Router table - use a plate, or not?

[MysticRiver]

I have been reading Bill Hylton's Woodworking with the Router (revised edition), which, by the way, is quite a good book. I have also been looking at commercial router tables and the many parts and accessories that can be had to build your own.

I have never used a real router table, and I would like to build one. I'm doing a lot of research and thinking to try to design one that will suit my needs for some time to come.

Hylton suggests not using a plate - just mounting the router directly to the table. He notes that some new routers, such as the Triton MFC001 (mine arrived this week), can crank the collet above the table surface, making it easy to change bits without removing the router from the table.


I can think of two good reasons for using a router plate on a table:

• It allows you to pull the router out of the table easily, for bit changes, or to move the router to another table, or to use a different router.
• You can mount the router close to the surface of the table without compromising the overall rigidity of the table top, and you avoid a loss of router depth capability

The first point applies to routers that cannot raise the collet above the table for bit changes, and to anyone who has more than one router table or router and wants to change them quickly. So far that's not me.

The second point allows you to use a very thick top (more than an inch) to avoid sagging.

Suppose I don't use a plate. Because I have a Triton router and only plan for one table, the first does not apply.

As for the second, cutting a well on the underside of the table top would allow the router to be mounted closer to the surface without compromising the rigidity of the top - either by cutting a hole in a lower layer before gluing two layers together, or just routing out a well on the bottom of a thick board.

The advantage of a plateless approach is that the table surface is smooth, with plate adjustment needed.

For those of you who have used routers on tables with plates: are there other reasons to use a plate in a router table? What do you think of the plateless approach?

[joe greiner]

For me, the only argument for not using a plate is the smooth surface. The difference with a plate would amount to only the thickness (or half-thickness, actually I think) of any shimming tape on the rebate, though.

Cutting a well on the bottom will, in fact, reduce the stiffness of the region of reduced thickness. This shouldn't be a problem because the edges of the well are still rigidly connected to the rest of the table.

The best reason I can think of for using a plate, is that it makes installation and removal of the router easier. For installation, attach the plate to the inverted router, then place in the table. For removal, do the reverse. Without a plate, you'll need to support the inverted router by hand from below while placing the attachment fasteners with the other hand (or two or three) - think about it. Alternatively, you could invert the table itself, and place the fasteners from below - still kinda dodgy. If you never intend to use the router off-table, either adventure might not be so bad for one time.

Joe

[rayintheuk]

Phenolic or metal plates tolerate the frequent removal, replacement and tightening of the mounting screws in a way neither ply or MDF would. The reduction in thickness of the top would need to be down to 6mm to 8mm in order for the above-the-table bit change to work effectively.

As said, phenolic or metal that thin and countersunk for screws is OK - ply or MDF ? - I don't think so.

Consider, finally, the already-weakened top having to cope with the torque of the router via holes (in wood or MDF) that have already been stressed by tightening and that will be far more vulnerable to wear, in its weakest area. I'd want the solidity of a plate, thanks!

Ray.

[MysticRiver]

Thanks, Joe and Ray. I'm back to planning to use the plate - because I do expect to take the router out of the table sometimes, and the plate both makes the router more accessible and is more sturdy for the screws.

[damian]

I've got a triton aswell. You need a certain thickness in MDF or whatever to make the table stiff enough. The rise of the collet isn't enough to over come the full thickness. If you rebate around the base you'll get enough thickness and stiffness but you'll have to cut back for all the bits that stick out near the base. Also there are other things you need to do to your router occasionally apart form change bits. Every time you need to do any of those things you'll have more of a job on your hands.

Trade tools and H&F have a tilt top iron router table with a very nice fence. TTD has it for about $420 and H&F about $470 as I recall.

If your determined to make your own I suggest you use an insert plate and that you use a good quality one. Phenolic should be AT LEAST 3/8" and personally I'd go aluminium that thickness.

2c

[hcim]

Thanks for those great info and advises :

I'm planning to build a router table as well. However, it's very hard to find router accessories here in Indonesia. I've spend the whole month just to browse for a good Router ).
I doubt that I can find 'ready made' metal plate for the router support here. Thus, I'm thinking to make one from plastic ( 5mm Acrilic).

My questions are:
-Would it be strong enough to support the router (I'm planning to buy HITACHI M12SA2) ???
-Can anyone suggest other materials for the support ??? (I was thinking to use 6mm MDF, but I doubt that it'll support).

Thanks.

[Buzzard]

Selamat Patang, apa khabar? I use a phenolic plate with a heavy router and totally agree with the other guys. I would hate to rely on a thin piece of MDF or even ply over a time.
Selamat jalan!

Rick