"Dave Gower" wrote in message
...
I was silly enough to believe that the craphead salesman at the tool
department of a local building superstore actually knew what he was talking
about. I said I wanted a router table for home use so he sold me a Porter
Cable 968 router table, a Skill 1 1/4 hp plunge router and a set of Freud
bits.

Most plung routers don't do well in a table. Fixed base is what you need as
it can be adjusted proeprly, springs don't have to be removed, etc.



I don't want to take this all back because actually the router is very
useful as a hand tool, so I want to keep that for off-table use. The table
is a precision, robust set-up and I have it solidly mounted to a base, so
I want to keep that also.

Since you have a PC table, why not buy a PC router for it? They make some
of the best around and are sometimes consiered the "standard" of the
industry as far as pre-drilled holes for mounting plates. .



My problem is to get any of these geniuses at the building centres to tell
me what routers I can actually mount to the table. (It's "well maybe Fred
knows but he's off today" or "I heard there's a guy at a store on the
other side of town who might know"). All the routers they have on display
have the same hole patterns as my Skil, that is they don't match the
table.

In most cases, you drill the plate for the router you are using. I'm not
familir with the particualr router you have or the particular table. I've
mounted various routers to various table by using a drill and making the
proepr holes.

I've been all over the Web including the Porter-Cable website and can't
find anything that tells me what routers are compatible with what tables.

Again, most are compatable with any table, but you may have to drill holes.
Some plates come with templates to give the location for various models.
Take a look at the Benchdog tables, mounting plates , etc. at
www.routerbits.com


Given how popular router tables are I find it incredible that this should
be so tricky. Any knowledgeable advice would be appreciated.

If you want good router information, visit www.patwarner.com He is about
the best around.

FWIW, that 1 1/4 HP router is a bit of a lightweight for any serious table
routing. I use a 2 1/4 HP Bosch variable speed but 3 HP is not out of the
question. If you intend using large bits down the road, go with a variable
speed also as large bit should not be turned at 22,000 rpm.
Ed