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?

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

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?

What did you make it out of to be destroyed by a couple boards falling on
it??

First I would use far more substantial materials to make the table.

And if things keep falling on it, maybe some kind of protective cover. Like
a roll cage or something.

I can't recall anything I ever built that would be damaged by some boards
falling on them.

Lee Michaels wrote:

And if things keep falling on it, maybe some kind of protective
cover. Like a roll cage or something.

I agree. I take NO chances with my router table. When I'm done using
it, I place over it a full protective cage of my own design. I skimped
a little and instead of steel tubing I used 2x3's... bolted. As added
protection I've also built 5/8" plywood panels that attach to the
sides and top of the cage in less than 10 minutes using a clever setup
of bolts and wing nuts. To further deflect any falling lumber, the
cage top is slanted to the rear so that any falling lumber slides
toward the wall where it's effectively rendered harmless. I'm thinking
of putting a lock on the cage, but since I'm the only one that would
be using it, I think a lock would be overdoing it a little.

Joe Barta

Has to be the one GOAT has.

Mon, Jan 16, 2006, 12:27am (EST+5)
(Brian*Henderson) doth lament:
snip the top and one side were completely destroyed. snip If you
could have anything at all, what would you want in yours?

It'd take a lot more than a few puny 2X8s to damage my router
table, let alone destroy it..

Right now, my router table is just what I need, and want. If
either changes, I'll change the table.



JOAT
If you can't say anything nice about someone, you must be talking about
Hilary Clinton.

I've been going through this "thinking" process for a while as well. I
saw one of these ( http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/abarb/routertext.htm ) a
couple of weeks ago and was quite impressed with the way DC is hooked
up. The box at the back of the fence slides over a dust port in the
table surface. The neat thing about this design is that there is no
cumbersome hose mounted directly to the fence! I've added this feature
to my plan.

On 16 Jan 2006 05:13:21 -0800, wrote:

I've been going through this "thinking" process for a while as well. I
saw one of these ( http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/abarb/routerte xt.htm ) a
couple of weeks ago and was quite impressed with the way DC is hooked
up. The box at the back of the fence slides over a dust port in the
table surface. The neat thing about this design is that there is no
cumbersome hose mounted directly to the fence! I've added this feature
to my plan.

The way my old dust collection system worked was similar to how Norm
set his up on his NYW router table project, but I was thinking I might
add a second, smaller hose directly to the fence for more efficient
dust collection. Your link might be a better idea though, just funnel
vaccuum directly from the collection system to the back of the fence,
as well as below in the router compartment.

See, this is why people ask for suggestions, people here have a lot of
good ideas.

Some features to chase in a router table at the:

http://www.patwarner.com/router_table.html link.
********************************************
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?

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 have a table attached to my saw (what some have described as an
'aircraft carrier').

Depending on what you do, the very large table surface makes edging
tables and other large items easier. Plus you get double duty from your
TS fence

Mine has a router lift as well, which lets you raise and lower the
router from the top surface and make very accurate depth adjustments,
but it also becomes tedious to raise and lower it with the crank all the
time.

I made a custom control out of relays that gives me a footswitch that
controls either the saw, or the router, and automatically turns on the
vacuum when the switch is in the 'router' position. I find I use the
footswitch 90% of the time on both the saw and the router. Get a used
115v COVERED FS for safety.

Also has a keylock to prevent curious kids from starting the saw/router
unintentionally.

Very handy.

I just ordered one from the link posted by djh7097 above:
http://www.rt1000.com/

I got the SE model with bottom drawer, and it should be here Wednesday. I
toyed with the idea of building my own for quite some time, but decided this
one had all the elements I was looking for. The price (buy vs.build)
probably would be a wash in this case, which was the deciding factor to just
buy it. I picked up an Incra router lift for a good price at the
woodworking show Sunday (it's just a rebadged JessEm master lift, but the
inserts attach to the table by magnets instead of needing a special tool, I
really liked that idea!) So my dream router table is nearly together. I
haven't picked a new router yet, I'm just gonna run with my Bosch 1617 in it
until I need a more powerful one. The fence supplied with the rt1000 table
should work just fine for most applications, but I've also been researching
positioners (like Incra's) and am undecided if these are really worth the
dough. (That'll be a near future post!)
Note the router plate placement on the top you choose. If you are
planning on an Incra or similiar positioner, it would seem they are designed
for an offset router plate. Although an adapter of sorts is availaible to
use an Incra type jig on a center mounted router plate, it seems to limit
the choice of models. Personally, I prefer a center mounted plate.

BTW, my old router table has a Craftsman self-adjusting router in it. The
top doubled as my first workbench years ago and it's covered with paint,
glue etc. It also had many saw kerfs cut in it where the circular saw just
wasn't set shallow enough. It had no fence, and wasn't even close to
flat.....
A nice new table has been looooong overdue! I'll post a review of the
rt1000 shortly. Good luck on your quest. --dave


"Rob Mitchell" wrote in message
.. .
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 have a table attached to my saw (what some have described as an
'aircraft carrier').

Depending on what you do, the very large table surface makes edging tables
and other large items easier. Plus you get double duty from your TS fence

Mine has a router lift as well, which lets you raise and lower the router
from the top surface and make very accurate depth adjustments, but it also
becomes tedious to raise and lower it with the crank all the time.

I made a custom control out of relays that gives me a footswitch that
controls either the saw, or the router, and automatically turns on the
vacuum when the switch is in the 'router' position. I find I use the
footswitch 90% of the time on both the saw and the router. Get a used
115v COVERED FS for safety.

Also has a keylock to prevent curious kids from starting the saw/router
unintentionally.

Very handy.