ok i have decided to build a table using norms plans, how much can i
expect to pay for materials? what upgrades should i consider? thanks
for any response

incra jig ultra is one upgrade I would do, awesome little fence system for
making joints.

--

http://users.adelphia.net/~kyhighland


"dshines" wrote in message
om...
ok i have decided to build a table using norms plans, how much can i
expect to pay for materials? what upgrades should i consider? thanks
for any response

Total cost would depend on what materials you already have on hand. For
example I keep a good stock of bolts nuts washers and other hardware you
would use for something like this. Also when I built mine I had enough
plywood and hardwood laying around to just about build the entire thing. You
should definitely figure in for a good switch, table insert, locking casters
and other more or less standard features. The fence can be bought or
shopbuilt. Mine is shopbuilt and has served me well. It has individual
adjustable fences, dust port built right in and easy to adjust knobs. I
think it could range anywhere from $20-$300 depending on what you want to do
and what you already have to do it with. Kinda hard to say really.

Jim


"dshines" wrote in message
om...
ok i have decided to build a table using norms plans, how much can i
expect to pay for materials? what upgrades should i consider? thanks
for any response

(dshines) wrote in message . com...
ok i have decided to build a table using norms plans, how much can i
expect to pay for materials? what upgrades should i consider? thanks
for any response

I'm about 3/4 done with my version of Norm's table. Put oak face
frames on it and did the top with three layers 1/2 MDF laminated
together, hardwood edge banded and formica on both sides. I got all
the materials at the Borg so it's all medium quality. Here's what
it's costing me - surprised when I added it up, expected to be
spending about 1/2 as much. There's some MDF and plywood left over.

1 Sheet 3/4" Oak Plywood 32
1 Sheet 1/2" MDF 13
2 2'x4' pieces Formica 26
1/2 sheet 1/2" MDO 14
12 BF 3/4" Red Oak 50
Wheels 20
Drawer Slides 40
Misc (screws, switch, etc) 20
Total $210

Happened to have some 1/2" plastic material (might be Lexan, very
clear, hard and stiff) for a router face plate, otherwise would have
spent about $40 more to buy one. I'll be making a fence from MDF.

Steve

"Steve" wrote in message
I'm about 3/4 done with my version of Norm's table.
Here's what
it's costing me - surprised when I added it up, expected to be
spending about 1/2 as much.
Total $210

A good table and fence like the Benchdog is $400. They get $65 for the
casters and $65 for a drawer kit.
Ed

Yep. $390 less $25 in their current promo = $365, with free shipping.

So for $365 you get an excellent table and fence on a very good cabinet.
That's pretty hard to beat if your time is worth anything at all.

--

- GRL

"It's good to want things."

Steve Barr (philosopher, poet, humorist, chemist,
Visual Basic programmer)
"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote in message
...

"Steve" wrote in message
I'm about 3/4 done with my version of Norm's table.
Here's what
it's costing me - surprised when I added it up, expected to be
spending about 1/2 as much.
Total $210

A good table and fence like the Benchdog is $400. They get $65 for the
casters and $65 for a drawer kit.
Ed

On Mon, 2 Feb 2004 19:35:15 -0500, "GRL"
wrote:

Yep. $390 less $25 in their current promo = $365, with free shipping.

So for $365 you get an excellent table and fence on a very good cabinet.
That's pretty hard to beat if your time is worth anything at all.

I built this:
http://www.bburke.com/wood/images/routertable2.jpg
for under $125 in about 4-5 hours. The $125 includes the insert, but
not the fence. I had the fence left over from something else and
would not bother to buy one if I didn't have it. I would have made a
simple fence.

The top is 1 1/2" MDF edged with scrap ash and laminated on both sides
with Formica. The MDF sides are plenty strong and much heavier than
plywood.

Barry

Nice table and no doubt adequate for your needs, but I don't think you
can realistically compare its features with the Bench Dog top and
especially their fence. That's my point, you can certainly make
something that works for much less than the $360 they charge (as you
showed), but you are not going to end up with the same feature set
unless you get pretty darn close to what they charge.

- GRL

B a r r y B u r k e J r . wrote in message . ..
On Mon, 2 Feb 2004 19:35:15 -0500, "GRL"
wrote:

Yep. $390 less $25 in their current promo = $365, with free shipping.

So for $365 you get an excellent table and fence on a very good cabinet.
That's pretty hard to beat if your time is worth anything at all.

I built this:
http://www.bburke.com/wood/images/routertable2.jpg
for under $125 in about 4-5 hours. The $125 includes the insert, but
not the fence. I had the fence left over from something else and
would not bother to buy one if I didn't have it. I would have made a
simple fence.

The top is 1 1/2" MDF edged with scrap ash and laminated on both sides
with Formica. The MDF sides are plenty strong and much heavier than
plywood.

Barry

On 4 Feb 2004 20:02:31 -0800, (GRL) wrote:

Nice table and no doubt adequate for your needs, but I don't think you
can realistically compare its features with the Bench Dog top and
especially their fence. That's my point, you can certainly make
something that works for much less than the $360 they charge (as you
showed), but you are not going to end up with the same feature set
unless you get pretty darn close to what they charge.

Maybe. I have never been using this table and said to myself, "If
only I had a (blank)".

The only thing I've noticed missing from my fence is T-track and a
plastic guard. I had a guard, but removed it, as charged dust was
constantly sticking to it, blocking my view.

You can add the actual Bench Dog T-track to any fence. I didn't add
it to mine, as I'm already comfortable with clamps. I usually make
jigs and such as I find a need for them. If I never find a need for
it, it never gets made. G

Drawers? A sheet of 1/2" MDF and some pulls, and you're good to go.
I didn't go with drawers, as I have a few rollaways around the shop.

If you take a look @ http://www.benchdog.com/Products/index.htm,
you'll see that my cabinet essentially is the same, for over $130
less. In fact, I copied it. G The main difference is that I've got
a 4" dust port in the back, and they used melamine. If you really
want the Bench Dog top, you could add it to the shop-made cabinet.

What other features does the Bench Dog have that I'm missing? Maybe
there's something I should add to mine. G

Thanks,
Barry

you'll see that my cabinet essentially is the same, for over $130
less. In fact, I copied it. G The main difference is that I've got
a 4" dust port in the back, and they used melamine. If you really
want the Bench Dog top, you could add it to the shop-made cabinet.

What other features does the Bench Dog have that I'm missing? Maybe
there's something I should add to mine. G

Thanks,
Barry
===========================================
.... Barry I do not think you missed much...... LOL

I do have a benchdog Table and to be honest it is extremely well made
and functions very well.... I purchased mine because I needed a
portable table to take a few hundred miles and use at my daughters
place... OTHERWISE I would have never spend that much money on the
Table...

I do have a Router set up in the outfeed table of my Table Saw and
that I used for years...TODAY I do 90 percent of my "table" work using
the benchdog table... and I used to swap the Benchdog Fence every now
and then to the table saw because I liked it so well... (only took 5
seconds to do...

Anyway I checked the price of just buying a second fence from Benchdog
and said NO FRICKEN WAY..... So I actually made my own...without the
T-Tracks however because I rarely used them...

I coppied it so well that the parts (disposable faces etc are
interchanable) and I figure I may have invested 5 bucks in the
fence... actual price was zero because everything came from scrap
in my auto shop or wood shop...

Bob Griffiths

B a r r y B u r k e J r . wrote in message . ..
On 4 Feb 2004 20:02:31 -0800, (GRL) wrote:

Nice table and no doubt adequate for your needs, but I don't think you
can realistically compare its features with the Bench Dog top and
especially their fence. That's my point, you can certainly make
something that works for much less than the $360 they charge (as you
showed), but you are not going to end up with the same feature set
unless you get pretty darn close to what they charge.

Maybe. I have never been using this table and said to myself, "If
only I had a (blank)".

The only thing I've noticed missing from my fence is T-track and a
plastic guard. I had a guard, but removed it, as charged dust was
constantly sticking to it, blocking my view.

You can add the actual Bench Dog T-track to any fence. I didn't add
it to mine, as I'm already comfortable with clamps. I usually make
jigs and such as I find a need for them. If I never find a need for
it, it never gets made. G

Drawers? A sheet of 1/2" MDF and some pulls, and you're good to go.
I didn't go with drawers, as I have a few rollaways around the shop.

If you take a look @ http://www.benchdog.com/Products/index.htm,
you'll see that my cabinet essentially is the same, for over $130
less. In fact, I copied it. G The main difference is that I've got
a 4" dust port in the back, and they used melamine. If you really
want the Bench Dog top, you could add it to the shop-made cabinet.

What other features does the Bench Dog have that I'm missing? Maybe
there's something I should add to mine. G

Thanks,
Barry

Nice table Barry. I recently built the table that was in Wood
Magazine about 2 years ago for around $130. It would have cost less,
but I had no scraps or extra knobs laying around. It does all that I
need to do. I even put a T-Track in the fence for featherboards etc.
I just couldn't justify paying a lot of money for something I could do
myself, and would serve my purposes just as well.

--Tom Wojeck

On 5 Feb 2004 09:55:01 -0800, (Tom Wojeck)
wrote:

I just couldn't justify paying a lot of money for something I could do
myself, and would serve my purposes just as well.

I'm a firm believer that everything I make teaches me something.
Sometimes it's small, but it's something.

Our local woodworking school is part of a Woodcraft that sells router
tables. All of the school tables are shop made. G

Remember, the school could have bought the tables wholesale!

Barry