# Cubbie's Router Table



## Cubbie (Feb 20, 2005)

Hehe.. sorry, I wanted to start a new thread so I didn't want to hijack anyone else's that's trying to get information specific to their project.

As I mentioned in another thread, I've ordered a Hitachi M12V from Amazon.com at what I still consider an incredibly low price. I was pricing out the M12V here in Canada and the cheapest I found was just over CDN$300/USD$240. Amazon.com had it for a ridiculous CDN$200/USD$160 and shipping was free! Sadly they don't ship tools to Canada so I had to route it through my company's customs broker in Montana and have the clear it and forward it to me. I'm hoping to receive it tomorrow afternoon.

For the base plate, after reading everyone's knowledgable opinions here I had the choice narrowed down to two candidates.. one phenolic and one aluminum. I later read some horror stories regarding some aluminum plates marking wood by leaving black streaks, so I opted for the Rousseau 3509 9"x12" deluxe phenolic plate instead. I ordered it and the template from Woodcraft this morning. In all honesty, I probably would have considered the oak-park vacu-plate, but my shop vac draws a monster 15A, so I'm sure I'd be popping the breaker in my garage on a regular basis if I tried to use both it and the router at the same time. I can clean up the messes later. 

My requirement for a router table was that I be able to use it on a bench I had already built in the garage, so a free standing table was pretty much out of the question. I'm also tight on storage space right now, so I wanted something I could hang on the wall or under my bench when it's not in use. The ones I've seen in the store looked and felt cheap so I decided to build my own instead.

I picked up all the materials for the table top this evening, which included:

2 - 2' x 4' 3/4" plywood
2 - 2' x 4' sheets of Formica
6ft - 1" x 4" maple
and a bunch of C-clamps..

I haven't decided if the final tabletop should be 2'x4' or a more managable 2'x3', but I'm leaning toward the later. I'll be assembling the table top this weekend using the example used in the book Woodworking With The Router because I really think it will be a very stable top.

They recommend taking two sheets of 3/4" plywood and glueing the crowned sides together so when you clamp them together, the tabletop will be flat. I thought to myself, can 3/4" really warp that badly, and when I went to the lumber store to pick some up, yeah, I can see why they recommend using this method. 

While the glue is curing, I'll have to rip the maple into edging for the table which will get glued and tacked to the outside edge of the table to keep moisture from affecting the plywood base.

Lastly a sheet of Formica will be cemented to both the top and bottom of the tabletop to further seal the top from being affected by moisture.

I was loathing buying a 4'x8' sheet of Formica because the last one I bought was almost $50, but the store had a good selection of 2'x4' stuff for $3 sheet. Sadly they only had one sheet of white, so I picked a different color for the bottom of the table (like anyone is going to ever see it but me).

Considering how much a retail table is, I've only spent $50 in materials so far, and even if I spent another $50 for materials for the benchtop base, I don't see anything in the stores even coming close to touching it strength and cost.

Once I get the router and plate in, I can figure out how much clearance is needed under the table so I can design a base.

I'll post some pictures as I build it, and warmly welcome any comments/suggestions that anyone has.

Cheers,

Cubbie.


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## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

Cubbie, your table will be similar to mine which is based on a plan from Woodsmith. This plan calls for 1 piece of 3/4" plywood and two layers of 1/4" Masonite.(Hardboard) You may want to consider their 23 x 30 finished table top size. This way you could use their fence design if you don't already have one. I thought you might be interested to know that Rockler has their nice $20 router switch on sale for $14.95.(US) One other thing you should order from Woodcraft, the centering kit for your router. The kit has a 1/4" shaft you chuck in your collet, it extends down through a special washer that fits into the gray ring of the mounting plate. It also includes pointed allen transfer screws so you are perfectly centered on your plate. The kit run's $3(US).


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## Cubbie (Feb 20, 2005)

aniceone2hold said:


> One other thing you should order from Woodcraft, the centering kit for your router. The kit has a 1/4" shaft you chuck in your collet, it extends down through a special washer that fits into the gray ring of the mounting plate. It also includes pointed allen transfer screws so you are perfectly centered on your plate. The kit run's $3(US).


Dooh! I wish I had known that before.. my package left this afternoon, and shipping to Canada is $10. I haven't seen the Rousseau products for sale in Canada, though Stu said he bought his in Canada.

I only ordered the deluxe base, and template with router bushings. 

Hehe.. router switch is flagged as sold out already.


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## fredsintheshop (Sep 10, 2004)

I ordered the centering kit from Busy Bee.


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## Cubbie (Feb 20, 2005)

I'm a little perturbed by my table top that I built.

I was looking at it today, and the darned thing is bowed now. When I glued it together, I put the bowed sides "crown in", glued it up, clamped it and 24 hours later it was flat (as the book I was reading said would happen) at which pointed I glued the maple edging onto it and let it sit for another 24 hours. I applied the formica layers to both the top and bottom about a week later (it was too cold in the garage to safely use the contact cement so I waited until the temp was up enough).

I don't know when it started to bow, other than some time after the edging was put on. As it stands, apparently I have a nice tabletop for my new drillpress because I can't see it making a very good router tabletop anymore.  For what it's worth, both the top and bottom are bowed the same way, and the crown is now in the top middle going lengthwise. The shortsides are still flat. If I put a straightedge lengthwise, the crown is about 4mm higher than the two edges.


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