Thread: Router tables..Tailor-made or Roll-your-own???

G'day TTIT,

I'm 6' 3 1/2", so a tall bloke and when I was looking at router tables the first concern was working height, second was amount of real estate to work on. The usual suspects at C/tec and H&F didn't address what I was looking for.

So I made my own. All components were sourced from PWS and the cabinet made by my good self. (with help with an extra set of muscles and a drinking buddy to mull of the progress )

Pros:

I have a table that I couldn't buy off the shelf because none of them suited my requirements, so in making it myself I could source components to my specs.

Cons:

Expensive, but I couldn't buy a table off any floor to suit. It started out that my r/table came to about $1,000 by the end of its first incarnation. Since then I've made further refinements at a cost of about $1,800.

But, if I bought an off-the-floor table I would be continually battling with a r/table that was way under par.

G'day TTIT,
I have the Carbatec RT-660 router table, a bit expensive. But a great table straight out of the box, the table and insert are solid. The fence is also very solid, easy to adjust, and has enough options to built into it to jigs to suit just about any job.

Hope this helps

Originally Posted by TTIT

Our local club have decided we need a router table and are weighing up whether we should by all the bits to make our own or just grab one off the showroom floor. By the time you get the insert, phenolic top, router lift and a good fence you're looking at around $550 and you've still got to make a cabinet to get it all together. The commercial range from Carbatec go from about $380 to $850 with all the bells and whistles.
Looking for thoughts and ideas from everyone about the pro's and con's of each system???
While were at it, has anyone used the Carbatec sliding table model??? What's it like guv???

When you added up the bits for a "roll your own" router table, you included a router lift. AFAIK none of the Carbatec router tables have this, so you are not comparing apples for apples, price wise.

When I wanted a router table I looked at the commercially available ones, but none would fit my intended purpose. I wanted an Incra LS17 jig which requires a different setup.

In the end I spent far more on the Incra Jig than on the router table, but still came in well under $1000. Made my own cabinet, with heaps of drawers for the all bits and bobs, my own top with a phenolic plate. I don't have a router lift, nor do I intend to get one, I have the big Triton router and its in-built height adjustment is second to none.

It would make a great project for a woodies club to build a router table in my opinion. almost a "right of passage" when setting up a workshop.

Thanks for the input guy's - all good food for thought.

Originally Posted by Doc0055

G'day TTIT,
I have the Carbatec RT-660 router table, a bit expensive. But a great table straight out of the box, the table and insert are solid. The fence is also very solid, easy to adjust, and has enough options to built into it to jigs to suit just about any job.

Hope this helps

This was actually my preference too but the club was fairly evenly divided over which way to go

Originally Posted by Big Shed

When you added up the bits for a "roll your own" router table, you included a router lift. AFAIK none of the Carbatec router tables have this, so you are not comparing apples for apples, price wise......

The list of bits was a bit off the cuff because the components you can choose from are so variable - one of the fences that was proposed is about $1000 I personally believe the total will end up way over that of any of the commercial models if we build our own.

Originally Posted by Big Shed

..............It would make a great project for a woodies club to build a router table in my opinion. almost a "right of passage" when setting up a workshop.

This is part of my problem with a roll your own - for the next few months, the schedule is so full on that we won't have time to build anything decent until next year and I don't want to see something dodgie slapped together in a hurry to fit in with the schedule.

Originally Posted by Big Shed

When you added up the bits for a "roll your own" router table, you included a router lift. AFAIK none of the Carbatec router tables have this, so you are not comparing apples for apples, price wise.

When I wanted a router table I looked at the commercially available ones, but none would fit my intended purpose. I wanted an Incra LS17 jig which requires a different setup.

In the end I spent far more on the Incra Jig than on the router table, but still came in well under $1000. Made my own cabinet, with heaps of drawers for the all bits and bobs, my own top with a phenolic plate. I don't have a router lift, nor do I intend to get one, I have the big Triton router and its in-built height adjustment is second to none.

It would make a great project for a woodies club to build a router table in my opinion. almost a "right of passage" when setting up a workshop.

Thanks Fred, I like your logic.

That reference (Router Table for Incra LS) in your footnotes on the construction of your router table was very informative. Now that you are two years down the line, how about an update?

I have two probably rather basic questions:

* Is the router plate screwed onto the table top, or is it held in place by gravity?

* With the dust extracting shroud and the router plate in position, how difficult or slow is it to change bits?

Cheers

Graeme

As posted elsewhere I'm facing the same choice.

With an existing cabinet available, the price of components from PWS is about the same as the Carbatec sliding table unit so the question comes down to quality/accuracy. No probs there Doc0055? What tolerances does your table work down to?

rsser,
Table is flat. The Insert is solid, but needs to be shimed to get it level with the table. The Fence is straight and square, the hand wheel to adjust the fence in or out adjusts well. I have used it for joinery and can get fine adjustments.

Cheers

Thanks Doc.