment I use a cheap B&D plunge router upside down in the vice, with a piece of wood clamped on top as a fence.

I can’t seem to find one. Is this an odd thing to need? Axminster do a kit to make your own that doesn’t come with the actual router, and seems expensive.

How else would you rout a door stile? I have a plough plane, but in the wild-grown Larch I work with it’s a quick way to ruin a piece.

 

[sunnybob]

I would think most shop bought router tables would be too small for your needs.

make you own. There are 1,000's of "how to" videos all over the web.They can be as cheap or as expensive as you want. Mine is a metre square and makes life very easy.

 

[MikeJhn]

My router table, workbench & table saw are all the same height and on lockable wheels, so each works as a run off table for the other, I have run profiled door stiles up to 3m long without problems, just needs a bit of thought, router tables can be bought at under £250.00 complete with motor, lift and speed control: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Router-Table ... .l4275.c10 or all singing and dancing for £2000.00: https://woodworkersworkshop.co.uk/colle ... able-combo and all the price's in between, but you do get what you pay for.

 

[guineafowl21]

I would think most shop bought router tables would be too small for your needs.

make you own. There are 1,000's of "how to" videos all over the web.They can be as cheap or as expensive as you want. Mine is a metre square and makes life very easy.

Thanks. I should clarify, I meant cabinet doors, not house doors. I would normally enjoy making my own, but I have a budget available for once (£400-500) and would like to get something half decent, perhaps with the capacity to expand to make tenons or other joinery, so a machined metal top with slot would be needed. Used is fine.

Mike, thanks also - those are the sorts of things I’ve been finding. But the first link, as you suggest, is the crappier end that I try to avoid these days, and the second... Well, this is the problem. Three times the price, and you don’t get a router or lift mechanism. You can nearly get a fully functional, decent table saw for that money. I don’t quite get it.

 

[Lonsdale73]

£4-500 buys rather a lot of timber or other goodies for that matter. I didn't blow that much on my first router table but still too much for something that wasn't all that well made so was never all that stable or accurate to use. I bought an offcut of kitchen worktop for about a tenner, some construction grade timber from B&Q for not much more and, even with my limited skills and experience, the resulting table was sturdier, steadier and more accurate than one that cost around six times as much.

This guy shows how effective even a simple - and cheap! - table can be.

 

[Glynne]

Their website is down at the moment but Rutlands do a router table and solid stand stand for a reasonable price - and frequently on offer.
I’ve had mine for years and whilst improved with a new insert, a home made fine adjuster and a “slick” top, the basic table worked for a considerable time.

 

[Cordy]

Have you considered looking for a used Trend router table ?
Got mine off ebay and fitted ply base
'Raiser' is from Machine mart £10.00

Dentil Moulding

 

[MikeJhn]

I actually have one of those crappier end of the market tables: https://www.lumberjacktools.co.uk/produ ... r-lum00014? and transformed it with one of these: https://www.axminstertools.com/ujk-tech ... nce-508272 makes a nice usable rig, I also have, in another workshop a Axminster UJK Professional table with lift so have something to compare the crappier one against, the crappier one is mostly used to make picture frames and in reality is not that crappy, in fact you could not make one for the cost with the same features.

 

[Glynne]

Just realised I had a photo of my upgraged Rutlands table: -

Home made fine adjuster, slick top, router raiser and quick change chuck.

 

[guineafowl21]

I actually have one of those crappier end of the market tables: https://www.lumberjacktools.co.uk/produ ... r-lum00014? and transformed it with one of these: https://www.axminstertools.com/ujk-tech ... nce-508272 makes a nice usable rig, I also have, in another workshop a Axminster UJK Professional table with lift so have something to compare the crappier one against, the crappier one is mostly used to make picture frames and in reality is not that crappy, in fact you could not make one for the cost with the same features.

That looks more like what I’m looking for. Potential for sleds/tenoning etc and actually has a lift mech and a motor. It won’t get a huge amount of use, but it’s the sort of thing that when you need it, you need it.

I made a Welsh dresser last year, and grooving the door rails/stiles nearly drove me crackers. I ended up using the morticer to make most of the groove (hundreds of little chops) and then finishing with the plough plane.

That’s when I decided to buy a router table.

 

[guineafowl21]

Oh, and thanks for the replies/photos etc.

 

[MikeJhn]

I would not even attempt to make these without a router table, but who forgot to put the grove in the bottom rail for the runner until after they where all glued up.

 

[Cordy]

Make sure the router you get is variable speed

With a large diameter router bit - you need to turn the speed down some

 

[LittleJon]

By the sounds of it, you will probably be better off buying the kit because the doors you are working on sound quite large which means any prebuilt router table is going to be quite pricey.

Maybe a large second-hand one would be a good option.

There are some decent ones on Tool Inspector if you are preferring a new router table but I don't know if any are big enough for your needs.

 

[guineafowl21]

The Lumberjack is sold out wherever I look. I Did find this:
https://www.rutlands.co.uk/sp+power-too ... nds+dk2080

Which looks very similar. Any thoughts?

 

[Trevanion]

Maybe a bit of a curveball... Have you considered a spindle moulder?

There are quite a few advantages a spindle moulder has over a router table, namely the finish produced from the larger diameter cutter blocks is superior, a heavier cut can be made than a router table with much less effort on yourself and the machine and the cutters themselves last far longer than equivalent router bits which makes them cheaper in the long term as they're usually of the replaceable cutter type. Also, spindle tooling holds it's value extraordinarily well even when quite well used should you decide to sell stuff on, you can't say the same for used router bits. I would also argue it's a safer machine compared to a router table as there is a lot less cutting resistance and kickback risk with the bigger tooling (It just looks scarier is all), and it's ALOT quieter.

I bought a little Kity 623 spindle moulder second-hand for £200 a few years ago which included a few extras like a sliding carriage, ring-fence, and some cutter blocks. It's a great little machine for smaller work but still has enough grunt to do quite heavy mouldings and panel raising without too much issue provided you don't push it too hard. If you keep your eye on the usual auction sites you'll come across quite a few very good quality spindle moulders (Kity, Elektra Beckum, Scheppach etc...) for bargain prices since they're not as popular with hobbyists, Tooling IS expensive initially but as I said, it holds value very well and lasts a very long time.

 

[guineafowl21]

I hadn’t considered one. I’ll certainly have a look, but looking around quickly I doubt I’ll find the likes of a Kity 623 for £200!

 

[Petey83]

Looks exactly alike to me which is unsurprising as most at this end of the market are generic off the shelf Chinese units with some retailer specific tweeks maybe.

Given this type of table has already had a thumbs up from others on the thread it's probably a fairly safe bet.

I'm actually in the same position as you having just had to send a Charnwood table back after having 2 sagged insert plates.
I'm contemplating the AUK benchtop table and just building a stand for it or splashing a bit more cash and getting the Kreg floor standing table as it avoids the need to build a stand and the fence looks quality.

 

[guineafowl21]

Trevanion has thrown me a bit with the spindle moulder idea. I’m looking at the Lumberjack SM-4S - over budget but if it can do tenoning I might well be convinced. I’m also trying to keep those screaming brush motors out of my shop. Noisy and short-lived.

Problem is, I’ve never used a spindle moulder nor seen one used. Would anyone mind having a peek at the SM-4S and telling me if tenoning is realistic with it? Would I need to buy anything else to go with it?

 

[Petey83]

Trevanion has thrown me a bit with the spindle moulder idea. I’m looking at the Lumberjack SM-4S - over budget but if it can do tenoning I might well be convinced. I’m also trying to keep those screaming brush motors out of my shop. Noisy and short-lived.

Problem is, I’ve never used a spindle moulder nor seen one used. Would anyone mind having a peek at the SM-4S and telling me if tenoning is realistic with it? Would I need to buy anything else to go with it?

Spindle moulder cutting blocks are pricey, something to bare in mind.

https://www.wealdentool.com/acatalog/Sp ... ng_91.html