Thread: Hammer K3 router table build (another one!)

[edit - not sure what's up with some of the pics... no idea why some are showing as links rather than inline - they're there if clicked. Maybe a mod can fix]

My workshop build has been slowed by the lack of a decent router table, and I’ve been finding myself doing slightly dodgy things with upside down routers… so I decided it was time to do something about it.

I have a Hammer K3, so the choice was to take inspiration from Derek and the boys who’ve added a router table to the usual gap in the K3 table or, build a dedicated table. In the end I decided that adding it to the K3 was going to be easiest, and a good temporary measure if I decided that I’d need a dedicated table later.

I’ve had a tendency to build overly complex things, and then need to go back and redo it all because what I actually needed differed from what I thought I needed, so this time my aim was to build something simple, use what I had lying around the shop and then see what I really needed as I used it.

I’d been eyeing out Jessem’s router lifts – I have their TS guides and know that they make excellent stuff. Their lifts weren’t much more than the generic carbatec/timbecon stuff either. I confess to panic-buying their Rout-R-lift when COVID hit – the world was going crazy, the US had an idiot in charge, and I thought America might shut down completely.

Jessem Rout-r lift.jpg

I bought the pre-drilled lift to take my Festool OF1400. I didn’t really think this through – firstly, getting a router in and out of the lift is not a 2 minute job, and the OF1400 is far too good a router to leave stuck in a lift. Secondly, the little Festool routers are an odd shape with that loooong arm poking out the side, making boxing it in an awkward task.

OF1400.jpg

I did have an older OF2000 bought off a forum member here, so I thought I’d see if I could get it to fit. Unfortunately, despite having 7000 different mounting holes in the plate, I couldn’t find any that matched up with the OF2000. I shook my fist at the heavens and screamed “why? Why? Why?” at the gods: No reply. I tried emailing Jessem to see if they would send me a blank plate, or even drill one to fit the OF2000. Like the gods, the did not deign to reply. Rude.

jessem router plate.jpg

So, armed with some crayons and a piece of transparency, I decided to have a crack at making an adaptor out of 3mm looomininiminum.

setting up the template.jpg template on.jpg

Rough cut on the Kapex – a chance to use that aluminium-chopping blade. A couple of test fits along the way as I shaped and then drilled, and then it was time cut the centre out and make rocket fuel with a file. After a lot of eyeballing and drawing, I ended up with a template that would allow me to mount the router and lift to the adaptor without the various screws interfering with each other.

Attachment 482394Attachment 482384 Attachment 482385 Attachment 482386Attachment 482387 adaptor fitted to router.jpg

Surprisingly, it eventually all came together. I tapped directly into the aluminium plate. The clearance meant that I could add nuts as well if it didn’t seem strong enough, but it all appears nice and rigid.

Eagle-eyed viewers will notice that I’ve left the copying ring in the Festool. This was not a mistake or omission – I just wanted to pull the whole damn thing apart again when I thought I’d finished the build, just so I could be a bit more intimate with my creation.

Attachment 482390 in the lift.jpg

So, onto the top. I’ve got a stack of kitchen counter offcuts destined for various bench and workstation tops, so I hacked at a piece for the router table.

I had some threaded inserts from forum sponsor Scrooz, so decided to give them a try. They’re aimed at concrete – just drill and screw in, so the thread is less aggressive than the traditional woodwork inserts, but they’re quite a bit longer. They worked extremely well – really strong despite the shallow thread. You just have to take the length into account at the corners. Do NOT ask me how I know this.

Attachment 482391

I used the traditional four-bits-of-wood router template guide method to make the recess for the lift plate. I didn’t take the corner radiuses into account, so there are gaps. Lucky I planned to make it again sometime then eh!

Attachment 482393 Attachment 482392 top done.jpg

I had a piece of ali angle lying about – picked it up off the side of the road some time back, so that went into the kapex too, and formed the frame that bolted to the K3. The Kapex does cut ali nicely!
Aluminium angle.jpg cut angle.jpg

I was quite concerned about the dirty great router hanging off the table causing flex, so I probably put twice as many bolts in the frame and table as needed, but I figured I’d rather be safe.

frame done.jpg

I’ve been using the Domino as much as I can, just to get used to its quirks. Such a nice machine, and for enabling savages like me to build things square, or for pulling warped bits of cheap plywood into straight, it’s unbeatable.

As I planned on re-doing the top sometime, I glued the dominos into the top, and left them unglued but screwed in the box.

box and domino top.jpg domino screws.jpg

The black port is a 3D-printed dust port I made to take the standard 2¼ inch flexi hose to attach to the fence dust collection.

I also 3D-printed a bell-mouth wotsit for the bottom of the box. It takes a standard 120mm (6 inch) hose fitting. The zany colour scheme is because I was trying to use up some filament remnants I had lying around.

bottom dust port.jpg

I had a big ‘stop’ button left over from my VFD bandsaw conversion, so that got combined with a standard light switch for the juice. You should note that if you are Australian, you are too stupid to deal with electricity and should pay someone $1000 to do wiring or you will die. Horribly. And then your wife will have to be a prostitute and your children will work in a sweatshop rolling spliffs and cutting cocaine.

front panel.jpg electrics.jpg

3D-printed box for the deadly electrics.

electrical box printed.jpg electrical box installed.jpg

Bit of glue, lots of sweat and even more swearing, and the box came together.

box done.jpg

Of course, I didn’t take the K3's metal frame into account when I brought the wire out, but that just gave me an excuse to use the Vecturo – possibly my 2^nd favourite tool at the moment.

vecturo.jpg

Finally, into the frame and bolted to the K3.

installed.jpg

Despite my crayons and careful attempts to be accurate with the adaptor, I still ended up slightly off centre.

offset error.jpg

It’s out by 1mm across and 1.5mm down. I know this because I could create a 3D print in Fusion 360 with a couple of parameters for the offset, and spit out a set of accurate router table inserts.

Screen Shot 2020-10-06 at 20.43.09.jpg3D printed offset insert.jpg

I’ve gone for a simple router fence for now, attached to the saw fence. I had some bits of mitre track hardware lying about, but had to turn some bolts into screws. Piece of recycled hardwood at the back, and some sacrificial pine on the front for now. I’m not sure if I’ll stick with this setup long term – there’s potentially a bit of flex in the TS fence at that distance (although that’s easily rectified with a single T-track at the other end of the fence), and it’s a bit of a pain in the unmentionables taking it on and off when switching between the router and saw. And fence dust collection will be a bit awkies.

screws from bolts.jpg mitre hardware.jpg fence part 1.jpg fence done.jpg

So, lots learned as is the case with everything I make at this stage; some things to redo and change, but I’ll hold off until I’ve used it a bit and settled on what’s missing.

whiteside template.jpg