# Veritas table top experience?



## joel74 (Jan 21, 2011)

I'm still weighing my options for buying vs. building a router table. 

Option 1: The Veritas steel plate Router Table Top has caught my eye and peaked my interest. Do any of you have first-hand experience with this product? 

It's a little smaller (16" x 24") than I'd like my table to be so I'd probably drop it into a home-built larger MDF top. Would this pose problems with keeping the surfaces flush over time? Does this rather thin (3/16") top remain flat over time? I'd be clamping a heavy 3-1/4 hp Makita router to it. Would the steel top benefit from a few wood struts under it?

Option 2: Another option I'm strongly considering is to use the Veritas round Insert Plate in a home-made table due mostly to their quick router-clamping system. Seems that it would be easy to remove the router for hand held use and not have to dedicate it to the table and buy a second router. Also, this way I'd be able to use the Woodpecker fence – my favorite – with T-Tracks I'd install in my own top. 

Any info/thoughts on these options will be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Joel


----------



## chickenslippers (Nov 25, 2008)

Hi Joel,
I have recently built my own table using the veritas table insert. I am lucky enough to have another router for my hand held jobs but the veritas plate does remove from the table as easily as advertised.

I took great care in reading then re-reading the instructions several times before the install. I had to go and buy a set of imperial drill bits also, as mine were all metric being as I live in the UK.

A downside to the plate is the insert sizes, looking at some forum members tables they have insert plates that have openings up to 3.5inches the Veritas is only 1.75inches if I remember correctly.If you drilled the insert opening you void the warranty, as told to me by the Veritas help line. The veritas guide bushes seem to be quite expensive here in the UK.

Hope this helps,

Cheers, Si


----------



## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

joel74 said:


> I'm still weighing my options for buying vs. building a router table.
> 
> Option 1: The Veritas steel plate Router Table Top has caught my eye and peaked my interest. Do any of you have first-hand experience with this product?
> 
> ...


I have had one of the Veritas tops for 10 years at least and one of my uncles, who is a professional woodworker, also has one. It will remain flat forever, no matter which router you put under it. It comes with instructions for a wooden frame that you can build to set it on or you could install it in a larger table but keep in mind that it is a bit heavy. Routers install/uninstall from it in a minute or two. There is a set of tables inserts/guides available for it and you chuck a centre pin to line everything up for pinpoint accuracy before you clamp the router down. Obviously, the downside is that you can't put a slot in the table. I got around that by building a mitre guide that slides along the edge of the table instead. You can buy a fence from Lee Valley that has fine adjustment capability or you can build a fence that you clamp to the table and make fine adjustments with a hammer.
I like the top but I also built one out of melamine coated particleboard that has grooves and T-tracks which I also like. Both have their good points. On the one I made, if I want to use it handheld, I usually just use it table insert still attached. There really is no clear winner here.


----------



## montanaprefinish (Feb 1, 2011)

Hi Joel-

I had the same dillema for quite awhile. I do want to build my own table eventually, but would rather spend time building other projects with a router table right now. I was discouraged to find that by the time I spent $ on a table, fence, plate, and lift I'd be spending a small fortune. I then found the Grizzly table ($130) and the MCLS table ($189). Both include a fence and plate. The Grizzly even has a nice looking stand to go along with it. They are both nice size tables as well. I ended up buying the MCLS table because Grizzly was out of stock until early March. I opted for the aluminum plate with the MCLS table vs the phenolic because some reviews stated that the phenolic plate had some inherent flex. The phenolic plate combo is $169.00.

It would be tough to build a table with eveything included for these prices. They are both thick tops as well. Putting a new Triton in mine which has its own lift. Total cost for a fairly sweet and complete router table is $389.00


----------



## lynxsg (Jul 27, 2009)

*Veritas router table*

Answering your question ("It's a little smaller (16" x 24") than I'd like my table to be so I'd probably drop it into a home-built larger MDF top. Would this pose problems with keeping the surfaces flush over time?") …


The Veritas table top is slightly curved, and is not flat. It would not work well set into a larger top.

Steve


----------



## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Router Forums - View Single Post - Best Base Plate

Router Forums - View Single Post - Help Me Design My Router Table

http://www.routerforums.com/attachm...eed-table-incra-ls-positioner-picture-006.jpg

==


----------



## annaatkins (Nov 30, 2011)

chickenslippers said:


> Hi Joel,
> I have recently built my own table using the veritas table insert. I am lucky enough to have another router for my hand held jobs but the veritas plate does remove from the table as easily as advertised.
> 
> I took great care in reading then re-reading the instructions several times before the install. I had to go and buy a set of imperial drill bits also, as mine were all metric being as I live in the UK.
> ...


Thanks a lot for sharing your experience with us. I was thinking of using veritas as well. Nice to know how it works!


----------



## bosham (May 3, 2011)

*Veritas steel plate Router Table Top*



joel74 said:


> I'm still weighing my options for buying vs. building a router table.
> 
> Option 1: The Veritas steel plate Router Table Top has caught my eye and peaked my interest. Do any of you have first-hand experience with this product?
> 
> ...


JOEL, G'DDAY FROM WESTPORT NEW ZEALAND.

I purchased the Veritas steel table top complete with their clamp 2nd hand on our "Trademe" down here a couple of years ago now and made my own 'furniture' to hold it. I have a Hitachi M12V router which is much the same hp as your Makita.

The plastic inserts were a bit 'used' so I e-mailed Veritas to get the price for a couple of new ones and also asked for a copy of the manual. I was very impressed with their service as by next morning they had replied with a pdf of the manual and that they had popped a couple of inserts in the post .. free.

Even more impressed with the plate and clamps ..... I assembled a whole cabinet to take the plate. Used a thick bit of MDF faced with 'Formica' for the top which I sank the Steel plate in. The top is hinged so I can adjust the Router for depth and removal. Either side are sliding drawers to hold Router hardware. Safety switch is attached to one end and the whole is mounted on castors for shoving around the Workshop.

I can take the Router out in less than half a minute and put it back, perfectly aligned in a minute.

Adjusting or replacing the Router bit caused pause for thought as to whether to put in a remote lift unit but at the end of the day I didnt and have found little problem in adjusting the bit. I dont do an excessive amount of work as its strictly hobby stuff so 'quick' isn't really needed.

The Veritas Square plate top, with Clamps is absolutely first class stuff as is my wonderful Hitachi M12V ... 

Then it comes to jigs ...... made those myself too. Attached a channel bar across the front of the table and just slot in the sledge which extends full width across the table top. For jobs which require 'clear height' another channel bar attached to the top of the 'Fence' allows another jig to slide parallel to the fence. Sure I would love to have the "Manufactured" items but what I have made does a satisfactory job and all in all the table has cost me NZ$ 600 including the Veritas gear....and great satisfaction cobbling it together ... a nice simple job.

David


----------



## bosham (May 3, 2011)

Photos of my table are in my posts eleswhere in Router Forums....... a few additions since they were posted but shows well the idea.


----------

