Thread: My First Router Table

Day 8 - 29hrs...

With the top on it is getting quite heavy, so I had to think of a way to make moving it easier.

I was originally going to lift it by the table top, but when I put it away the other night I thought it would be nice to be able to lift it from a lower point and possibly get some kind of mechanical advantage.

So while fitting the rear legs on tonight I came up with the idea of some tilting arms, that when they are not in use they will sit flush against the table.

Better half caught me measuring up, so I thought I might include it since I rarely take photos of myself, and she said at least it proved I built it

Need to go to Bunnings to grab some more bolts, as the only one I had available for mock up are way too short.

Originally Posted by HeadScratcher

Good point I never thought of that... They look sturdy enough to hold my weight 90+ kgs so I think the 65kgs is conservative anyway.

No brake at the other end. What I plan to do is just bolt two pieces of timber to the uprights so they go nowhere.

When I want to move it I merely lift it off the ground and wheel it on the two front wheels.

Its not so heavy that I cant wheel it, just awkward to try lift the total weight of it.

Bearing that in mind could you not have added or allowed for legs on one end & saved yourself the cost of 2 wheels ?

Maybe you did ... and I just didn't look hard enough lol

Looks great by the way. I'm looking to build a router table for myself, so I look forward to seeing your end product to give me some inspiration.

Not sure I follow.. It does have two wheels and two legs.

Price didn't come into it. The mere $10 I would have spent putting two more wheels on it would have been a waste, as I want it to stay firmly put when I am working on the bench top, and there is nothing more stable than good old legs for that.

I even bolted the legs to the most outside point for greater stability, and put the wheels as far forward as the screws would allow.

If it was lighter I would have put legs all round but that really isn't that practical so I compromised between the two. Just looking at the picture again it really acts much like a wheel barrow. Handles and legs at one end and two wheels at the front.

Great work Headscratcher
wish I could do similar thing.. Unfortunately garage space doesn't really allow me to make dedicated router table sitting there.. my current solution is the old triton table.. (the one with steel top) which I am currently looking into modifying..
Plan is to put 600x600x25mm MDF instead of the metal top. Was lucky to score 200x200x6mm steel plate with 50mm laser cut hole in the centre and 4 countersink holes in corners which I'm planing to use as mounting plate (all i have to do is drill three more holes countersink them and put 3 M6 50mm long screws through for mounting the makita router)
Then cut the trench for the track (have one from carbatec) and have to figure out how to make nice fence .
This way I can take the top off and use old one when needed and since the whole table top folds it doesn't take much space when not in use..

sounds like a plan. Going outside in a bit a try and do a bit more, the wind is much better today and the whole neighbourhood won't get covered in sawdust.

Day 9 - 33.5 hrs down.

Got a bit done today but not as much progress as I would have liked.

Managed to get the big door at one end finished but not hung (need hinges).

Got the two centre uprights where the router sits done as well, but they aren't glued and screwed into place just yet.

Put in an additional top brace today, was going to make the table fit both the router and the circular saw but decided against making it fit the circular saw, that way I can place the brace more central.

As this is still a no plans build, I am still making decisions on the fly. Wasn't sure what I wanted to do with the end with the handles, I know I wanted a few draws / shelves but hadn't really decided on how many.

Think I will put draws down the full length of the handles end, that way I don't have any issues with a door that swings out. I was going to just block the lower half off and make a deep cavity that opens from the other end, but it wont hurt to have a few more draws.

Because I will lift it from the handle end the draws won't fling out when moving.

Day 10 - 35hrs (if you can call an hour and half a day...)

Had to take a couple of trips to Bunning's today. Bought some hinges but had to take them back for another set. Was going to use a set of hinges that would have screwed into the end of the door but thought better of it as I didn't want to risk splitting the MDF, as I have done similar in the past.

Also fitted a latch but need to grab another for up the top next time I am out.

Day 11 - 38hrs and yet another trip to Bunnings...

Picked up a second latch today and fitted it to the door. also glued and screwed the the two centre section pieces into place.

Was a bit worried about screwing into the end grain of the MDF, as there is always a risk of splitting the board. Must have got lucky as there is no signs of swelling or splitting, think the trick is making sure you have a good pilot hole for the screw to go in.

So I am now at the stage where all I need to put on the top and build a few draws and I should be close to done.

Did a trial fit of a couple of power tools just to get an idea of what I might be able to fit into the storage sections.

Day 12 - 41hrs

Well the long awaited day has arrived... the top of the cabinet was prepared and the permanent top went on. Decided not to glue it down just in case I ever need to take it off.

Haven't had chance to do any finishing filing, but it turned out pretty good straight off the circular saw and jigsaw.

Just have the cupboards to do now and some tidy up work and I should be done. Haven't drilled the holes for the removable tops just yet, because I want to think about the placement of them a bit before I drill.

The first work bench I will make is already done because it is just a plain sheet of MDF that will go on top for general work and hold the jig for speakers.

Day 13 - 42hrs

Just a quick one tonight...

Since I already had the sheet of MDF for the replaceable top cut to size, I just needed to work out where to drill the holes (and how many).

In the following pics you can see that I placed four of the bolts at the far extremities to give maximum grip and stop any bumping of the top rotation (not that it should anyway)

I place the other two in the middle, but offset them a bit so I had two different clamp sizes, so if I want to clamp something smaller it would grip better.

It also means that I didn't need to drill another hole in the middle, as the end width is the same as one of the middle widths.

In the last pic you can start to get an idea of what I will do with the jig frame. The jig frame will be screwed to the top removable top (from the bottom) so it is firmly bolted to the table and wont move.

Only two of the four sides shown as I don't have the wood cut to size.

Now that I have changed the way I am going to hold it, I now need to remake all of the templates / holes. I am going to use much larger template guides than I was originally going to, that will allow more cutter options.