Veritas router table top

[FenceFurniture]

Has anyone seen/used/owned one of these:
Veritas® Router Table Top - Lee Valley Tools (http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=41793&cat=1,43053,43885)

It's the only steel table top that I've seen in my research (apart from the big clunkers from carbatec).

The Veritas top appeals to me because it allows the use of magnetic feather boards etc, which would seem to be a fabulous idea.

My concern is that if the router isn't JUST the right weight then there will be an upwards bow still left in the table, or does this somehow not matter?

Regards, Brett

[Mr Brush]

US reviews suggest its a good product, as is their router table fence.

Problem is, due to weight/shipping cost, by the time you got it here it wouldn't be very competitive with other router table products.

I've not come across anyone bringing these into Australia.:(

[Mr Brush]

In fact, by the time you got it here, you could probably buy one of these

Carba-Tec Cast Iron Top Router Table : CARBA-TEC (http://www.carbatec.com.au/carba-tec-cast-iron-top-router-table_c20250)

for the same money.......

[Rocker]

I owned one of these when I was living in the US, and liked it a lot. I also owned the Carbatec one after moving here. I definitely would not recommend the latter. Its top is extremely heavy and has a sharp edge which could slice off your finger like a guillotine, if it slipped out of your grasp. Also its fence is totally useless. Furthermore, the method of attaching the router to the table is very poorly designed. I ended up selling it for a song to someone who wanted to use it as a stand for a SCMS.

Rocker

[Mr Brush]

If Carbatec bring their Veritas gear in by sea freight (?), you could always ask them how much to get one here on special order...

[FenceFurniture]

Thanks Mr B and Rocker.

I don't think the freight will be prohibitive because there's a stack of other Veritas gear that I would get at the same time. In any case it's only 5mm thick so it can't we that weighty.

Rocker, how did you find the curve? Did it flatten out or was there still a bit left when you attached the router? I'll probably put the big Triton mother in it, but I'm just wondering if even that behemoth will leave some curve left.

Brett

[Rocker]

Brett,

I never found the curvature to be an issue; but I confess that I didn't do any investigation of it. I used a heavy router comparable in weight to the large Triton on it.

[rayintheuk]

Did it flatten out or was there still a bit left when you attached the router? I'll probably put the big Triton mother in it, but I'm just wondering if even that behemoth will leave some curve left.
As Veritas state in their blurb: " ... the Veritas router table top will always be slightly convex, with the highest point adjacent to the bit, so your depth of cut will always be exactly as set" (my emboldening).

This idea probably came from the Rousseau company products, whose table inserts have exactly the same feature. It's not designed to overcome the weight of the router, but to ensure that the cutting point is always, by the smallest degree, the highest. You won't see the curve on either the Veritas or the Rousseau, it's infinitessimal and it won't cause any practical problems at all. HTH :)

Ray

[FenceFurniture]

Excellent, thank you Ray.

Regards, Brett