Thread: Router Table Insert

Originally Posted by ronbrunton

The next router table I make will just have a 30-35 mm hole in the centre.

I prefer the ones with the removable rings so you can fit a ring that is close to the diameter of the current bit. (So long as it is flush!! (Such as the plates sold by PWS)

Some of my router bits have a diameter in excess of 60mm (even 70 for one I think), so to have a hole that large would make the table pretty useless for my smallest bits. Before you ask - my panel raising bits are that large, and I run them in the 2400W Triton router that has no issues with bits that large.

Stuart, I see what you mean. The only router bits I am currently using are less than 30 mm. But I will keep the aluminium insert from my present router table just in case.

Originally Posted by rayintheuk

Regarding the slight crown - it is NOT there to counteract for router weight. Most phenolic inserts are produced as copies of the original Rousseau insert, which was slightly crowned to ensure that the cutting point of the plate was always the highest to ensure continuity. "Slightly" is the operative word, invisible to the naked eye and causing no problems on the Rousseau originals.

Ray.

Hi All

A point of clarification, or as they say, plastics ain't all the same plastics. ABS, Acrylic, Lexan etc. are a member of the 'Thermoplastic' family they can be remelted (recycled) and as such will eventually sag under the weight of a big router in a hot shed. Crowning would be a means of slowing the inevitable. This may not be an issue in the UK's climate but cerrtainly is here.

Phenolics are part of the 'Themosetting' family and can't be remelted, they are mostly reinforced with paper of cloth for added strength. Common uses for Phenolic is for transformer cores, and other high temp applications.

As they can't readily mould a Phenolic router plate they are usually machined from a sheet. In the case of the Woodpeckers plate it is 10mm thick, which allows for; machined recesses for Twist Lock Rings and compensator balls on 2 edges to take up any slack between the plate and opening in the table.

I'm sure there's a chemist out there who could give us a course in Platics 101??

I hope that this helps?

Regards

Grahame