Peter Holt wrote:

I have decided that I would like to buy/build a router table but there
seems
to be a large selection at various prices/sizes/materials etc. I would
appreciate any advice on what to look for and any recommendations as to
any particular make or model. Likewise the names of any to avoid would
also be appreciated. I am hoping to get a table for about £100 or less and
it will be for occasional use only.
Is it worth making a router table as I have a small steel framed table
that
would make a good base? From looking at the Axminster catalogue it seemed
that the various parts added up to as much as a complete table.
Thanks for any advice.
Peter
I like the made ones a lot better. I built a small simple table out of half
a sheet of mdf and it cost half the price of a store bought one and is
twice as sturdy.

I have decided that I would like to buy/build a router table but there seems
to be a large selection at various prices/sizes/materials etc. I would
appreciate any advice on what to look for and any recommendations as to any
particular make or model. Likewise the names of any to avoid would also be
appreciated. I am hoping to get a table for about £100 or less and it will
be for occasional use only.
Is it worth making a router table as I have a small steel framed table that
would make a good base? From looking at the Axminster catalogue it seemed
that the various parts added up to as much as a complete table.
Thanks for any advice.
Peter

To me the price is too high to buy one. There are plenty of plans
available for decent fences. I just built this one fairly cheaply;
haven't really used it yet, but it seems like it will be very useful.
http://woodstore.woodmall.com/rofe.html
A router table just needs to be flat and sturdy, if you already have a
sturdy frame you are halfway there. I mounted mine in the extension
table of my saw but judging by the '=A3' you probably don't have that
option.

Wed, Jan 5, 2005, 7:57pm (EST+5) (Peter=A0Holt) claims:
I have decided that I would like to buy/build a router table snip

Make one. If it doesn't turn out to be quite what you want, either
modify it, or make another. Be a LOT cheaper, and you'll wind up with
something that does what you want. I'm on, I think, the 3d version of
mine, probably got $5 (US) max, invested, total. Plywood top, 2X4
framing, glue to hold it together, some bolts to hold it down. I've had
the latest version for years, does just what I want. Later, if you want
a change, modify what you've got, or make another.



JOAT
EVERY THING THAT HAPPENS STAYS HAPPENED.
- Death

On Wed, 5 Jan 2005 19:57:19 -0000, "Peter Holt"
wrote:

I have decided that I would like to buy/build a router table

If you don't have the money burning a hole in your pocket, just make
the thing. People waste a _huge_ amount on buying really awful router
tables when there's no need to, and the ones they get aren't even much
good.

My router table is very probably the nastiest in the newsgroup, but it
works. Top is 3/4" MDF with a frame of 1"x2" around the edge. The
insert is cement board from an old gas fire (an excellent material!
buy it new as Viroc Versapanel). Legs are purchased, from sheer
laziness, as a ten-quid Chinese Workmutt knock-off.

The fence is an L girder of 1/2" MDF, with buttresses in the corner.
Fit false fences of 3/8" MDF and make a couple of spares. Box in the
centre buttresses with offcuts of clear Perspex and turn it into a
dust extract box. Adjustment is by _pivoting_, not sliding, because
it works just as well and is much easier to make. Mine is simply some
M8 handwheel bolts into a couple of threaded inserts screwed into the
worktop. Wax finish all round.

Use a few other threaded inserts to take goodies like a horseshoe
guard, Perspex overguard, dust extract nozzle, or a starter pin for
freehand work on a bearing-guided cutter.

Buy a router (like my Freud 2000) with a good depth adjuster and a
switch that locks on. Then fit a separate switchbox somewhere
accessible with a proper no-volt release switch and a socket for the
router to plug into (eBay or Axminster).

--
Smert' spamionam

On 5 Jan 2005 12:11:26 -0800, "Ray" calmly
ranted:

To me the price is too high to buy one. There are plenty of plans
available for decent fences. I just built this one fairly cheaply;
haven't really used it yet, but it seems like it will be very useful.
http://woodstore.woodmall.com/rofe.html
A router table just needs to be flat and sturdy, if you already have a
sturdy frame you are halfway there. I mounted mine in the extension
table of my saw but judging by the '£' you probably don't have that
option.

Get thee to the library and look for Pat Warner's "The Router Book"
and Carol Reed's "Router Joinery Workshop". I bought Pat's and just
returned Carol's to the library this morning.

Both are full of jigs you can use, including routah tables. Pat's
is more comprehensive, BTW, but I liked both.


--
"Menja bé, caga fort!"

"J T" wrote in message
...
Wed, Jan 5, 2005, 7:57pm (EST+5) (Peter Holt) claims:
I have decided that I would like to buy/build a router table snip

Make one. If it doesn't turn out to be quite what you want, either
modify it, or make another. Be a LOT cheaper, and you'll wind up with
something that does what you want. I'm on, I think, the 3d version of
mine, probably got $5 (US) max, invested, total. Plywood top, 2X4
framing, glue to hold it together, some bolts to hold it down. I've had
the latest version for years, does just what I want. Later, if you want
a change, modify what you've got, or make another.



JOAT
EVERY THING THAT HAPPENS STAYS HAPPENED.
- Death

2X4 for framing? Why? Heck the one I use is just the top and I use a
couple of c-clamps to secure it to the table of my radial arm saw. Seems to
work for me. It's just a chunk of ply I had kicking round and the fence is
any old stright board I happen to have at the moment.

D. Mo

Andy Dingley writes:

snip

The fence is an L girder of 1/2" MDF, with buttresses in the corner.
Fit false fences of 3/8" MDF and make a couple of spares. Box in the
centre buttresses with offcuts of clear Perspex and turn it into a
dust extract box. Adjustment is by _pivoting_, not sliding, because
it works just as well and is much easier to make.


Interesting. If I understand you correctly, the fence is fixed at
one end and the other end swings in an arc?

If so, I like it, never really thought of that approach before.

~Pike~

On 06 Jan 2005 09:16:42 -0600, Pike
wrote:

Interesting. If I understand you correctly, the fence is fixed at
one end and the other end swings in an arc?

Yes. There's a hole in one end of the fence, a slot in the other.
The slot is about an inch long, barely curved because it's 18" or so
from the pivot. For coarse adjustments there are two or three "pivot"
inserts screwed into the table.

It's ugly. But if it didn't work, I'd have got round to making
something better by now.

The table is also deeper than it is wide, because I have an Incra
fence too and they need a lot of space at the back. This is mounted on
a plywood plate that's screwed down to the table by four more stove
bolts and threaded inserts. Incidentally although I have the Incra, I
prefer to use my own fence.

--
Smert' spamionam

Pike wrote in
:


Andy Dingley writes:

snip

The fence is an L girder of 1/2" MDF, with buttresses in the corner.
Fit false fences of 3/8" MDF and make a couple of spares. Box in the
centre buttresses with offcuts of clear Perspex and turn it into a
dust extract box. Adjustment is by _pivoting_, not sliding, because
it works just as well and is much easier to make.


Interesting. If I understand you correctly, the fence is fixed at
one end and the other end swings in an arc?

If so, I like it, never really thought of that approach before.

~Pike~



Mine's done the same way, except I use a clamp on the 'swing' end. The
intent was to do it Andy's way, but this has been working for maybe three
years.

Other things were more important. Like furniture and work.

Patriarch

Thanks for all your suggestions. You have all persuaded me that I should
make my own and I have found some instructions and arranged to have a metal
plate made for fixing the router into the table. Thanks again.
Peter
"Peter Holt" wrote in message news:41dc46c1.0@entanet...
I have decided that I would like to buy/build a router table but there
seems to be a large selection at various prices/sizes/materials etc. I
would appreciate any advice on what to look for and any recommendations as
to any particular make or model. Likewise the names of any to avoid would
also be appreciated. I am hoping to get a table for about £100 or less and
it will be for occasional use only.
Is it worth making a router table as I have a small steel framed table
that would make a good base? From looking at the Axminster catalogue it
seemed that the various parts added up to as much as a complete table.
Thanks for any advice.
Peter