Router attachment for tablesaws - any good

[grantoboy]

Hi,

Currently I have a Triton router table, table stand and router. I am about to purchase myself a new table saw and would like to know if the router wing attachments for the table saws are any good and worth getting.

At the moment I only have a small shed so space is a bit cramped, I normally wheel my gear outside of the shed to do my work. Normally I have my table saw wheeled out so it seems like a logically idea to have the router already attached ready to go.

Are these attachments any good or am I better off leaving my router as is, as a separate machine as such.

Thanks

Grant

[Chief Tiff]

I can't comment on the suitability of the table saws with the router attachment in the wings but I do know that having two separate machines is the only way I could work! Often whatever I'm making requires me to move back and forth between both machines, if I had to reset each machine each time I would get really frustrated.

Small workshops are a pain! When I lived in WA I only had a double garage and had to fit two table saws, two router tables, a long bed jointer, a chop saw, a pillar drill, a thicknesser, two work benches and a fridge in it. Oh, and a lawn mower, gardening tools and two bicycles. Did I mention the tents and camping gear? Lastly, the back wall was fitted with a single roller door to access the garden and a door into the house itself. Nearly forgot, a 4WD too...

I coped by buying lots of those cheapy steel shelving units from Bunnies; the ones that only set you back about $17 each. I built them as 4 and five shelf units and stuffed them wherever I could find space and kept them well and truly filled. The drill and benches were permanently fixed in place but everything else was fitted with wheels and the whole thing fitted together like a Chinese jigsaw puzzle. It went so well there was actually room all round the fourbie to have all the doors wide open. Come the weekend the car went on the drive and the machines came out; I could have any two machines out and running.

Since then I'm still limited to garages, but at least I don't have to share the space with anything else not tool related! Now saving up for a 4-bay shed all of my very own

[grantoboy]

Chief tiff,

Thanks for your input. I tend to agree to have separate machines and hopefully when I finally move I will have a dedicated shed also. The triton router table I have is only made out of sheet and tubular steel and is not flat at all.

My thinking was the my saw top will be flat plus the router extension would be flat and add a extra width to my saw. So I think it would be an upgrade to what I have. This is only if the wings are as good as they look in their photos online.

Who thought buying toss would be so difficult.

Sent from my GT-N7105 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

[frank t]

I've used one for years and wouldn't change. saves on floor space, doesn't affect the saw and in a pinch you can use the rip fence as a router fence. The only disadvantage over a standard router table is that the mitre slots on the saw table are generally too far away to be useful.

frank t

[Arron]

I have a router wing on my Woodman saw AND LOVE IT. I also have a space problem, so thats the main reason.

I havent invested in a dedicated router fence for the woodman but use the rip fence. I have a number of custom made jig thingees which fit over the rip fence and adapt it for various router tasks. They take care of dust extraction and various jobs like rebating for hinges or machine cut dovetail joints.

You dont get all the functionality of a dedicated router table but at the cost of $90 then if you have a spare router lying about why wouldnt you buy one ?

Cheers
Arron

[grantoboy]

Thanks for the replies. I have taken the plunge and have started making an extension for my router first and if that works (or doesn't work) then I will invest in a cast iron top.

I bought a Kreg router insert plate that is pre drilled by Kreg to fit my Triton router for under $60, just waiting for this to arrive. But have built the extension wing from 30mm thick laminated kitchen bench top (cut out from a sink install) I also bought a length of T-Track from Incra (love this company) to install into the top.

I plan on building a fence that attaches to my table saw fence and would like to add dust extraction to the fence and to the base of the router. My only issue I am having is that I would like to connect the hoses from the fence and router to the extraction connected to the table saw. Has anyone done this in a neat but viable way or are there any attachments I can get to make he job easier? My dust collector is 100mm (4 inch) and the base on the router is 38mm (1.5 inch) and the fence can be any size as it is not built yet.

Ideally I would love to be able to block either the table saw to direct it to the router and vice verse to have maximum collection from the piece of machine I am using but I don't want some Frankenstein build to make it work. I am thinking a T piece with a blast type gate on two of the inlets with the table saw connected to one side, the router to another and the dust extractor to the third, but can seem to think of a neat way of doing this. I was tempted cut a hole into the side of my table saw cabinet and install a blast gate there and connect it to the router but would I am thinking I may lose suction as the dust collector would also be drawing from the table saw. Does anyone think this would be to much of a problem? (don't want to go cutting 4 inch holes in my cabinet if it won't work)

Any ideas, suggestions or even pictures?

Thanks

[Arron]

I just use a shop vac on the router when its in the router wing. Its a tiny inconvenience but it has one advantage that is very important in my noise-sensitive neighbourhood - it only turns on when the router starts and turns off a few seconds after the router stops.
Because the clearances around the bit are so small, on a setup like mine you need very little suction to suck in all the dust from the router.

[grantoboy]

I just use a shop vac on the router when its in the router wing.

I currently have a Triton router table and this is what I am currently doing buy find I can only connect my shop vac up to only only port (either to the fence or to the router base) and would like to have both connected at the same time.

Also I get a lot better suction from my dust collector. I do find that the shop vac can not handle it when I use my Gifkins Jig when cutting dovetails with wood shavings spewing everywhere, unsure if this would improve with a stronger suction.

I did find this page New Router Table: Adding Dust Collection | Jeff Branch Woodworking but as I said I'm after a more cleaner install. But this might be the best that can be done.

[Chief Tiff]

The Triton dust collector is basically a big bucket that goes in line between your dust collector and the router table. The big advantage if this device is that it gives you two collection ports so you can suck dust from both the fence and the router; you can also vary the suction rate between them. I use one all the time on my router table and the table saw hooked up to a 2nd hand domestic cylinder vacuum cleaner.

[grantoboy]

The Triton dust collector is basically a big bucket that goes in line between your dust collector and the router table.

This is a great idea when used with a shop vac but I am looking to connect to my current 4 inch dust collector. The Triton dust collector only accepts a standard size hose for the input hose so this defeats what I am looking for. Thanks for the suggestion, if I had known that existed I would have bought one when I first bought my router table instead of using my shop vac directly.

[orraloon]

I had a Ryobi saw with router attachment for years and used the router in it a lot. When I upgraded saws the router attachment was sorely missed. A router table is on my to do list.
Regards
John