# granite router table top?



## charimon (Apr 8, 2009)

Hi, My name is Craig and I am a Tile and Stone man by profession. 

I have an Incra LS 17 and With a Mikita 3612 mounted on a plate. I need a bigger top to make full use of the fence. 

The price of some Tops that are marketed is Crazy. $300

I can fab a 32"x 48" out of Granite. Open a 9 1/4 X11 3/4" with a 7/32" deep 1/2" rebated rabbit to hold the plate. Bore the mounting holes. for that price. That would be a heavy

I also have access to a sheet of 5/8 solid phenolic 32"x 60" ( Commercial stall divider Door) Would installing a 3/8" plate in the 5/8" phenolic sheet weaken it too much? Could I trim out an area to fit my router base, skipping the plate and mount the router to the sheet directly? ( would I want to do this?) If so i can recess the top side, install some rare earth magnates and use the Incra hole plates.

Which of these 2 options would you go with and why. 

Thanks for your help

Craig


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## xplorx4 (Dec 1, 2008)

Greetings Craig and welcome to the forum. Both sound interesting, but why not just use two sheets of 3/4" MDF laminated together with an edging of oak or any hardwood? Many of the guys here use this formula for their router table top. Mine is not MDF at this time but will be probably this summer or fall. 

I will grant you the granite would be flat and smooth enough but really heavy. The phenol would not be thick enough for a miter slot or "T" tracks. I think I would look into the MDF with the hard wood edge similar to mine. (BTW mine is also heavy with the cabinets and all, but I can still turn it over to replace the castors which I will be doing this summer also.)


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## levon (Sep 14, 2008)

hi Craig,

i agree with Jerry on the mdf top. but my choice would be to use formica on the top , bottom and edges. this way i wouldnt be taking a chance on the screws splitting the mdf top and i think this would also look fine. i think most you will see has the formica edges.

this is just a matter of personal preference.


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## BigJimAK (Mar 13, 2009)

While I think a granite router top would be very flat and stable, I would have an over-riding concern; one I share with steel tops. 

A 1" bit, rotationg at 23,000 RPM is moving at 147 miles per hour. You get the drift. 

As for me, I want something that will absorb energy (like wood, or even aluminum), not something that would cause a ricochet.

Just my $0.02.. your mileage may vary.


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## westend (Mar 31, 2009)

I would use the phenolic but cut it in half and laminate the two halfs. I would also use an insert plate. They're just too easy to use, allowing instant withdrawl of the router from the top, ability to level, and accomodates different sized openings for the different bits. Heck, Jerry found a new use, using the insert to guide the router for off-table routing.


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## RustyW (Dec 28, 2005)

Craig, This sounds like a "no brainer" to me. If you have the skills and ability to cut out and rabbit the granite for a plate. You will have a table to last a lifetime. I say, go for it.


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## AxlMyk (Jun 13, 2006)

I'm on the side that says "Go for the granite". That would be a fantastic top.
A ricochet wouldn't be a concern. You're using an insert, and people even make steel tops.


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## Noob (Apr 18, 2009)

The 3/8" phenolic plates are not 3/8" at the edges where it is mounted. The middle is 3/8" but the edges are thinner, not sure how thin, maybe 1/4" thick. 

Putting a phenolic plate in a granite top would be the better way to mount the router than mounting it directly to the granite. If you can get granite cheap, use it instead. Who knows, we may see granite top offerings in the future of router tables. Bench dogs and a few others offer cast iron tops like the table saws and some of the new table saws by Rigid now have 1 ¾" thick granite tops. Some of the concerns I've seen about granite tops is chip-out, so don't use your top to hammer stuff together.

I'm going to put 2 pieces of 3/4" MDF together as a table top. I would like to laminate it but I can't get any drop-offs and I would have to buy a full sheet of it at Home Depot for $42 (which is more than I want to spend). As for splitting MDF, the trick is to always drill pilot holes. That's what most speaker boxes are made of and I use one of these: Dewalt DW2730 drill and drive LINK You attach the main body to the drill, then countersink and drill with one side, flip the insert over, and drive it home with the phillips bit. I used it when building a 12' x 12' deck and this think made it so much easier to keep from splitting the wood.

Edit: Forgot to add that course drywall screws work better than wood screws on MDF.


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

Craig..

the cool factor alone would say lean towards the granite. IMHO!!!


More and more mfg's are going with an optional granite table top on everything from bandsaws to tablesaws. Actualy I wish i had thought of this before investing in my top. Since you are a stone guy, you might be able to answer the only question i would have. What about vibration? Would granite hold up to the high speed vibration that a router would inherently create? Either mechanical or audio. I'm sure that most of the vibration (however minor) would be absorbed through the plate, but would the granite be able to absorb it without causing some kind of stress fractures over time???


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## levon (Sep 14, 2008)

As for splitting MDF, the trick is to always drill pilot holes.

even drilling pilot holes, adding a long series of screws as on a top to the edge of mdf is a nono.


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## levon (Sep 14, 2008)

hi Paulo,

to laminate a top with formica, if you do it right and put it on top, bottom and edges it will take a major portion of a sheet of formica. the 42 bucks are then well spent with a little left over for other projects, depending on what size yout table is. when i do predrill mdf, i use a bit like your said you have, but after drilling and countersinking the mdf, i then turn it over and countersink the other side. even when drilling a screw into a pilot hole it will raise the top of the 2nd piece. countersinking the bottom of the top piece gives this raised part a place to go and makes a tight joint. sorry for my rambling post.


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## Noob (Apr 18, 2009)

levon said:


> hi Paulo,
> 
> to laminate a top with formica, if you do it right and put it on top, bottom and edges it will take a major portion of a sheet of formica. the 42 bucks are then well spent with a little left over for other projects, depending on what size yout table is. when i do predrill mdf, i use a bit like your said you have, but after drilling and countersinking the mdf, i then turn it over and countersink the other side. even when drilling a screw into a pilot hole it will raise the top of the 2nd piece. countersinking the bottom of the top piece gives this raised part a place to go and makes a tight joint. sorry for my rambling post.


Don't apologize, that makes sense and is a good tip. Blow-out on the far side of a hole you drill can be something easy to prevent.


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## charimon (Apr 8, 2009)

Thanks for the replys so far.

I was thinking granite would be totally cool looking. I think I wil fab one up and post pics on this thread. 
Craig


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## levon (Sep 14, 2008)

Craig, i think granite will make a great table. in my little shop, im constantly moving my tools around and it wouldnt work so good for me, but if i had more room i would definitely consider it. my only problem would be that i couldnt mill it ( lack the knowhow and the tools)


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## GBM (Dec 18, 2007)

If you lived close to me I would have already asked you to make me one... 
Can you make pictures of the process as you go along in addition to the finished product ?


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## AxlMyk (Jun 13, 2006)

Craig;
The next time we take the train to Denver, I'll take it off your hands while we stop in Omaha. We'll be there for 20 minutes which will give us plenty of time to get it on the train.


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## Ray H (Nov 22, 2008)

I built my top out 2 pieces of 3/4" MDF glued together, wraped in cherry using glue and biscuits. Laminated both side and then 45'ed the edges. 2 years later it's still flat.

But when not in use, I do not lleave a router mounted in the table.

Ray H.


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## Joe Bleau (Mar 20, 2010)

I would like to throw in my 2 cents on this. I fail to understand how anyone could object to a woodworking machine being too heavy. If you have ever used a quality machine more than 60 years old, i.e., Oliver (the old, not the new Tiawanese product which has taken over the name) Yates-American or others whose names do not come to me immediately, you would realize the value of heaviness in machinery.  Nothing dampens vibration like mass. In addition there is the reduced friction that would come result from sliding you work across an absolutely smooth table. As for the poster who was worried about what would happen if a router bit broke and flew out at 147 mph, well I don't see how wood or MDF would make it any less dangerous. Actually I had the idea of having a granite top made and came across this website while researching the idea. I thought my idea was original. Now I discover that many others have thought about or actually done it. Teaches one the folly of thinnking that his idea is original.


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## BigJimAK (Mar 13, 2009)

Joe.. For most tools, being large and heavy is a virtue... the larger and heavier the better... it damps vibration and, should something come apart inside, it takes a lot of energy to move it far... It's all good unless you have to lift or move it often. That's where many here find themselves. They're often working in limited space and may be shared with other things for other purposes (i.e a garage-shop). For those the tool may be put on casters, assuming the floor will support it (not so good for 2nd floor shops) and permit rolling (not good for a dirt floor shop).

I have a 2-car garage shop I share with my bride's car on cold winter days. Late last July I purchased a new TS.. one of the new-style 5hp Delta Unisaws. The local vendor delivered the saw but told me the mobile base was back-ordered, but would be in within 4 weeks. 

This saw is a dream although at 34"x84" of footprint and over 600#, its anything *but* portable without the mobile base, taking the full width and much of the depth of the garage (with working space). By the end of September (when the first wisps of snow started to fall) I'd gone beyond the weekly calls to my supplier and was up to dealing with the west coast product manager for the Delta Unisaw, discussing Delta picking up the saw and refunding my money. I was fortunate that he was able to get one of the first re-done bases off the assembly line and I was off and mobile (able to store the saw against a wall) but without the mobile base, a Unisaw would have been out of the picture for me because yes, it was too heavy to move on a regular basis.

The days of most woodworkers having acres of land at their disposal are over. Many work from garages and yes, basements. You might move that Uni *down* into a basement, but you'd be hard-pressed to get it back out... certainly not move it up and down on a whim. 

Speaking from experience, short of seeking a hernia don't even *think* about sliding it on smooth concrete. Even then you'd need to re-align the saw with each move.

Just my $0.02..


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## Swallow (Jan 13, 2010)

Joe it's strange that you should mention the old Oliver saws as I happen to have one. It's a 12" and get this it still runs on Babbitt bushings and before you all start to laugh let me say that I have worked with some of the best woodworking equipment made and there is just simply nothing that runs sweeter than a machine with babbitt bushings as long as they are in good repair and well greased. Also when they do finally wear out it's nothing to melt the babbitt down and recast it for another fifty years of running.

The only problem that I have with this old behemoth is the fact that the the base is all in one massive peace and I can't seem to figure out how to get the monster into my basement shop. This beast is a pattern makers saw and has been in my family for the last 90 years and I know that I will never find a better saw anywhere anyhow. So for now it sits in storage, any ideas. The little woman has mentioned that blasting a hole in the basement wall is just Soo out of the question.


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## ctsooner (Jan 16, 2010)

wow, babbit brings back my days as the Repair Officer on USS Kitty Hawk. We used to test all the oil in the main engines for babbit so make sure we weren't wearing out or wiping bearings on the main shafts, lol. 

Interesting thread. Would Corian or other man mades be affordable to you? If so, maybe they'd give you everything granite would without the vibration question (if that is even a problem). I'm fairly new to woodworking, however many times that we use the router table, we are making pencil marks on it for starting and stopping places (on the fences too). I see many folks using darker laminates or other materials that would make it more difficult to see these marks, if you can even make them at all. Is this not a concern to many of you?

Thanks.


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## bobfowler (Mar 10, 2010)

ctsooner said:


> wow, babbit brings back my days as the Repair Officer on USS Kitty Hawk. We used to test all the oil in the main engines for babbit so make sure we weren't wearing out or wiping bearings on the main shafts, lol.
> 
> Interesting thread. Would Corian or other man mades be affordable to you? If so, maybe they'd give you everything granite would without the vibration question (if that is even a problem). I'm fairly new to woodworking, however many times that we use the router table, we are making pencil marks on it for starting and stopping places (on the fences too). I see many folks using darker laminates or other materials that would make it more difficult to see these marks, if you can even make them at all. Is this not a concern to many of you?
> 
> Thanks.


The big problem with Corian is actually getting it. Dupont doesn't let their dealers sell it to J.Q Public, only to "licensed installers". Most installers (at least in my area) won't get it for you, they will only order it if they are building the project. That starts to drive the cost way up...


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## ctsooner (Jan 16, 2010)

Oh, didn't know that. I bet it's the same with the other man made products too then. I just thought their composition would be better. Splitting hairs though as you can dampen the granite if you think it would be a problem, by sticking sheets of sorbothane on the bottom of it before you install it to the cabinet.


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