# Portable Router Table



## neville9999 (Jul 22, 2010)

I posted this as a reply on a anouther thread but it is interesting enough to have its own place. 

Its easy enough to make your own table, here is one that I take around to some sites, it fully comes apart and is as strong as I need, it can be set up anyway I want but it's set up 'L' Shaped here. And that dog, not mine but the damn thing chewed the corner off one of my tool boxes in the 1 minute I was not there. In case you were wondering then I have added a few photos that shows what I use this bench for, On site kitchen Bench Top Fabrication. This Festool Router is the only Festool Router I own and it has some serious design flaws that prevent me from using it in my Router Table, but as a hand held plunge router then its power and speed controller make it perfect for this job, the design flaw is that it only has one 'lock' to prevent the router popping open when being used, I cannot lock it off and prevent it unexpectedly opening up. With my Makita routers then you can lock off the plunge when you want to do that and 100% prevent them opening up, I can't say how exciting it was when I was running mouldings with this router and it opened up when I had my big 45mm bullnosed cutter in it running at 25,000rpm and it opened up, the the work piece was destroyed as well as a perfectly good pair of underpants, Its a good thing that I keep a good grip on any router I use as I had to keep hold of it that day. N


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

Looks good you can come over to my place next.
Herb


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## old55 (Aug 11, 2013)

What Herb said.


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## neville9999 (Jul 22, 2010)

Herb Stoops said:


> Looks good you can come over to my place next.
> Herb


No problem Herb, It's $1.65au per kilometer plus call out fee, hourly rate and material, that should work out just fine for me. Bwahahahahahah N


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## kywoodchopper (Jul 18, 2013)

I like your setup and the counter top work. Looks great. I like the template that you have for cutting the countertops, and I didn't realize the problem with the Festool router. I'll pass that info to friends with that router. As for as the dog chewing the toolbox, I make some nice pet urns for pet ashes if you need one for that dog. Just kidding. Malcolm / Kentucky USA


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## neville9999 (Jul 22, 2010)

Makita have a knob on the top and if you don't want the router to open up then you can wind it all the way down so the plunge won't work anymore, many other routers are the same and when the knob is wound down then it can't open up, Festool just have the normal clamp on the handle only, set the depth stop, push it down and clamp it. Trouble is that a little vibration can make it let go and when it does then it will fully open up. now I don't care if it has a straight cutter in it but its a pain if I have it set up to run mouldings, on disaster day then I had the big 45mm bullnose cutter and when that opened up while the cutter was a work then the cutter ripped through the work piece, you have to have that happen before you can really appreciate a second lock. Anyway the straight cutt-off jig, I use that one to do square end rough over size cuts with a circular saw as well as square trim to size router cuts with the Festook Router and the Yellow one, I use that to do three toggle bolt cuts as the mason miter jig can only do two, and two are not enough, I made those two, The Mason Miter jig is made by CMT and that works very well with the only issue the two toggle bolts cuts it can do. I'll let you know if I need one of your pet Urns, my first thought was to bury it without a casket N


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

Neville, I can see why that table would be ideal for joining "L" shaped counter tops, especially with the edging you use. And to join straight tops together where you can cut both pieces at the same time with a straight bit.


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## neville9999 (Jul 22, 2010)

Herb these tops are so heavy that you need a solid platform to sit them on when cuts are made, part of fabrication of postformed tops is to try the joints so the table set this way makes that easy, I would not butt end join this type of top often, the whole thing comes apart, the yellow legs slip off the 150x50 short laminated ply beams, all the rest are 90x50 laminated ply beams and all the joins are just halved into each other, the strips on top are 25x10mdf, they are sacrificial and get replaced when saw and router cuts make then too cut up, I don't let saw blades or cutters drop into the beams, just into the mdf. N


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

The right angle corners on preformed tops we used to get were cut and joined on a 45 deg. angle. I like that template jig where they can be joined on at 90 deg to each other. 
Is that a Commercial built table system, or did you make that?

Herb


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## Adam24 (Apr 22, 2015)

Its Look good and Awsome. You can Search in Youtube for More video.


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## neville9999 (Jul 22, 2010)

Herb the Yellow toggle bolt jig and the square cutt-off jig, I made them, The Orange Masons Miter Jig is from CMT, it is the CMT650 and you can see it in any CMT Catalog, The Trestle Table is 100% designed and made by me, I was thinking about making the legs when I found the Yellow Saw Horse legs, they come off some portable Saw Horses that have these removable legs, the legs came with a short 4x1 timber beam so they looked so perfect that I bought three of them and used the 6 legs here, the whole thing fits in my Station Wagon in bits so its easy to carry around to sites. N


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