# Leveling the router plate?



## cgreene (Nov 7, 2009)

Hi all and Merry Christmas!
Long time learker, first time poster. 
I have put together my own router table; Built the base and used a Rockler router table top and fence. I have installed a Woodpecker PRL into the top and everything looks good. The problem is that I can't seem to get the lift to be flush all the way around.  I can get really close but at least one corner, edge or part of an edge seems to be to high or low when every where else it is flush. Nothing to bad but you can slightly feel the edge of the wood catch as it crosses. It is not always in the same location, it all depends on how I start leveling. (I have been trying to level this thing for most of the day!) I'm at the point now I just want to level it as best I can and make sure the high/low spot is in an area least likely to be used. How level does the plate really need to be? (I want it to be perfect all the way around!) Any tips on how to get this thing level? Maybe I am going about this wrong. Thanks for any input, it is appreciated. 

Craig


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## Woodnut65 (Oct 11, 2004)

Hi, welcome to the forum. I use the Oak Park top and plates, and they just drop into a rabbit on the edges of the plate. The set up I have has the plate just a hair higher than the table. That is to insure that once the material is beyond the bit it will not run into the table when comming past the plate. once the work is beyond the bit it is cut anyway, and makes little difference if the plate is level at that point. My opinion is that if the plate is supported all the way around the edges and is the same amount above the
plate and that distance is very slight, it is fine and will work. Hope this helps.
Woodnut65, and Merry Christmas to you.


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## gregW (Mar 14, 2007)

Hi Craig,
I would make it level or slightly below the table on the infeed side (right) and level or slightly above on the outfeed side (left) so that it doesn't catch the workpiece..good luck!


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## Hamlin (Dec 25, 2005)

gregW said:


> Hi Craig,
> I would make it level or slightly below the table on the infeed side (right) and level or slightly above on the outfeed side (left) so that it doesn't catch the workpiece..good luck!


I too have the OP setup. The plate does sit slightly above the table. This is to prevent the workpiece from "catching". 

I'd have to question that setup Craig, if the plate sets at an angle, think about the bit height, the bit angle in which it's cutting into the material. If anything, it should be level or above. Once it's cut, it's done but, for a long piece, the table is supporting it, not the plate, except for the out-feed side. Perhaps I'm not seeing that clearly. :yes4:


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## BigJimAK (Mar 13, 2009)

<Putting on my BJ / Harry hat and interpreting "slightly" to be a thousandth or so that a fingernail would detect> Guys, we're talking wood here, not highly machined metal. I think there is a general agreement that the outfeed side should be flush with to slightly above the outfeed table to prevent catching. Catching in the middle of a cut isn't good. 

On the infeed side the low angle generated by the infeed being a thousandth low or high would affect the cutting height some fraction of that thousandth. How much will the wood expand and contract as the seasons change?


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## levon (Sep 14, 2008)

hi Ken, isnt that what Bob R. uses the fine adjusting tool for? lol lol


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## dutchman 46 (May 23, 2007)

Hello Craig, Welcome! Glad that you found us. The one thing that i find that gives me that type of problem, is this, Is it possible that the cutout area for the plate to lay in is rough, or slightly uneven? Or, is it possible that you have something embedded in the table, or plate. I am unsure how that unit is on the lip,but seems that it is a little skewed to make it move up, or down ever so slightly. Thats where i would check. Merry Christmas!


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## Hamlin (Dec 25, 2005)

Lets say you're doing some molding, what happens when the tail of the stock drops down to "sit" flat on the plate? Now, you have a gouge in the material. It would be quite noticeable. If you have a drop in plate, place a piece of a card under the out-feed side, run a piece, see what happens. I ask you to try it.


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi

The plate should level with the router top.it can be a PITA to get it right but it's worth the time to get it right, many,many ways to get it right, you can use a rabbit bit and recut the lip that the plate sits on,,the a real easy way is to use some flat head wood screws in the lip (4 ea.) not big ones i.e. 6 x 1/2" will do the job just fine..then find some stock in the shop the same size as the plate,(Thick) put the scrap stock over the screw and screw it up or down ...drop the plate in then use a credit card and push it over the in feed side ,slide it up to the plate,it should just slip over the plate and free then do the other side (out feed side) it may take a time to get it just right but once you have it you have it set ..for a very long time..

========


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## cgreene (Nov 7, 2009)

Well I walked away from it for a few hours. I just went back, pulled the lift out of the table, checked the rabbit ledge for any irregularities (there were not any) and reinstalled the lift. Once back in, I started slowly leveling again and this time I think I have it! Now there is the slightest drag when the board transitions from the melamine top onto the aluminum plate. Hopefully it is just the drag from going to the aluminum. I'll try and wax it and see if the drag goes away. Thanks for everyone's help! Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

Craig


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