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  1. #1
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    Default Router Table Upgrade

    If you have never experianced the MSR Router Table, then consider yourself lucky

    It was the second major piece I bought for my new hobby, back in 2005, & it didn't take me very long to realise that the problems I was experiancing had more to do with my new router table, than with my inexperiance. I know its a poor tradesman that blames his tools, but that fence... I would have been better of with a strip of cyclone mesh stretched across there.

    Anyway, it wasn't very long before I simply threw more money at the problem & bought a different fence. That has been pretty good up untill now, but when I had the oppertunity recently to by a UniLift (thanks Grahame), I jumped at it.

    So, All I have to do is get the cast table machined out to fit the UniLift. Sounds a bit pricey, but as it turns out, I have a very good mate who ownes an engineering shop, so no problems, right?

    Wrong!

    The cast top is too thin & barely wide enough to house the UniLift. We discussed options, & we could have got around the problem by being a little creative, but in all the years I have had the MSR, I have never used the sliding table. I have been thinking about replacing it with a bit of MDF.

    What I decided to do was have a new top made, slightly bigger & one solid piece.

    I ordered a Mild Steel plate fropm another workshop, 900 x 600 x 25. I had a hole cut in it close to where the Unilift will sit, & I had it Surface Ground on one side. This was actually not all that expensive, should have done it years ago. As luck would have it, the shop was not very busy at the time, & the back was less than perfect, so the boss had his bloke surface grind the back as well. It wouldnt have been a problem, but i'm not complaining as he didn't charge me any extra.

    More pics to follow as we progress (Hopfully better quality).Router top 2.jpgRouter top.jpg


    Steve
    The fact remains, that 97% of all statistics are made up, yet 87% of the population think they are real.

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  3. #2
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    Work has been progressing, my mate had a bit of trouble with the counter on his CNC Mill, but he was able to fix it in the end, & my new router top is ready to come off the mill in the morning.

    The pocket has been rebated to accept the UniLift.
    I have also had a series of 10.5mm holes drilled in the top. These still have about 1.5mm to drill out by hand as we didn't want to drill holes in the mill bed. Then I will tap these so they can be used to clamp down jigs & stops etc. I'm not exactly sure how or even if I will use these holes, but I am trying to think ahead a little. If I need them, they are there.
    I have also had a mitre slot cut right across the plate. This proved to be a bit of a problem, as the plate is 900 wide & the the mill has a 700 mm X Axis. We cut the 700mm slot then clamped a bar to the plate & slid it along. My mate cut the rest after I left this arvo, so I havent seen it. He recons it has turned out good, & he is a bit of a +/_ Demond, so I am expecting an extremly good result. I have to keep reminding him that I am a Boilermaker, NOT a F#%@ing WATCHMAKER.

    I still have to drill a couple of holes in the back edge to bolt on the fence. This is prooving to be bit tricky to overcome, due to the wieght of the plate, & the accuracy that we are trying to achieve, but we have a couple ideas floating around.

    Milling out the pocket Router top 3.jpg

    More work on the pocket Router top 4.jpg
    700mm of The Mitre SlotRouter top 5.jpg
    and set up to cut the last 200mm


    Steve
    The fact remains, that 97% of all statistics are made up, yet 87% of the population think they are real.

  4. #3
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Ticky View Post
    As luck would have it, the shop was not very busy at the time, & the back was less than perfect, so the boss had his bloke surface grind the back as well. It wouldnt have been a problem, but i'm not complaining as he didn't charge me any extra.
    Rolled plate frequently has encapuslated stress from the production proccess. These can be released when the material is machined, it is quite possible that the table might have banana'd with one surface raw and the other machined. With both ground, the table should hopefully have returned to an equilibrium state, and stay flat.
    I used to be an engineer, I'm not an engineer any more, but on the really good days I can remember when I was.

  5. #4
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    Hey Mal,

    Yeah, thats what my mate told me.

    Funny, I have worked with steel all of my adult life, & I had no idea about that.

    Being a Boilermaker, I am very aware of heat distortion, & offset for welding to achieve a square joint, but my machining experiance is limited to a 9" grinder.
    For fine tolerance, I have a 4"grinder & a flap disc.

    This has been a really interesting project. I love spending time in my mates workshop, I'm always learning something & just occasionaly, I am able to contribute an idea. We are also making some clamps that are almost finished as well.

    Due to a major back injury, I have been unable to be a productive worker for about 15 years, so me spending time in a workshop again is kinda like going home after a long time away.

    I had to go to my brothers place today, about 80ks away, to get my engine hoist. We have lived in this house for 16 years and this is the first time it has been here. I am gona need it to maouver my new router top around & mount it to my table.

    More pics to follow


    Steve
    The fact remains, that 97% of all statistics are made up, yet 87% of the population think they are real.

  6. #5
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    Well, The plate is off the mill.

    I spent quite a while today tapping the 12mm holes in the top. I have done 7, 7 still to do. Not sure who's stupid idea this was, but I think it was mine. Hard work tapping all those holes.

    I also tidied up the pocket a little.

    Steve
    Attached Images Attached Images
    The fact remains, that 97% of all statistics are made up, yet 87% of the population think they are real.

  7. #6
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    WOW....that looks fantastic !!!!

    I'd be hanging out to get it all finished and have a crack at using it.

    Having a Router-lift would be enough for me, to team it up with a flat, solid top would be just incredible.

    Great job.

    Steven.

  8. #7
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    Thanks Steven,

    Yeah, I am hanging out to have a crack at it. My first job will be using a lock mitre bit.

    These are mongrels to set up but with mico adjustment with the Unilift & the fence, if I cant get it right now then I'm in trouble. It has to be easier, but I still don't think it will be easy.

    I have to upgrade the wheels on my base to accomadate the extra weight, but I have bought them & just have to fit them.

    I still want to paint the back of the plate & I am going to run the sander over the to face just to allow the timber to slide a little easier.

    It will be great when it's finished, but I am really enjoying the project of building it as well. Some times it's as much about the journy as it is about the destination I guess.


    Steve
    The fact remains, that 97% of all statistics are made up, yet 87% of the population think they are real.

  9. #8
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    4 Hours to mark & drill 8 holes.

    OK.... In my defense, I marked and drilled 4 of the eight in about 1/2 hr but the 4 in the back edge of this plate did take a long time.

    Could only get 2 and then had to muscle the plate around to the other end of the bed to get the other 2.

    Router top 7.jpg

    The head of the mill is extended almost all the way and out and pivoted to about 30 degrees to reach the holes.


    Router top 11.jpg

    This has taken several weeks, but for several reasons, it's only been a day here & a day there.
    The plate is now at home & my enging hoist made a heavy job easy.


    Router top 8.jpg

    I decided to start working on the back, or Bottom of the plate first, as there is not much to do here.
    I washed it all down with Turps and blew out the holes etc.
    This face will get a couple of coats of Black Spray paint & thats about it.


    Router top 10.jpg

    I still need to tap out 7 of the 12mm holes, & I will probably do that first
    This is not difficult to do, but it is time consuming as the plate is 25mm thick so thats 175mm of 12mm thread to be cut by hand.

    Router top 9.jpg

    These 4 hole were the ones that caused me all the grief today.
    they are 30mm deep & have an 8mm thread tapped into them to mount the fence.
    The other 4 holes I had to drill today, the easy ones, were in the fence mount.

    Overall, I am very happy with the progress so far. I still have quite a bit of work to do, but I find it
    very relaxing & rewarding doing this sort of thing.

    I think this is going to be well worth the effort & money spent on this table by the time I have finished it.


    Steve
    The fact remains, that 97% of all statistics are made up, yet 87% of the population think they are real.

  10. #9
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    Coming to the pointy end of the job now.

    So I said I was going to start on the back, or bottom of the plate, & that was the plan, but my brother came down the other day & wanted to se the business end of the table, so between the 2 of us, we turned it over. Thats where it stayed & I started working on it today, so the top got done first.

    As I said in a earlier post, the top & bottom have been surface ground, or to be more precise, Slash Ground. To put this into Woody Language, It's flat, but only sanded to say 100 grit. It's smooth, but not smooth enough.


    I started by sanding it with 100 grit paper & giving it a coat of black spraypaint.
    Router top 12.jpg



    Then I started sanding with my ROS again Started at 100 grit
    Router top 13.jpg



    Working my way up, this one is at 600 grit
    Router top 14.jpg



    I like the effect of the black paint in the slot and around the holes.
    Up to 1000 grit here.
    Router top 1.jpg



    These last 2 pics are at 2000 grit. I think the reflection tells the story here.
    Router top 16.jpgRouter top 17.jpg



    To be honest, It turned out better than I expected.

    The reason I painted it first, was I thought the black paint would sit in the bottom of the grinding marks, & I would have these cool black swirls over the plate, I didn't expect the sander to get the plate anywhere near as smooth as it has.

    I still have a bit of work to do, biut I am nearly ready to mount the plate to the table & the Fence to the plate

    I am really happy with this plate & I think it will be an excellent Router Table. I only hope that my woodwork skills will do it justice

    Steve
    The fact remains, that 97% of all statistics are made up, yet 87% of the population think they are real.

  11. #10
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    Looking pretty impressive.

    I'm liking the updates on how you are progressing. It's looking like a serious bit of kit.

    Your 'woodworking skills' can only improve with a quality looking tool like this. I'm sure it will be a pleasure to use.

    Steven.

  12. #11
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    Hey Steven, thanks for the encouragement.

    In my egerness to get the plate finished, I forgot I still had 7 @ 12mm holes to tap.

    Apart from it being quite hard work to tap a hole in 25mm plate, this should not have been a huge problem as I have a pretty good set of taps & dies that I inherrited from my dear old dad. (Side Note... My dad would have been 86 Yesterday. Sadly missed, gladly remembered)

    If you are unfamiliar with tapping threads, there are 3 taps for every thread, A starter, or Tapperd tap, an intermediate and a plug or finishing tap. I had a plug tap. Great to finish the job, but no so good to start it. I tried 3 places to get a tapperd 12mmx1.75 tap and no good. I did manage to get an elcheapo set for $10 that had a 12mm intermediate tap in it. .

    Ok, not great, but better that what I had & only $10 so not a lot to loose. I thought I might grind a tapper on to it, and see if that would work. Anyway, I bought it & just tried it as is before I tried to modify it. It worked. I did 5 holes before it started to get blunt. The last 2 hole, I had to start with the Plug tap, but that was easier that trying to start it with the blunt tap. I had to swap between the 2 taps as I went down, but in the end, I got there. Too bad my mate was away this weekend or I could have just borrowed one.

    Sometimes, When you tap a hole, The plate gets a slight buldge around the hole. I thought this would happen so I decided to tap from the back or bottom of the plate, as I had the top all finished. It did buldge, just as I suspected, but it buldged on both sides, just as I feared.

    I ran over the back of the plate with a couple of 100 grit discs. They dont last long on steel. I sprayed the back then I flipped it over and proceeded to redo the top... from scratch. 100 all the way up 2000 grit again.

    Anyway, the plate itself is now FINISHED


    I have started to mount the fence, but I have to get some 8mm bolts and a small round file to get it dead right. It looks like it is pretty close, so I won't have a lot to file and its only cast iron so ... pretty soft.

    Anyway, for all the work I have done on the top of the plate, it dosent look any different to the last pics I posted, so I just have one of the back.


    Router top 18.jpg


    Steve
    The fact remains, that 97% of all statistics are made up, yet 87% of the population think they are real.

  13. #12
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    I had a couple of hours today so I headed for the shed.

    I mounted the table legs on the mobile base that I had previously upgraded the wheels to carry the extra weight, and I mounted a frame to the back of the table top

    Finally, it was time to mount the top to the table.

    I lifted it with my engine hoist and barring a few small problems, it went fairly smoothly.

    I also mounter my Triton to the unilift. My next adventure to the shed will involve taking the triton out of the unilift & putting it in the correct position.

    I have also mounted the sensor for the digital readout.

    Not much left to do now, fix the router position and install the fence onto the fece mount. Then I should be able to have a bit of a play

    My mate that did the milling work for me is in the process of producing Airplane Kits, not toys, but the real deal. I have a little job to do for him. So nice to be able to do something in return for all the work he did fo me, and on the very tool that he worked on.

    anyway, couple more pics


    router 22.jpg router 20.jpg router 21.jpg


    Steve
    The fact remains, that 97% of all statistics are made up, yet 87% of the population think they are real.

  14. #13
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    Steve

    This job has turned out beautifully and well worth all the effort. Excellent.

    Regards
    Paul
    Bushmiller;

    "Power tends to corrupt. Absolute power corrupts, absolutely!"

  15. #14
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    Thanks Spokey & Paul,

    I have a couple more pics, just finishing touches really

    Installing the Unilift Base to the router

    router 23.jpg


    Router installed in the Unilift
    The green bit in frount is the Digital Sensor

    router 24.jpg


    With the Unilift & Digital Readout, I now have height adjustment
    of .05mm

    Router 26.jpg



    I have 6 12mm Hold Down Bolts for the 14 tapped holes. I recon that will be enough.
    I have also installed 14 12mm Grub Screws into the tapped holes to keep the threads clean & the sawdust on top of the table.

    Router 25.jpg


    Steve
    The fact remains, that 97% of all statistics are made up, yet 87% of the population think they are real.

  16. #15
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    Well, This is it.

    The fence is on & I have had a bit of a play with my new router table.

    I have reinstalled the fence I bought to replace the original Fence soon after I bought the MSR

    Router 27.jpg


    I made this fence plate fairly high which will come in handy when I start playing with my Lock Mitre Bit

    Router 28.jpg



    These last 2 pics show the progression from the original MSR up to the current table.
    Well, the legs are original, as is the on / off switch, but thats about it.


    Router 30.jpg Router 29.jpg


    I still have to mount the digidtal Readout, And I have a Dust Collection box under the router which needs to be fixed into it's new position.

    The Router is mounted quite a bit further forward than it used to be which will allow me greater flexability with what I can do now. There have been a number of times when I simply didnt have enough roon behind the cutter to do what I wanted to do. I imagin I will still have this problem sooner or later, but thats what hand held routers are for.


    This has been an interesting project, a bit drawn out, but thats the pace I can work at.

    I am extremely happy with the finished product & I believe it has been well worth the effort & reasonably minor expence considering the result.


    Steve
    The fact remains, that 97% of all statistics are made up, yet 87% of the population think they are real.

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