On Mon, 16 Jan 2006 00:27:14 GMT, Brian Henderson
wrote:

I went out to my shop this morning to find that a couple of 2x8s that
had been leaning up against the wall for weeks now had somehow fallen
over and in the process, landed on my router table. Luckily, I didn't
have the router in it, but the top and one side were completely
destroyed. It's really not worth fixing and I had been thinking of
building another one anyhow, so...

I've spent the day looking through a lot of pictures and plans for
router tables and while I've found a lot of elements that I've liked,
I wanted to see what elements everyone else thought were either
essential or just handy, when building the "perfect" table. If you
could have anything at all, what would you want in yours?

I like these features:

Large smooth flat top with edge to allow featherboard clamping
Fence that is easy to move and lock
Fence where featherboards can be clamped
Dust collection with 4" side port
Front switch and extra always-on electrical outlet
Drawers for storage
Good noise reduction
Toe kick on heavy cabinet
Adjustable router support
Lighting
3+ HP variable-speed router