# Having a go at making a router table.



## AndyP73 (May 15, 2020)

Hi, 
Great forum, the wealth of knowledge and helpfulness of all the members and some of vast experience is just a privilege- thanks. 
I saw a few other newcomers posting pics of their projects so got the courage to show some of my humble attempts so far with the table I'm building.. Top mostly done about to start on the base soon.
As my first I know there's no way it will be perfect so it's just a leap in and learn experience.... and enjoy experience too!
The top is 30mm thick, 3 pieces of 9mm (23/64") MDF with a 3mm (1/8")melamine sheet for the top laminated together
Overall dimensions 925x625mm (36.5x24.5) including Tassie Oak edging 
Features
1)Triton MOF001 router (Thanks Desert Rat Tom- great little router!)
2)12mm 1/2" acrylic insert with height adjustment screws to get perfectly (or near as possible) level.
3)Quick release lock for fence, runs on aluminum bar rail, QR lever is from a bicycle seat clamp coupled with some 8mm(5/16") threaded rod (got the idea from a mini router table build I saw on Youtube). It seems to hold well thus far.
4)Split fence
5)Offset from centre





The emphasis has been on keeping things flat and square, by using machined edges for critical points, and lots of checking with squares and straight edges. Hoping the results will be okay for a amateur learner at home. I'm happy with it so far.
Thanks for looking and the great forum.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

It looks good Andy and should serve you well.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

lookingt good and thanks for showing ...


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## AndyP73 (May 15, 2020)

Cherryville Chuck said:


> It looks good Andy and should serve you well.


Thankyou Chuck. Do you think it is worth leaving 2" overhang on the table top to be able to clamp things to it easily if need be?


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

AndyP73 said:


> Thankyou Chuck. Do you think it is worth leaving 2" overhang on the table top to be able to clamp things to it easily if need be?


I do...


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## NJW63 (May 22, 2020)

Great job Andy. I like that fence design.


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

I can tell you've been very careful with your precision work. That is as nice a fence as any you could have paid a bundle for. Because of they way you did the bracing behind the split fence, you can drop in a 2.5 inch (or metric equivelent) port for dust collection. You can use the commercial port that sits at a 45 degree angle to the fence, or just add a plate to the back of the triangle and use a simple plastic port of the same size.

How are you handling the leveling of the router plate? The simple way is to put screws through the second layer, and file the points off. Nice fat screws, predrill slightly smaller pilot holes so it forms a tight fit. The other option would be to go with the Kreg levelers, if available. Pix. (Oops, just noticed the levelers in the picture.)

I also added two pix of the dust collection options, one commercial, the other shop built.

Really nice job. You'll use that table happily for a long time.


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

Andy, you are doing great as a beginner. That fence is going to serve you well. Glad to see your pictures. You can be proud of that build.
Herb


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Great setup Andy ,thanks for sharing. Makes me regret not doing the same


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## sreilly (May 22, 2018)

Andy the fence looks great. The idea of the 3 piece fence makes good design. Most only have the two fence pieces which leave little for a continuous reference surface. That will come in very handy with using jigs like a rail and stile sled. I recently saw a post somewhere where the user made a fence using leftover laminate flooring and used the tongue and groove slots to hold the center piece that had a cutout for the bit. Thinking this could give way to having many profiled center pieces for many different bits.


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## AndyP73 (May 15, 2020)

Thankyou for all the help and encouragement and advice... so valuable.
I started on the base today... did a rough fitup.
Using some half lap type of joints. I'm thinking of using splines to strengthen the joints... and just for the hell of it also.. Where end grains meet..


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## thomas1389 (Jan 4, 2012)

Andy, That's good for a first leap. It takes courage to start. There's always that fear of failure in a lot of first's at anything. There are some (read me) that ponder a project till the cows come home, trying to think of all the "what ifs" to keep from looking dumb in front of others. You just have to jump in and swim, making revisions and revising those revisions yet once again. That's the learning experience and the great feeling you get from accomplishing something. There's a tremendous lot of talent on this forum. There is also a tremendous lot of help always available when you ask. I'm getting off the soap box now. I must read the first few sentences again to fortify my own shaky resolve. Play safe.


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## ScottyDBQ (Jul 5, 2008)

Andy, terrific job on the top and fence and excellent start on the base cabinet as well. You might want to consider adding some kind of sealant to the bottom side of the table top. I had a top made from the sink cut out from a laminated countertop. I use the laminated top as the surface for the router table and after some time it developed a very slight dip which I am thinking may have come from the fact that the top was more or less impervious to moisture/humidity while the bottom was not. It would be relatively easy to do now before your project gets done. Just a thought.


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## mbrun (Jan 12, 2020)

Nice work Andy. Love the fence. Keep posting your progress.


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## AndyP73 (May 15, 2020)

ScottyDBQ said:


> Andy, terrific job on the top and fence and excellent start on the base cabinet as well. You might want to consider adding some kind of sealant to the bottom side of the table top. I had a top made from the sink cut out from a laminated countertop. I use the laminated top as the surface for the router table and after some time it developed a very slight dip which I am thinking may have come from the fact that the top was more or less impervious to moisture/humidity while the bottom was not. It would be relatively easy to do now before your project gets done. Just a thought.


Thanks very much... I'll give the underside a coat! I had reservations using MDF at all to be honest. I really don't like the other reason being the dust is meant to be pretty harmful.. formaldahyde I believe. The upside is the the 9mm sheets came in the size I wanted and the thickness to allow the insert to pretty much drop in.
Will have to check out your table, etc soon!


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## AndyP73 (May 15, 2020)

ScottyDBQ said:


> Andy, terrific job on the top and fence and excellent start on the base cabinet as well. You might want to consider adding some kind of sealant to the bottom side of the table top. I had a top made from the sink cut out from a laminated countertop. I use the laminated top as the surface for the router table and after some time it developed a very slight dip which I am thinking may have come from the fact that the top was more or less impervious to moisture/humidity while the bottom was not. It would be relatively easy to do now before your project gets done. Just a thought.



Thanks for that advice.. saved alot of trouble doing it now! Not perfect, but well... it's the underside.. still looks nice though. I also sealed the cutout around the insert area. Looking forward to glueing up the frame tomorrow and sanding etc,
BTW what happened with that gap left hand side between the edging there and the MDF edge was I bought an extra sheet to thicken it and it was cut from supplier slightly undersize to the rest... Looking back I could have used a flush bit to get it flush... Ah well.. the edging is still glued to 3/4" that is flush. Minor details  
Thanks again!
Andy


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## AndyP73 (May 15, 2020)

Got the basic base squared up and glued...next put in bottom shelf ,epoxy in rails and threaded inserts, finish dust extract area, install wheels, put in power switch.


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## mbrun (Jan 12, 2020)

Look’n good. You are really going to enjoy the table. 


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## 1fizgig (Feb 11, 2018)

Looks good Andy. Did you visit Timbecon yet? 

You're a step ahead of me, I have yet to buy the dust port so I can get collection going. TBH, I really need to buy a proper dust collector setup, but I'm seeing shop vac alone at $1k and I just don't have that kind of cash spare.
So far my $50 Bunnings home vac is doing at least something, and as always a good dust mask.

Where did you get your vac and how much was it, if you don't mind me asking?


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## adpostel (Jun 5, 2020)

1fizgig said:


> Looks good Andy. Did you visit Timbecon yet?
> 
> You're a step ahead of me, I have yet to buy the dust port so I can get collection going. TBH, I really need to buy a proper dust collector setup, but I'm seeing shop vac alone at $1k and I just don't have that kind of cash spare.
> So far my $50 Bunnings home vac is doing at least something, and as always a good dust mask.
> ...


You can get the whole "newbie" dust collection setup at the Orange store for under $150 bucks.


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## 1fizgig (Feb 11, 2018)

adpostel said:


> You can get the whole "newbie" dust collection setup at the Orange store for under $150 bucks.
> 
> https://youtu.be/lGnGNYrxqjs


Yes, that may be true, but we're in Australia, and our comparative big box Borg called Bunnings doesn't seem to have the same thing (at least that I have found so far).
And it wouldn't be that cheap - we have to pay "Australia Tax" on anything from the States it seems.


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## AndyP73 (May 15, 2020)

1fizgig said:


> Looks good Andy. Did you visit Timbecon yet?
> 
> You're a step ahead of me, I have yet to buy the dust port so I can get collection going. TBH, I really need to buy a proper dust collector setup, but I'm seeing shop vac alone at $1k and I just don't have that kind of cash spare.
> So far my $50 Bunnings home vac is doing at least something, and as always a good dust mask.
> ...


Hey Steve!
Good to hear from you! 
The vac I got was a Kärcher from Bunnings it was $180 I think.. I had a $100 Ryobi 50l wet and dry which blew after several months so I took it back and got the Kärcher which is dearer and a little smaller at 40 litres but I think it's better...who knows I might blow this one up too. But so far I like it better. But you can get the same one for about $100, mine had a few extra features which I don't actually need so I could have gone cheaper.
I'm planning on cobbling something up re dust extraction for the table.. will see what I come up with... but something dirtcheap and functional comes to mind, I'm trying to use what I have lying around for the table as much as possible.. I've seen those dust ports but I think I'm going to try and build one of my own design.
Got the wheels on today by the way, and the adjustment insert and rails epoxied in.


post images
Yeah with these projects I'm trying to just have the attitude "I don't care how long it takes" to try not to put pressure on myself. Also sometimes just have to think "Good enough, might not be perfect but good enough for me". Otherwise I can get stressed out! haha.
That round table you made is awesome by the way!
Haven't been to Timbercon yet only browsed online.. good to hear from you, and thanks for looking.


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## AndyP73 (May 15, 2020)

adpostel said:


> You can get the whole "newbie" dust collection setup at the Orange store for under $150 bucks.
> 
> That looks good! Thanks for that! As Steve was saying.. wish we had access to this sort of stuff down under at those prices, but good to know this stuff is out there!
> We could take the Festool route Steve.. best dust extraction ever apparently! But will set me back a house deposit probably


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## AndyP73 (May 15, 2020)

Yes the wheels came to about $30 all up plus $5 for some M8 galv bolts. I got some screws at Aldi today 50mm and 80mm long with Pozidrive!!! I love pozidrive- so much better than phillips head which are just awful I find most of the time for driving. They were only $5 each and about 100 per box. They also had some great F clamps there $10 for a 20cm and 30cm set. They had $130 bandsaws but they all sold out nation wide in the first hour.
I bout some of the F clamps and they are great but I tried the quick release ones and they broke first go so I took them back for another set of F Clamps.
Tomorrow I'll do a little more on it, fit the bottom shelf and maybe start thinking about the dust port some more


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

Just out of curiosty, is everything 220v. there? Routers,shop vacs ?
Herb


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## AndyP73 (May 15, 2020)

Herb Stoops said:


> Just out of curiosty, is everything 220v. there? Routers,shop vacs ?
> Herb


Hi Herb- how are you? Yes everything 220v apart from the cordless tools which are wither 18 or 12v 
All the best,
Andy

Got the top connected to the base today. It's done in a way so I can remove the top from the base if need be (bolted on) and I put the shelf in the bottom. Was able to have dinner at the table tonight, and it stores the Triton jigs, spring, etc, and..well.. the vac... not sure if I want to keep it there though. 

Looking forward to using the table soon for routing! Hopefully that will happen unless I make a terrible mistake on it.


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## jj777746 (Jan 17, 2015)

@Herb Stoops,Hi HErb,I don't know where Andy lives in our country,but the base voltage in New South Wales is 240v & if you want 15 amps with that,you have to get it special wired to your shop from the meter box. Jamesjj777746


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## jj777746 (Jan 17, 2015)

@ AndyP73. Hi Andy,That is a beaut Router Table you are building.


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## AndyP73 (May 15, 2020)

Herb Stoops said:


> Just out of curiosty, is everything 220v. there? Routers,shop vacs ?
> Herb


Hi Herb- how are you? Yes everything 220v apart from the cordless tools which are wither 18 or 12v 
All the best,
Andy

Got the top connected to the base today. It's done in a way so I can remove the top from the base if need be (bolted on) and I put the shelf in the bottom. Was able to have dinner at the table tonight, and it stores the Triton jigs, spring, etc, and..well.. the vac... not sure if I want to keep it there though. 

Looking forward to using the table soon for routing! Hopefully that will happen unless I make a terrible mistake on it.


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

you have done a swell job at that, Andy. Well thought out too, you will get a lot of good use out of that table. Good work.
Herb


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## AndyP73 (May 15, 2020)

Well the table is really about complete and usable now. I had a go with some test pieces today. Thankyou to everyone on the forum for your help support and suggestions- really gives me impetus.
The next things I'd like to do is make a couple of jigs- one for cutting grooves and dadoes and a box joint jig. I might be able to use the side runners for the dado jig to run on rather then route a runner groove in the table surface.


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Awesome outcome Andy . I think you’ve set a new standard for route tables


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## 1fizgig (Feb 11, 2018)

Great table Andy, you're clearly not new to wood, and that's a great table that should bring you a lot of pleasure. Well done and thanks for sharing your journey


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## papasombre (Sep 22, 2011)

Hi Andy.
Your RT is amazing. In the OP you mentioned that the router is a Triton MOF001 that looks very similar to TRA001. It called my attention and did some googling to find some differences.
My TRA001 is still in the box waiting to be installed in my RT where a Bosch 1619EVS is.


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

Really nice job!.


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## Tool Inspector (Dec 19, 2019)

Really nice router table, it looks like you have paid attention to detail with this build.


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Tool Inspector said:


> Really nice router table, it looks like you have paid attention to detail with this build.


Welcome to the forum John . If you get a chance , update your profile with your first name , that way you can avoid being called N/a all the time


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## thomas1389 (Jan 4, 2012)

AndyP73 said:


> Well the table is really about complete and usable now. I had a go with some test pieces today. Thankyou to everyone on the forum for your help support and suggestions- really gives me impetus.
> The next things I'd like to do is make a couple of jigs- one for cutting grooves and dadoes and a box joint jig. I might be able to use the side runners for the dado jig to run on rather then route a runner groove in the table surface.


You have impetus? Try Calamine lotion.


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