Thread: router table?

I have the Triton router table with the Triton router and find that it leaves a fair bit to be desired when doing small fiddly stuff like the pen boxes you want to make. It's manufacture (pressed steel) means that the three main components (table, router plate and insert rings) aren't really flat enough. You can overlay the table with a thin plywood or alloy sheet but it can still flex. For small stuff like that I use a small homemade table with a little 1/4" router, it consists of a sheet of 1/8" ally which the router is fitted to, and the whole thing is sunk into a piece of melamine faced particle board. It's only about 18" X 12".

Have you considered making your own table with a "Router Lift"? These are reputated to be really good. You could even make two tables of different sizes and just swap out the guts as and when you need to.

I have been looking at plans in "the new router handbook" by Patrick Spielman that look quite good to me (I got the book some 6 months ago) I brought the router today at my local Stratco store where they are having a clearance sale on Rockwell gear at a price I still cannot believe. I quess by looking at manufacture gear I am being lazy . I really at this stage trying to figue out which I should go for something that will do the job.

I have the larger freestanding Kreg and find it quite versatile. The top is laminated both sides with a Kreg exclusive laminate with micro pores moulded in, making it quite slick by reducing the area in contact with the workpiece, without reducing the support offered.

The mounting insert is thick phenolic style material and is supported at each corner with brackets mounted to the bottom of the table. Each corner is fitted with one retaining screw (top) and two leveling screws (bottom access), ensuring that it is easy to adjust the insert to sit level in the table top. The opening in the centre of the insert is quite large (clears panel raising bits) but the mounting insert is supplied with reducing rings, the smallest of which is set up to mount Porter Cable style template guides. The reducing rings have three setscrews (top access) to level them with the insert and table top, and three countersunk screws to retain them.

In the US, you can order predrilled inserts or send the mounting insert to Kreg to be drilled to suit the router used, but this is probably not practical from here. They provide a locating template with concentric circles to ease positioning the router and marking hole locations. I drilled oversize holes and counterbored them from above. The router is mounted with flathead screws reccessed below the table level. Then by mounting a centering cone in the router and a template guide in the mounting insert, it is easy to mount the router centrally over the reducing rings/template guide if needed.

The large table is available as a complete package (table, fence, stand, mounting insert and all hardware), or the individual elements can be purchased seperately. I think the smaller benchtop unit is also available as a package or components.

You might for instance buy the table top, mounting insert etc and set it on a home made frame to suit your needs. You could also just buy the mounting insert set and make your own top and frame. If you went that way, plan on making the top at least 20mm thick so that the insert mounting hardware has room to work properly (it's set up for 1 inch thick top but there is some clearance between the mount brackets and the mounting insert.

The only overall negative is the idea of screwing the insert down, which could be a pain if you need to pop the insert and router out for bit changing. (I used a Triton so have above table bit change capability.)