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Sliding Router Table Gloat
Last year, I acquired this old Mini-Max T3 sliding table shaper at a local shop with a basement full of old machines in divers states of disrepair. My father and I had, for a while, been interested in buying or converting a cast-iron table for router-table use, because of its superior flatness and vibration-dampening qualities. We'd considered Bench Dog's cast-iron table and lift, but before you've even considered a router you're already closing on $1,000. When we came across the Mini-Max, it had a motor, but no electrical parts, no spindle, no quill, no pulleys or belts. We briefly considered rebuilding it as a shaper, but decided to convert it to a router table, as we had long been planning. As a bonus, it came with a sliding table that was in excellent working condition. We negotiated it down to a fair price and got it home.
There were challenges, however, in turning the shaper table into a router table. Space was limited underneath the table and between the table's structural cast-iron ribbing. We wanted to use a powerful, 3 1/4hp router, making it more difficult to find a router and lift that were compatible and also fit in the space available. After extensive research, we determined that none of the available router lifts (JessEm, Bench Dog, Rockler, MLCS, Woodpeckers, Pinnacle, etc.) would both accommodate a large router and fit in the space beneath the table. We did, however, determine that the Router Raizer lift (far less expensive than conventional router lifts) would work, though it required a plunge router. Searching for a 3 1/4hp plunge router that would fit in the router-table opening limited our options greatly, and turned up only two routers , the DeWalt DW625 and the Fein RT-1800, that met the requirements. Fein no longer makes or supports the RT-1800, and I found a new DW625 on eBay for less than retail, so I rung it up.
The router plate presented further difficulties. Like all shapers that I'm aware of, the MM table features a round opening, with a small, concentric, ~3/8" x 3/8" ledge inside the opening circumference. A 3/8"-thick router plate would sit very nicely on that ledge, but all router plates, to my knowledge, are made rectangular. So we bought a basic, 3/8"-thick aluminum router plate and cut and ground it perfectly circular and to precise diameter. With minimal shimming (the dimensions on the Italian-made MM are metric), the plate now fit snugly.
After boring and countersinking chamfered holes in the router plate, and after configuring the Raizer for use with the DW625, the router and plate were dropped into the table opening. Firing up the router for the first time, it quickly became clear that this router table was superior to any I'd ever used before. (I'd argue that it's probably superior to any that I've ever seen before.) Sitting in the heavy, cast-iron table, the router ran dead smooth. Moreover, the MM table is extremely flat; in fact it's the flattest surface in my shop, which is reassuring when making precision setups and cuts. And the sliding table has revolutionized my approach to routing. It's far superior to any coping sled I've used. It's very heavy with plenty of its own inertia, yet it glides so smoothly, so you can push through a heavy or light cut without the router pushing it around. You can even safely perform climb cuts, profiling the end of a workpiece or routing tenons with ease. I've even used it to precision-machine slots in wood and aluminum. The slider has opened up possibilities for routing that I'd never considered before.
If you prefer routers to shapers (for any number of reasons) but you've always wanted the enhanced weight and stability of a heavy, dead-flat table for routing, I would highly recommend going this route, especially if you're going to be buying a router or already have one, and if you're already planning to spend the considerable time and money it takes to build a semi-respectable router table.
