Page 1 of 4 1234 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 50
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Helensburgh
    Posts
    7,696

    Default New Router Table Build

    I have started to build a copy of MandJ's router table or rather my version of it. Mike was forced through circumstance to use his original table and router which while not ideal as he will gladly admit it was still a phenomonal build and dare I say it the best in the world for features which no one can match. My build will cost about what a good router and lift will cost and have all the features Mike has pioneered and is using a CNC spindle which I know is the next step for Mike.

    I have got a bit of the table standing upright but it is a bit different to normal in some ways so requires a bit of explanation. Using bearing rails for the fence as well as digital control means it needs to be stiff with absolutely no cabinet racking or flexing so I have installed a perimeter frame around the back of it with an inner and outer wall as can be seen in the pictures. The walls will get glued all around to the frame to prevent racking. I have installed the dust ducting through both walls and nothing is glued yet and won't be until I am further along.

    I need to dummy it all up before using glue as I want to make sure all the mounts etc for the electronics have a home before committing to the final assembly and I doubt that the plan I have in my head will be the finished product as things have changed already.

    The two sides with the perimeter frame in place
    IMG_2158.jpgIMG_2157.jpg

    Inner and outer wall with the dust extraction adaptors in place

    IMG_2160.jpgIMG_2165.jpgIMG_2161.jpg
    CHRIS

  2. # ADS
    Google Adsense Advertisement
    Join Date
    Always
    Location
    Advertising world
    Posts
    Many





     
  3. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2017
    Location
    Aldinga Beach
    Posts
    478

    Default

    Looking forward to following this build

  4. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Sydney
    Posts
    650

    Default

    Watching and learning.

  5. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    Sutherland Shire, Sydney
    Age
    71
    Posts
    1,301

    Default

    I bag the front centre seat to watch this build. I'm sure there will be plenty of other interested onlookers in the bleachers.

    Alan...

  6. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    Millmerran,QLD
    Age
    73
    Posts
    11,061

    Default

    Right next to you.

    Regards
    Paul
    Bushmiller;

    "Power tends to corrupt. Absolute power corrupts, absolutely!"

  7. #6
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    Rockhampton QLD
    Age
    68
    Posts
    2,335

    Default

    Me too.

    Ross

  8. #7
    FenceFurniture's Avatar
    FenceFurniture is offline The prize lies beneath - hidden in full view
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    1017m up in Katoomba, NSW
    Posts
    10,643

    Default

    Well come on then, what happened today? Pics, progress, reports man, that's what we want! None of this "couldn't be fagged doing anything today, youse can bugger off". For the purposes of design plagiarism we would much prefer continuous updates so it stays fresh for us.
    Regards, FenceFurniture

    COLT DRILLS GROUP BUY
    Jan-Feb 2019 Click to send me an email

  9. #8
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Helensburgh
    Posts
    7,696

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by FenceFurniture View Post
    Well come on then, what happened today? Pics, progress, reports man, that's what we want! None of this "couldn't be fagged doing anything today, youse can bugger off". For the purposes of design plagiarism we would much prefer continuous updates so it stays fresh for us.
    Not much besides the visit to a specialist who told me I will survive long enough to finish it if I pull my finger out and get on with it. Actually I did get the two partitions in but my digital camera ran out of film so you have to wait until tomorrow.
    CHRIS

  10. #9
    Join Date
    Dec 2017
    Location
    Aldinga Beach
    Posts
    478

    Default

    What is the ideal size for this type of router table?

  11. #10
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Location
    Caboolture QLD AU
    Posts
    781

    Default

    At a Hobby point of view of an RT I've pondered and searched for that answer for a long time, it's almost up there with - how long is a piece of string? A lot of the time in a home workshop there is not as great a need for table depth behind the bit, and if you look at most RT dovetail jigs they are wide and move across the bit, typically don't need a fence and just a squarish plain top for the jig would do, however with an automated table there is no need for a jig, the jig is the automated fence and accurate miter slide, however the fence now has to move back from behind the bit far enough to accommodate the widest dovetail join you would likely make, and that's just for one use of the table. It really comes down to what type of work you plan to do on the table and what the automated capabilities of the table are as that can also change the way you use the fence for a given job. The other consideration is how much room you have for a large router table and associated 150mm dust extraction fittings at the back of the table.

    In my case for the type of smallish RT work I was planning to do, I decided that a top of around a 1m x 1m would be ideal, but then found 900mm X 650mm would be needed due to space limitations, here once again the type of table build throws up another wrinkle, with a removable table top and automated fence like mine and Chris, you need room to move a 100mm deep fence back past the rear edge of the top (to easily lift the top off), so I had to reduce the table depth by 100mm and so a top 900 mm W X 550mm D was used, keep in mind though that the total depth of the table top is now usable with this fence, when the front of the fence is sitting back past the rear edge of the table, the fence, due to this design, is still 100% strong, accurate and usable.

    Apology for not really answering the question - I don't know

  12. #11
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Helensburgh
    Posts
    7,696

    Default

    A lot depends on the operator, I am shorter that average at just 5"4" or thereabouts so I don't want a hugely wide table to reach across but this RT has an advantage others don't and that is the table size can be changed because nothing is hanging off it and the top it is removeable. Park the fence behind and off the top, lift the top off and replace it with the new one to do the job and if you had the need you could build a dedicated top for a specific job which sounds like a very sensible arrangement to me. It may not be as necessary as I originally thought though because Mike has developed the new jig carrier that slides on the fence rail and it could have a face plate to attach anything to instantly. For more support on a wider top or bigger jig a different top could be used with another bearing rail to support the outboard end of the carrier if need be. What the rail on fence has done is eliminated the need for a T track which are not all that accurate and can be difficult to use sometimes. He is a clever bloke is Mike.
    CHRIS

  13. #12
    crowie's Avatar
    crowie is offline Life's Good, Enjoy each new day & try to encourage
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Location
    Faulconbridge, Lower Blue Mountains
    Age
    68
    Posts
    11,160

    Default

    I'm pulling up a pew too...

  14. #13
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Helensburgh
    Posts
    7,696

    Default

    My apologies for those who have pulled up a chair but I have been building another router table so this got shoved aside. Since the first post I pulled the whole thing apart and increased the depth from front to back about 250mm as mentioned in a previous post in Mike's thread. I had forgotten to measure the length of the screw drives and rails so I had no choice. That is not quite true, I could have built the drive boards but they would have protruded at the rear of the cabinet and I didn't like that idea at all. Another way to do it would have been to use shorter linear rails and mount the board holding them and the drive motors on a second set of rails in the fashion of full extension draw slides. Using that method would allow a very compact RT to be built and when a wider one was needed put a wider top on and release the sub rails to push the fence back.

    The next problem is dust extraction and it is going to be different from other router tables just because I can and using the spindle presents new opportunities to do things that were not possible using a router and lift.

    The infeed will draw the air through the floor which is going to be 25mm MDF so a hole or two is not going to worry it. This will allow a blade type gate to be used to control the air flow through the cabinet. Mike has suggested this is a good idea because he has found during some operations that having full flow can be a problem, perhaps he will expand on that because I can't remember what those were. He has also suggested if I copy his air extraction set up that 100mm pipe is all that is needed due to the constriction just behind the router. I suggest that looking at his thread will explain that.

    Because this is a spindle and not a router options present themselves that could not be used before. A false floor could be put in which the spindle rises through thus isolating the bottom of the cabinet and all the air would flow in that shallow cavity, that is option one and could be combined with the following scenarios.

    Option two would be widen the centre bay and use two 100mm pipes that are aimed at the spindle converging around the body of the spindle. Again and I will keep doing it I am drawing on Mike's experiences he has mentioned the problem of the air getting blocked by the router body, his draws the air from directly in front of the router because he was working with a table that had been built as a conventional router table. To do this the centre bay will have to be made wider.

    Next option is to widen the centre bay and build two ducts that attach to the bay dividers and exit the air at the centre axis of the spindle. These would be fed from the two vertical ducts at the front of the cabinet. I do like this combined with the false floor TTTT. It overcomes the problem of getting the air past the spindle body.

    Looking at the picture through the exit duct it is easy to see why the spindle body gets in the way so the last idea might be best. What I do hate doing is making something and then having to do it again because I did not think it right through.

    Thought and suggestions are welcome and stay tuned for the next riveting episode. I am about to start building the side sub assemblies for the fence drives, doing that will free up a lot of bench space.



    IMG_2179.jpgIMG_2182.jpgIMG_2183.jpgIMG_2184.jpg
    CHRIS

  15. #14
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    North Of The Boarder
    Age
    68
    Posts
    16,794

    Default

    I don't know I was about to say what another one after reading your first post, glad I read the last one Chris. Whats this router table No16?? Was the problem you still hadn't located the tape measure yet??

  16. #15
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Helensburgh
    Posts
    7,696

    Default

    Hi Ray, long time no see. My previous router tables have been a piece of board with a router screwed to it but then I had an idea with no answer so we have arrived at building the world's best router table. The control capabilities built into this build are simply awesome, want to do a Dado? put the bit in the spindle, put stops on the fence and moving the timber between the stops automatically causes the spindle to drop after the first pass, rise back to the required depth for the second pass and then after it has reached the depth required drops the spindle and turns off. All you have done is move the timber from one stop to another.
    CHRIS

Page 1 of 4 1234 LastLast

Similar Threads

  1. Yet another Router table build.
    By MandJ in forum ROUTING FORUM
    Replies: 263
    Last Post: 9th April 2019, 10:07 AM
  2. Just one more router table build
    By PJM16 in forum ROUTING FORUM
    Replies: 6
    Last Post: 15th January 2019, 12:19 PM
  3. Router table - Build or buy?
    By Dazm in forum ROUTING FORUM
    Replies: 9
    Last Post: 12th November 2015, 11:35 AM
  4. New router table build - no really!
    By snowyskiesau in forum ROUTING FORUM
    Replies: 24
    Last Post: 14th November 2013, 08:02 AM
  5. Another router table build.
    By Nihilist37 in forum ROUTING FORUM
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 31st May 2009, 07:30 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •