Thread: A New Idea For a Combination Vertical & Horizontal Router Table

Screenshot from 2015-11-12 09-05-47.jpg
I thought some forum members may be interested in a new Router Table Design recently published in Woodsmith Magazine (Issue 222, December 2015). My digital subscription copy arrived yesterday, so this issue should be in the Australian Newsagents in about two weeks time.

What makes this Router Table design interesting to me is the ability to readily reconfigure the table from using the Router Bit Vertically, to using the router bit horizontally. There are plenty of router table designs around that have either a vertical router bit, or a horizontal router bit, but this is the first design I've seen that combines the two router table functions in the one design.

The image at left shows to Router Table configured with the router bit horizontal. To convert back to using the router bit vertically, you first remove the small Auxiliary Table from the device, and then unlock the two lock-knobs and rotate the main router table back to horizontal. Install the Router Fence, and you're right to go in normal table routing mode.

The Auxiliary Table is held onto the main table by using the main table's "T" Track. The Auxiliary Table has it's own wheel operated vertical adjustment. I haven't worked out yet what sort of "tracks" the Auxiliary Table utilises to be able to slide up and down whilst staying accurately aligned - I'll have to study the plans a bit more.

The main shortcoming I see with the design is the absence of dust collection. In the Vertical Router Bit mode, you could easily use a fence that had dust extraction included. However, in the horizontal router bit mode, I think devising a dust collection feature might be a bit more challenging.

About two years ago, I cobbled together a very Heath Robinson style horizontal bit router table to do one particular job. That contraption proved to me the versatility and improved safety that the horizontal router bit style of router table offers for some types of cuts. I found the horizontally oriented router bit to be great for cutting mortices. And for any cuts where you'd normally need to stand a wide board on edge against a normal router table fence, there was a big improvement in safety as a result of being able to have the board laying flat on the table, running against a horizontally oriented router bit.

Anyway, it's an interesting design. As noted in another thread, for the last few months I've been locating and buying the hardware required to build a new router table. I've got all the hardware together now, and just need to find the spare time to allow me to get stuck into building the new router table - so I think this design, or elements of this design, will be worth including.

I'd appreciate hearing the views of other Router Table users ......

Regards,

RoyG