# Incra/Woodpeckers/Bosch aluminum plate thickness where the router is mounted?



## achoox4 (Nov 9, 2012)

Due to all the posts about sagging plastic router table plates, I'm pondering the 3/8" thick Incra or Woodpeckers aluminum router plate. I'd hate to lose a lot more of my router's (MRC23) depth range to a thick plate - are either of these any thinner than 3/8" where the router is mounted? It looks like it is full thickness in pictures, but I haven't found one that shows the back side.

Except for the crummy center inserts, the aluminum plate from the Bosch 1171 table also looks good and seems to be available as a spare part. Does anybody know its thickness where the router mounts?


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## cocobolo1 (Dec 31, 2015)

Not sure if I can help you or not...but I just got an 1181, not 1171, and I don't know if the aluminum mounting plate is the same in both or not.

The plate itself is 3/8" thick (10 mm) and the recesses on both sides of the plate appear to be just over 1/16" each. I note that the back side of the plate is machined down about 1/32", so the plate is less than 3/8" thick where the router mounts.

From the top of the plate to the underside of the router support looks like just about exactly 1/4"...but I'm checking that with a tape measure. Not sure where my calipers vanished to.

So many holes in the plate it looks like Swiss cheese! :smile:


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## cocobolo1 (Dec 31, 2015)

*1181 Plate pics*

Maybe this will help...


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Wow Keith , that's a lot of holes 

Ben I kinda like the Incra aluminum plates with there clean sweep centers for dust collection.
If your concerned about loosing depth , maybe a Musle Chuck would help ?


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## PhilBa (Sep 25, 2014)

The other plates are 1/4" thick, I wouldn't fret over 1/8".


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

I popped for the Woodpecker plate with the twist lock inserts. Wonderful, solid, pre drilled for the specific router. I recommend it highly. I also got the template since my previous plate was smaller. I have also been thinking of adding a couple of jointed flat trusses under the table itself to help it stay flat.


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## cocobolo1 (Dec 31, 2015)

DesertRatTom said:


> I have also been thinking of adding a couple of jointed flat trusses under the table itself to help it stay flat.


I have honestly been wondering why anyone hasn't mentioned this before. It seems like such an obvious solution to prevent - or at the very least severely limit - sagging.


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

cocobolo1 said:


> I have honestly been wondering why anyone hasn't mentioned this before. It seems like such an obvious solution to prevent - or at the very least severely limit - sagging.


I believe TimberTailor did just that


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## cocobolo1 (Dec 31, 2015)

TheCableGuy said:


> I believe TimberTailor did just that


OK. I didn't see that. If it was in the last few days we've been down at the coast wasting serious building time with some of the rellies for Easter.


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## sunnybob (Apr 3, 2015)

With one deformed resin plate already, and a free replacement resin plate waiting to be fitted, I havent bought aluminium solely on cost.

And I have to ask why that plate has so many holes in it? Surely the plate can be drilled for router its being fitted to?

But I have come up with a solution for me thats a bit of a hybrid.

I can make my own aluminium plate quite easily, but the centre inserts cant be done by hand so a really large opening would be required, which is no good for my small box pieces.

So I am picking up today an aluminium plate which i will fit under the resin one.

With the router bolted to the resin plate, I will then cut out the router base shape so that there will be 8mm of alloy and 9mm of resin, but the router will still be as close as it was before to the top. That way there is nowhere for the resin to sag to. The only force downwards is a shear force at the router plates edge. And my makita isnt that heavy!


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## PhilBa (Sep 25, 2014)

I think the reasoning on the various holes is that some percentage of customers aren't confident enough to drill a router plate so will spring for one where they don't have to. 

As to reinforcing a resin/phenolic plate - if it works great but I really like the thick aluminum one on my incra/jessem lift. I actually gain height (er depth) with it but mainly like it for it's rigidity.


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## cocobolo1 (Dec 31, 2015)

sunnybob said:


> And I have to ask why that plate has so many holes in it? Surely the plate can be drilled for router its being fitted to?


Bosch would be about the only people who could answer that question. That's the way the plate arrived with their table.

It would appear that they have pre-drilled holes for every router that was ever made! Or maybe just every Bosch router...I don't know.


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## sunnybob (Apr 3, 2015)

Phil, I understand the reasoning, but what does it look like? And think of all the dust and chips that stick in those holes while youre working.
Surely just putting a bunch of locating pips on the underside would work? Anyone who cant drill through aluminium and then countersink the top edge shouldnt be in charge of a router.

Its the one thing I like about the Kreg. It has a lot of concentric circles on the underside, you just centre your router inside the circles, then mark the holes and drill.

As I've said, if I could justify the cost of a metal plate, i would do it. But as Kreg have given me another one free, the ali plate underneath will stiffen it enough for another tenner, as opposed to a hundred plus for ali.. The kreg works well in all other respects, just isnt strong enough to support all these giant routers everyone is using nowadays.


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## cocobolo1 (Dec 31, 2015)

PhilBa said:


> I think the reasoning on the various holes is that some percentage of customers aren't confident enough to drill a router plate so will spring for one where they don't have to.
> 
> As to reinforcing a resin/phenolic plate - if it works great but I really like the thick aluminum one on my incra/jessem lift. I actually gain height (er depth) with it but mainly like it for it's rigidity.


Agree with you that many people are not comfortable with metal working, and might be afraid to tackle drilling holes in their shiny new plate. Personally, I don't have a problem with that.

I will be checking to see if all my routers will fit this plate, just in case they need to at some future time. But I bought this table to use with my Bosch router. I don't plan on having to build ten more router tables in future...but I do plan on using this one a lot.


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## paduke (Mar 28, 2010)

DesertRatTom said:


> I popped for the Woodpecker plate with the twist lock inserts. Wonderful, solid, pre drilled for the specific router. I recommend it highly. I also got the template since my previous plate was smaller. I have also been thinking of adding a couple of jointed flat trusses under the table itself to help it stay flat.


I purchased my woodpecker plate 7 years ago and have no sag. I run trition tra001 under it, I own two woodpeckers and a bosch with aluminum plate. The woodpeckers have an anodized finish the bosch is bare aluminum and must be kept clean or will leave black marks. The bosch will bolt up almost anything. It will not bolt up trition,


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