Router Table design

[smidsy]

Hei Guys,
Been umming and ahhing about the GMC router table, I've pretty much decided that the things I don't like about it make it not worth the $100 so I think I will make my own.
I've searched this forum, had a read, and pending a read of the new router handbook here is what I have.

Dimensions will be about the size and height of a Triton saw bench - I don't have space for much larger and the height seems about right for me.
The top will be 12mm chipboard or melamine with a plate recessed into the chipboard to mount the router. The timber will be cut out where the router goes so the only height I lose is from the plate. My router is a 5.8kg Makita, would 3mm do for the plate or should I go 5mm?
Do I need a fence, most of my routing is edge type stuff using bits that have a bearing so do I need a fence - what exactly does the fence do apart from act as a guide?
For a stand I will use either angle iron or structural pine, with some bracing under the top and I will use a triton type switch from Carbatec.

All feed back on this would be appreciated.
Cheers
Paul

[stevepay]

I'm not sure if this is useful but I just finished puting my new triton in a table and because of lack of space I mounted it in my tablesaw extension table.

I used a 9mm clear plastic plate(not sure what type of plastic) that I purchased from Timbecon(30$ from memory) and simpley routed out a recess to fit. I then placed some supports across underneath the plate and it seems to work fine.

I decided on a store bought plate because it was fairly cheap and the holes were predrilled to fit the triton, I also used the back of my existing table saw fence with some sacrificial pieces of wood for the router fence.

I feel the fence is critical for good safe routing and allow for steadier guiding of the material, especially with a larger router like the one you have or something like the triton. :eek:

I eventually purchased an aftermarket fence with built in dust collection chute that works well with the dust, so I now have 2 options for the table.

sorta got off track but I hope this helps. :D

regards

steve :o

[smidsy]

Hei Steve,
Space for me is tight but not critical - yet.
I thought about a shop bought router pad but I figure that I can save myself some the money by making my own - I've only got to do some drilling.
Plus, my router is a Makita 3612 which at 5.8kg is not a light weight so I'm curious about whether or not a plastic pad would be meaty enough.
In terms of a fence, I found this beastie on the Timbecon website
http://www.timbecon.com.au/productsdetail.asp?sectid=12654&parentid=12473&prodid=28817
which looks like a goer - the incra stuff that Carbatec sells is nice but just way beyond my bidget.
Is that the same fence you have?
Cheers
Paul

[Cliff Rogers]

G'day.

See my post on router books here....
http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/showthread.php?t=7739

They (books) have some good homemade tables.

I reckon there's heaps to be learned in doing the research & making you own.
You aren't going to sell it, put it in the lounge/kitchen so who give's a F' what it looks like???
If you make it AND you use your router, it's good practice.
There is a VEEERRRY long thread on the board called something like ...
"in search of the perfect router table" do a search & see if you can
learn from the mistakes of others rather than your own.

I used a 5mm scrap piece of Ali from the local Ali distributor to make
an insert to hold my router in a table made of 2 sheets of 19MM MDF
glued & screwed together on a level surface with 5mm sheets of masonite
glued on top & bottom as hard facing & a 50mm strip of meranti around
the edge trimmed down to the same overall thickness as the table.
I cut out a hole just big enough for the body of the router using a
jig saw & then made up a guide frame (template, thanks Tom) to suit the
Ali table insert & set my router to 5mm & gouged (routed??? bludy turners :rolleyes: )
out the masonite to suit the Ali insert.
Tip.... round off the corners of the Ali on a belt sander to suit the round
corners left by the router bit. Other wise, you have to use a REAL chisel. :eek:
Next tip... I made my router table so it was removable from it's stand so
it can be hung on the wall. ;)
Next tip... the legs come out of the stand so it can also be hung on the wall.
Now what do I do with this router? :confused: The wall's full! :eek:

I have routed groves in the table top to fit 450mm steel rulers, ;)
I've made awesome fences copied from everyone's ideas to go on it &
now it's hanging on the wall, a work of art.... :D don't ask me what I've made
with it yet 'cos if you do, you will go directly to the class of 'nagging wife'
"Nice, but what's it for.... :rolleyes: what do you do with it?"
I'll find a 'new' place to HANG IT! :mad:

[smidsy]

Hei Cliff,
That sounds like one monster table.
My plan had been 12mm melamine braced underneath but from what you are saying I might bump that up to 25mm.
I'll search for those books and see what I can get from the libraries, my main sport is wood turning so I am not full on with the router.
For a fence I will probably use the one in the link in my other post, I don't plan on doing any free hand routering so I will not bother with guides and stuff - just the fence for safety.
Something I am toying with the idea of doing is sheeting the top in aluminium - I have a stash of aluminim sheeting about 0.6mm thick which is the left over from lythographic printing.
If I can score some bed frames from the op shop I will make the frame out of angle iron or structural pine if I can't get the angle. I won't bother about making it folding since the wall of my shed without windows has lockers all along it anyway.
Cheers
Paul

[smidsy]

Hie Guys,
I finally have a plan in mind.
The top will be MDF or chipboard - probably two sheets 12mm of laminated together.
The size will be a close match to the triton at 1000mm high, 600 wide and 900 long. I figure that if I go much less on width I will have problems with stability and the triton is about 890mm high which is pretty good for me - another 100mm would be nice because I'm 6ft tall.
For the frame I can get 4x2 jarrah from the demo yard for $2 a metre so I will go with that - it's not going to get moved too often and I figure the weight will add to stability.
For the fence I ended up going with the Torquata fence and base plate which you can check out at:
http://www.timbecon.com.au/productsdetail.asp?sectid=12654&parentid=12473&prodid=28703

The weight of my router is an issue and they say this plate was designed for the Triton which is heavier than mine so it should work fine.

I haven't planned on any mitres or anything yet because I don't think I'll need them but I can add them later if need be.

Comments, suggestions?
Cheers
Paul

[Cliff Rogers]

Cool, I wish now that I had seen the Torquata fence and base plate.... :o
I could have saved myself some time.
I made my own. :rolleyes:
The bace plate is 5mm Ali & the fence is a piece of 50mm Ali box glued &
screwed to a couple of bits of old Silky Oak that has been cleaned up in
my mate's thinnesser. :D
I still haven't finished making a dust extractor fitting for it yet.

One tip with your new fence.... put some timber faces on it.
(I might be telling you to suck eggs here :rolleyes: but it's worth it)

Have you found & read this thread yet?
http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/showthread.php?t=6106

Heaps of good stuff. :cool:

I must get my camera out & take some pics to post. :o
I have a workbench, a router table, raintree bowls & turning tool holders
that I've said I'd photograph & put up but still haven't done it yet.

[smidsy]

Hei Cliff,
I rang a steel supplier and they wanted $50 for a 300mm square peice of 5mm plate - then I would have had to drill and cut it.
The Torquata fence comes complete with MDF faces, they just need taking off and cutting out for where the router bit will go and it's made from pressed & welded steel which I think is better than cast anyway. I don't have the exact dimensions but the fence is about 600mm long, over 100mm high, has a 4 inch dust extractor hole and has the mounting hardware.
I have read that thread, but thanks anyway.
Cheers
Paul

[Cliff Rogers]

I got my 5mm Ali out of the scrap pile at local Ali distributors for about $5. :cool:

Cutting & Drilling Ali is easy. :rolleyes:

Cuts with a jigsaw & you can drill it with a sharp screwdriver. :D

[smidsy]

Ali is easy to work with but steel isn't.
You must have caught the distributor when he'd had a few beers because I knew some ali workers about 10 years ago and even then they gave nothing away becaus of the cost - anything that didn't get used went to the scrap merchant.
Cheers
Paul

[stevepay]

Hey Smidsy, that is the same fence that I bought.

its OK but has some limitations, first the material used for the wood part of the fence is MDF wich can absorb moisture and swell which makes the surface uneven and can make passing bords across it a pain, not impossible just a bit tricky. I made the mistake of letting the fence sit for awhile before doing anything and paid for my laziness, so if you treat it properly with a good product you should be fine.

the dust collection is good, no problems I just connect a standard hose to the fence and it works well with no dust or chips escaping.

also even though the fence is fairly light weight it is quite stiff and square, although the colour is not my first choice but I'm not going to pay more just to have a pretty colour.

be aware that when you place your chosen plate material on your table that the placement is important if you wish to use the adjustments on this fence, as they are quite wide on the fence and therefore may end up close to an edge of your table. this was not a problem for me as I use 2 clamps to hold the fence in place or use the table saw fence if it is a quick simple job.

regards

steve

[Cliff Rogers]

Nah, our Ali supplier puts all the off cuts on a rack & you buy it by the Kg.
Same as what he'd get is he took it to the scrap dealer.
He has a minimum charge of $5.

I've bought some scrap Ali from the scrap dealer too but it's uglier that the
stuff on the off cut pile at the supplier's place. :rolleyes:

If you can't get off cuts from the supplier, find someone that uses it big time &
see if they have some scrap for sale. ;) IE: Boat builder, welder etc.

Where are ya? Perth, struth, that's bigger than Cairns, you should be able
to find a mildly pliable purveyor of cheap Ali in Perth surely??? :)

[smidsy]

Hei Steve,
I want to keep the bench flat so I can use it as a work bench from time to time so the plan is to attach the fence with captive nuts - I think that's what these things are called, cylinder type thing with a coarse wood thread on the outside for screwing in to timber and a standard bolt thread inside for screwing a bolt in.
As for the MDF on the fence, I have some .6mm ali so I may even sheet it but if nothing else I will give it a coat of sanding sealer
When I've cut the top to size I will lay out the fence and the base and have a long hard think before I do any cutting.
Cheers
Paul

[Cliff Rogers]

The MDF facing is easily replaced if need be.

The Fence can even be held down with a G clamp at each end if need be.

A couple of the guys that wrote some of those books I recommended even
use a fence made of a dressed bit of pine with a notch in it for the bit &
held down with a couple of clamps around the edge of the table.

It just has to be straight.

[Geoff Sims]

Hey Smidsy

I've got a home made router table that I intend to retire and replace with a new improved one in the very near future.

If you're interested and you want to come over Byford way to pick it up, you can have it....gratis.

The top is made of two layers of 19mm MDF with plastic laminate on top and bottom. It was built to be used on any tabletop and hangs on the wall when not in use.

The Triton router was originally mounted direct to a piece of 10mm plexiglass which simply drops into the top of table. To make it easier to separate the router from the plate if I needed it for something else, I bought a Triton plate from Bunnings and mounted that on the plexiglass so it only takes a minute to separate the router.

I usually knock up a fence to suit the job I'm doing and now have a bit of a variety to choose from for different purposes.

As I said before, if you want the table, its yours, but you'll have to get your own plexiglass plate. Mine cost me about $15 from a place in Maddington.

Anyway, here's a couple of pics to show the table.

If you're interested, send me a PM and we can make some arrangement.

Cheers
Geoff

[smidsy]

Hei Geoff,
Thanks anyway but I've already bought some of the timber and it's worth more than my knee caps if that stack of timber doesn't become a router bench.
Appreciate the offer though.
Cheers
Paul

[Cliff Rogers]

... a home made router table that I intend to retire and replace with a new improved one in the very near future....



Hey Geoff, I want to see a pic of the 'new improved one'...
That one looks pretty damned good to me.
What's wrong with it?

PS. I just spotted the TV in the background.... how come you don't have the Olympics on???? :D

[Geoff Sims]

Smidsy

No problem. Just rather give it to someone else than throw it away. If there are any other takers over this way, just send a PM.

Cliff

There's nothing wrong with the table at all, but I've wanted to build a new one for a while with bit storage, a decent fence and some ali tracks for mounting my finger boards, etc. Also, since I've found myself routing some largish bits of timber lately, I reckon a slightly larger table would be nice. I've also always been impressed by some of the tables featured on this and other sites which look more like a piece of furniture than a router table . Probably a bit silly really, but you could equate it to some of the beautiful workbenches that have been discussed lately. I just want one.

The new table's not built yet, but soon will be. Will post some pics when it's done.

Cheers
Geoff

[forunna]

Geoff has given me his router table.
It looks great, I just need to make an insert to fit my router.
Thanks Geoff.
Now, anyone want an old cupboard door that clamps to the bench? it has a hole in it and there is a rebate to fit a 600w GMC router. :-)

[archie slater]

Hi new to wwf, I to am making a table and found your advice excellent, My shed walls are Royal blue (plywood) and it highlights the many pieces I have hanging around.