Making router table-any advice?

[Rip Topaz]

Title says it all really.

I'm about to move into a new shop (finally moving out of the half-of-a-single-car garage to a MUCH bigger space), and while shopping around for a router table (finally will have the room) I decided that it may work out better to just build my own.

Anyone here build their own router table? What advice can you give that may make it an easier/better table?

 

[guitardr]

Title says it all really.

I'm about to move into a new shop (finally moving out of the half-of-a-single-car garage to a MUCH bigger space), and while shopping around for a router table (finally will have the room) I decided that it may work out better to just build my own.

Anyone here build their own router table? What advice can you give that may make it an easier/better table?

Make it big and get one of those router lifts that let you adjust bit height from the top of the table.

 

[Jeff Elkins]

I built one out of a cheap computer desk many years ago. I'm not a skilled craftsman or woodworker, so I don't have much to offer, but this: I wish I had put twice as much time into thinking about the fence as the entire rest of the project!

 

[Rip Topaz]

Awesome. Keep the advise coming.

I'm still a few weeks out from moving. The wife and I are buying a house which has a separate two-bay (plus lounge area and office, and a full bathroom) building on the property. Definitely more space than I need but I will be making good use of it for sure.

Closing is the end of next week, so I'm at the phase of drawing up plans for each tool station. Can't believe that only five years ago I started this adventure in half of our current single car garage, now I'm getting a legitimate shop!!

If anyone has any plans drawn up for their router tables, please share.

When I first started building, I bought mostly benchtop models of my planer, jointer, drill press, and spindle sander. Now I will be building stands for each tool and setting up "stations" for each task. My bandsaw is a floor model so that one is the easiest. I plan on adding lots of bench space as well, as I'll be taking on tech projects and repairs, too.

So stoked for this, but I've got a ton of work to do before the new shop is ready.

And here's the new place!! So excited.

 

[MrArose13]

that's sweet man! I could use some thing like that. I like to set things up in work stations and triangulate work flow so your only a couple steps away from your next operation. as far as a router tables... I'll echo guitardr, make it big and get a router lift, give it drawers for storing bits, wrench, router motors and router bases. the more accessible things are the more likely you are to use it.

 

[bholder]

I have a huge metal arch building out back, 95% finished for about 5 years now. A contractor who was in a hurry and wouldn't listen and wasn't watching the vertical, and now I have to pay someone extra to figure out how to get the final arch in place. Bit 30'x60'16', too, enough for shop and storage and a 27' sailboat. Gotta get it done this year!

 

[Rip Topaz]

Yeah, I'm very much looking forward to moving in.

I'm a crazy case for woodworking, though. I took Wood Shop in high school, but never had any interest until a few years ago. I hurt my back pretty badly in 2008, and while I was off work I started getting bored and hit the Internet and studied up on building instruments. My first couple basses were hilarious flops, but as I acquired the tools and researched their use, my builds improved.

I'm now a well equipped shop, but over time my tiny shop began to close in on me. When my wife and I started looking at houses, we came across this one and it was everything we were looking for and more. A total bonus: it's only four blocks away from where we live now.

When you say to "build it big", what kinda of size are you talking? I plan on taking the time (as I always do, doing my research before I make any cuts) to build a nice table for routing, but since this will be my first router table I really have nothing to base it on.

I have a full two bay shop to move into. I do plan on leaving the one side open enough to park my van in when weather gets crappy, so the one wall will be bins and shelves.

The bandsaw and probably the planer will make up a line down the middle of the space. Then along the wall will be benches and different stations. I only need to leave space to pull the van in, but depending on how things go I may use both bays. Still in the planning stage until we close.

The guy who lived here before us did custom vinyl and airbrush work on motorcycles, so a paint room is already closed off on the other bay. Really happy about this. He of course took his compressor with him, but all the airlines he ran around the shop were left behind. Can't wait for this part of the shop setup as I spend quite a bit of time each year doing special effects makeup, so having it already sectioned off into direct stations (hookups for accessories already spaced out rough the shop ) is another plus. The fact that he took the time to sections off a paint room is just awesome.

The router table is my first big project in the new shop, but I will also be building cabinets/shelves and benches around the outside perimeter of the shop.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

RIp
Congrats on the new shopspace /mancave. Check out the Fine Woodworking magazine website. If you join the forum you can post a request or search for router table designs. There are hundreds floating around on the internet, so its more a case of sifting through a lot of designs to find one you like. If you want to maximize shop space, I would suggest one of the designs where a router is incorporated into a tablesaw extension wing. That gives you more space for wide or long cuts when the router isn't in use, and the tablesaw fence doubles as the router fence. The router lifts are great, but kind of expensive and uneccessary IMHO. I have a cheap sears aluminum router table with a cheap dedicated Crapsman router I leave in it, works fine for me, but id eventually like to build one into the tablesaw.

One suggestion, regardless of design, is to use a piece of plywood or mdf with melamine laminated to the top so wood slides over it easily. You can get precut melamine panels at Home Depot or Lowes.

 

[Rôckhewer]

Nice looking shop man. I bet you're stoked.
Here's the one I built.
Table top is melamine & so is the fence. I built a box behind the fence that has a hole the vacuum hose fits in.
I didn't have a top adjustable router plate
& I didn't feel like buying one because I already had this seriously beefy router (13A) that I wanted to use & most of the top adjust units I saw were for the regular size router motors. So I did the next best thing. I mounted the router base plate under a top removable insert plate.
The white insert plate has height adjustment screws in each corner and it's held down by two 1/4"-20 screws with thread inserts in the table underneath. There's a big opening for any size bit. & I made a few round reducer plates for different size bits. I also allowed for changeable plates in the fence as well. (which is super convenient when working on small items).

To hold down the fence I did a really basic thing where I mounted a c-clamp on each side. The "c" hooks under the lip of the table and....well it's hard to explain but easy to rig...you'll figure something out
If you maximize the top pic you can kinda see the the c-clamps behind the fence.

 

[Deep Cat]

Nice looking shop man. I bet you're stoked.
Here's the one I built.
Table top is melamine & so is the fence. I built a box behind the fence that has a hole the vacuum hose fits in.
I didn't have a top adjustable router plate
& I didn't feel like buying one because I already had this seriously beefy router (13A) that I wanted to use & most of the top adjust units I saw were for the regular size router motors. So I did the next best thing. I mounted the router base plate under a top removable insert plate.
The white insert plate has height adjustment screws in each corner and it's held down by two 1/4"-20 screws with thread inserts in the table underneath. There's a big opening for any size bit. & I made a few round reducer plates for different size bits. I also allowed for changeable plates in the fence as well. (which is super convenient when working on small items).
View attachment 591048

View attachment 591050
To hold down the fence I did a really basic thing where I mounted a c-clamp on each side. The "c" hooks under the lip of the table and....well it's hard to explain but easy to rig...you'll figure something out
If you maximize the top pic you can kinda see the the c-clamps behind the fence.

That's a damn fine fence, sir.

 

[HaMMerHeD]

I have a JessEm Rout-R-Lift II and a Porter Cable 893 and it is great. The lift makes height adjustments and bit changes very easy. The best price I found on it was from Lee Valley's website.

I had the table top surface machined from a slab of HDPE I got from Interstate Plastics. It is very slick so I don't have any problems with the work pieces sticking or binding on the table. It is also glue resistant, so I can use it as a gluing surface without worrying about having to chisel squeeze out off the top later.

I built the cabinet out of pal plywood and inteintegrated a Home Depot bucket head vacuum into the design for dust control.

 

[singlemalt]

Check out the book "Router Magic".
This is a treasure trove of router stuff.

Cool plans for jigs, baseplates, and a router table and fence. I use my tear drop shaped baseplate for flush trimming and as a trammel for cutting speaker holes.

I built the table top and fence as a project. I just use a plywood box to support it. The fence has a nice vacume hood built in.

I built multiple base plates to drop in various routers with different bits.

I bought a huge roll of laminate for cheap at HD. They sometimes have special orders that get rejected.

Learned a ton of tricks and techniques building it.

 

[throughmylens87]

Here is the router table my brother and I made. The top is a leftover piece of Corian and the router is a Triton that features over the table height adjustment. Works pretty good.

 

[Richie Se7en]

Congrats on the move and the huge shop space. I just finished building an addition to my shop, which doubled my work area, and it's going to make my life much easier. The best part (for me) is deciding how to set everything up and try to create easy access to my tools and accessories. I'm the type who's sure to change it around a half-dozen times, so I'm going heavy with the French Cleat system.

Anyway, I agree with Gilmour in trying to incorporate your router table build into your table saw if possible. It's convenient and doubles as support when working with large materials. I've gone so far as to link the two with my workbench and it's really working out well. A few other suggestions I would offer are these:

Try to have most of your bigger power tools on some form of stand/table with a mobile base. These are easy to make and don't cost a lot like the manufactured ones. When Harbor Freight puts those cheap wooden dolly's on sale for $7.99 I always grab one and I have 4 wheels for two-bucks each.

I don't buy much from HF, but if you're setting up a dust collection system, those 2HP jobs cost a song on sale and with a few modifications they can be made to work out pretty well, compared to what the "name" brands cost. I know quite a few woodworkers who've done this.

Make sure you have plenty of juice - one never has enough outlets or too much lighting. Have some breakers for 220, even if you don't have use for it now, you may want to upgrade some tools down the road.

People are coming up with jigs for almost anything these days. Check the woodworker sites/forums and YouTube for a ton of helpful ideas and make the ones you think will benefit what you do.

You probably know these things, but I mention them just in case. When I got back into woodworking a few years back - after 3 decades - I found much had changed. Or, you just may be like me and have occasional memory lapse from burnt brain cells.

Here's a link to a guy named Jay on YTube who has a nice build video for a router table (and lots of other good stuff). He's very cool and gets right to it without acting above people, as some others do. He also has an interesting site called Jay's Custom Creations.


Check him out and best of luck with your new shop.

Richie

 

[Means2nEnd]

Hey Rip, I live in Mountville about 15 minutes away from you. I have my whole shop in my basement. I have extra stuff you are going to have a spray booth? I think we can work together maybe. Being so close would be great to compare notes. +1 on the Triton router I have the 3 1/4 horse in a Kreg table and it is fantastic since it has it's own built in lift system and also I think it's the best router I have ever used it amazing!

 

[buldog5151bass]

Suggestion. Unless you plan to use it a lot, don't have a dedicated router table. I have a 2'x4' mobile workbench (big casters). Primary surface is plywood, but I lined up the holes, and used 3/4" MDF with a coated surface for the replacement router tabletop.

 

[Canadian APII]

Title says it all really.

I'm about to move into a new shop (finally moving out of the half-of-a-single-car garage to a MUCH bigger space), and while shopping around for a router table (finally will have the room) I decided that it may work out better to just build my own.

Anyone here build their own router table? What advice can you give that may make it an easier/better table?

Lots of good ideas here. Ikea has inexpensive tabletops that are 2 inch MDF.

 

[Innocuous]

The one I made is for mill work only. It's 12" x 14" and is about 30" high. It's for a much differant purpose. But the one thing I did that no one has mentioned is MAKE IT HEAVY. A lot of peeps don't realize the lateral forces applied can move or tip the entire table. Mine is made from 2x2x1/4 angle and 1/4" top and bottom plates. It's heavy.

 

[Rip Topaz]

Hey, Means2NEnd, small world!! I lived in Mountville in the early 00's, right on Main St.

BTW, I'm one of the makeup artists at Field of Screams, so I'm in Mountville a LOT.

We'll have to get together for a jam when I get situated after the move. Stay in touch!!

 

[Rip Topaz]

How about if I install a removable plate in a bench top? That way I could just drop the router into place when needed. Could that work for making the area more efficient?

Kinda clueless on which direction to go, but that's the reason for this thread, to share ideas.

I don't have a table saw, so adding the router table to that isn't possible.