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. Well after a lot of hairpulling and two trips back to the store it has
become obvious that there is absolutely no way that the router can be
mounted to the table, nor can an adapter plate help, since the holes
partially overlap, and there's no way to get bolt heads and nuts between the
table, router base and an adapter plate.

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.

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.

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.

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

"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. Well after a lot of hairpulling and two trips back to the store it
has become obvious that there is absolutely no way that the router can be
mounted to the table, nor can an adapter plate help, since the holes
partially overlap, and there's no way to get bolt heads and nuts between
the table, router base and an adapter plate.

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.

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.

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.

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

try rec.woodworking.

i'd expect that any p-c router would fit a p-c tabletop.

Dave Gower wrote:
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.

So drill new 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.

Call me a silly optimist but I'd bet Porter Cable routers will mount in
existing holes in a PC table.


--
dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

Porter Cable makes several routers and probably has a web site. Many
woodworkers have several routers as they're very versatile tools.

On Tue, 1 Mar 2005 13:39:08 -0500, "Dave Gower"
wrote:

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. Well after a lot of hairpulling and two trips back to the store it has
become obvious that there is absolutely no way that the router can be
mounted to the table, nor can an adapter plate help, since the holes
partially overlap, and there's no way to get bolt heads and nuts between the
table, router base and an adapter plate.

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.

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.

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.

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

"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

"Charles Spitzer" wrote

i'd expect that any p-c router would fit a p-c tabletop.

So did I. That's why I was so disappointed when the only Porter-Cable Router
at my local Home Depot did not.

"Dave Gower" wrote in message
...

"Charles Spitzer" wrote

i'd expect that any p-c router would fit a p-c tabletop.

So did I. That's why I was so disappointed when the only Porter-Cable
Router at my local Home Depot did not.

then i'd probably go he http://www.portercable.com/index.asp?e=230, input
the model number, and read the manual to see which routers fit it.

"Dave Gower" wrote in message
...

"Charles Spitzer" wrote

i'd expect that any p-c router would fit a p-c tabletop.

So did I. That's why I was so disappointed when the only Porter-Cable
Router at my local Home Depot did not.


What PC router did you try? Your first post claims you tried a Skill router.
Skill is not PC!
Any PC router should fit that table. A PC 690 series would without a doubt.
Greg

"Greg O" wrote

What PC router did you try? Your first post claims you tried a Skill
router. Skill is not PC!

The Skil was the one I was sold. The PC I looked at when I went back. I
don't remember the model.

Any PC router should fit that table. A PC 690 series would without a
doubt.

The holes definitely did not fit. The holes in the table hit the edge of the
base of the router, half in and half out.
I think the problem is that both routers were plunge types, as someone else
said. I notice that all the routers sold as part of table kits are solid.

I thank you all for your comments. Later this week I plan to drive some
distance to a serious tool store. I talked to them on the phone and they
assured me they can fit a router to my table. So much for Home Depot.