|
|
|
|
Router and Router Table questions, comments appreciated
wrote:
Hi All:
Details:
- I am a relatively new woodworker.
- I have ~ $700.00 CND (lets say $500 to $600 US) to spend on a router
AND a router table (including taxes, shipping).
- I dont want to cheap out, and at the same time im not a professional
woodworker. My saved here could be put towards other neccessities
(router bits, air compressor, beer)
Do you need the 3HP? Will you be swinging large bits?
I bought a Bosch 1617EVSPK kit, which comes with a 2 1/4 HP motor, and
two bases--fixed and plunge. This is available for about $250 CAD.
Bought a sheet of phenolic from Lee Valley and cut out a rectangle big
enough to cover the handles of the fixed base. This then replaced the
original plastic bottom on the fixed base, and became the insert for the
router table.
While I know you said you didn't want to build the router table, I built
mine largely out of shop scraps. The only stuff I had to buy was the
t-slot extrusions, various extras for the fence, and the levelling feet
(shop floor is heaved concrete, nothing is flat).
As for adjusting the bit height, if you don't have a lift the usual
method is to lift the router out of the table. The Lee Valley one is a
bit different...there you prop up the whole steel table top.
Some routers (PC, for example) have a fitting to adjust height from
above the table. I've never used one. The other method is to use a
router lift.
Chris
|