i don't use a router much but I did today. It got me thinking of getting a router table but I've seen them in the end of table saws so I thought I could make one. This is what I've done so far. Any suggestions or pictures of what you guys have done or use would be appreciated. There are holes in the table and the fence rails. I might have to put two more holes out at the end to make it more sturdy. I used a 2 x 8 and recessed the bottom to mount the router and the top to accept the plastic plate.
Good start Shurdel You'll be adding a sacrificial wood fence to your saw fence? And securing it like you said, or might, you need to have the saw fence able to pass along on its rails, yes? And then there's the jointing use as well. Sweet, waiting to see how this develops.
I would be able to use the fence as is to make dado joints and grooves. I'd have to make a piece to attach to the fence with a cut out for doing edges.
A person can get real involved building a router table but at the end of the day dados/grooves and edging are 90% of what we need in a router table. Looks like to me it will work just fine. Nice clean simple solution.
You could easily make one that slips over the top of your existing fence so you don't have to deal with clamps and whatnot.
Haven't been working in the shop much this summer but spent the last couple days in there working on some projects. Got back to working on my table. I mounted the board between the rails, I may have to make it a bit wider. Started making a guide to attach to the fence. I'm going to put bolts in it and use wing nuts so it can be attached and removed easily. I need to get some bolts to attach the router. Also want to mount a switch and plug to turn it on and off.
Nice work! I was going to suggest something similar for the fence. Have you mounted the router in it yet? The one thing I see that would concern me a bit is the thickness of your mounting board. That thickness will subtracted from the useable length of your router bit shanks. I built the Norm Abram version, and I bought a throat plate for my router to use with it. To make the cutout, I first determined the approximate corner radius of the throat plate (1/2"). Then I laid out a rectangle that was 1/2" in from each edge, and cut that out using my radial arm saw to make a plunge cut. Then I followed the rectangular profile with a bearing-guided 1/2" rabbeting bit. So if you find it's limiting the cutting depth of your router bits too much, that could be an option perhaps.
I used the router to remove wood from the underneath so the router sits in it, it's about a half inch plus the plastic plate. I did a test the other day. I'll have to see how it works for some projects. I like your idea, I may experiment some more.
I was making log obstacles for my step sons mountain bike practice, so I decided to try the router. Well I tried to attach a video but it doesn't seem to be working. Any advice?
Nice video. Glad you got that figured out. Those obstacles came out nice. Generally accepted as a bad idea to wear gloves or loose clothing when using power tools.
