New Guy Needs Help With First Router Table

[Kevin W Brown]

I'm new on this block. Been watching and reading for years but never posted a message. I've been slowly buying my tools over the last 10 years as I could afford as I remodeled my 1920's home. Now I'm ready to start building cabinets and furniture. I'm going to make my first official router table for my M12V. This is what I came up with. #1. Woodpecker's - Offset router table Top - 27" x 32" , TLR Phenolic Router Mounting Plate and Incra Jig Ultra Lite Router System with making the rest. #2. General-purpose router table Top 24" x 32", Plungelift Router Lift with making the rest. Or should I go another path? All of this is around my price range. If you could add some pictures with your post it would help.

Thanks for all your help

[Brad Hammond]

welcome kevin!
i hope i can offer some help. i went with the woodpecker lift for my m12v i love it! i took 2 pieces of half inch mdf, glued em together and laid some laminate on top. nice flat, smooth table top. the main reason i went this route was due to the left over pieces of 1/2"mdf and the fact that hd had a piece of 2'x4' laminate with a corner broken off on clearance for somethin like 5 bucks.
i'm still in the process of building a good cabinet with a dc outlet and such.

cyall later!

[pat warner]

A simpler option?

You'd have to make it but it is trivial & Spartan, easy to store too.

[Mike Hill]

You may not want to get this complicated, but I am just finishing up one of these. Check it out at http://www.newyankee.com/getproduct3.cgi?0301 Not an easy project, but very rewarding.
Mike

[Joe Trotter]

A simpler option?

You'd have make it but it is trivial & Spartan, easy to store too.

Pat I am curious how the weight of the router affects the table? Isnt there any sag?

Thanks, Joe

[Ralph Okonieski]

Built my own router table a few years ago and equipped with Woodpecker PRL and their table top. I know that is a little different that what you were considering but am very satisfied with mine from Woodpecker. Here are a few pics They were the only ones left; for some reason I deleted the others on the web site? I have no affiliation with Woodpecker, just a satisfied customer.

[glenn bradley]

Hi Kevin,

This will be a fun adventure for you as there are so many options. From my experience, the first thing you'll be looking for after deciding on the top, fence and plate will be dust collection. Others here and I have built cabinets with DC included in the build. You'll want to factor this in while your looking at the table (how's it gonna mount), etc. so you come up with a total solution that you'll enjoy.

[pat warner]

"weight of the router affects the table? "

Two 2-3/4" x 1-1/4" beams straddle the casting full length of table.
The casting is screwed to the table, a mending plate that you can't bend.
Essentially a deflection free package.

[Dennis Hatchett]

[quote=Kevin W Brown][font=Arial] I'm going to make my first official router table for my M12V. This is what I came up with. #1. Woodpecker's - [color=black][u]Offset[/u][/color] router table Top - 27" x 32" , TLR Phenolic Router Mounting Plate and [/font][font=Arial]Incra Jig Ultra Lite Router System with making the rest. #2. [u]General-purpose[/u] router table Top 24" x 32", Plungelift Router Lift with making the rest. Or should I go another path? :confused: All of this is around my price range. If you could add some pictures with your post it would help.[/font] 

Hello Kevin,
I also have the M12V and dedicated it for use in the New Yankee Router table that I built about 5 or 6 years ago. So I thought I'd chime in since we have the same router. I've never had any regrets or disappointments about this setup but I am about to make some changes because there are now some better options available. There are now better face plates, fence designs, and router options that I plan to use in an overhaul of my router table setup.

First, the New Yankee Design is probably the most widely used router table design in the world. They do note it's the most popular design ever produced at their website. This is not the reason to choose a design and you’ll find a lot of shop junkies that wouldn’t consider it just because it is a New Yankee design.(Some of these are friends I affectionately refer to as shop snobs) But it is a good design and a proven one. It's a practical design that is adaptable for a redesigned top as improvements become available and it has plenty of storage. I've been pleased with mine, and the redesign Norm did a few years ago made it even better - especially for dust collection. In my opinion a novice woodworker could produce this table if they just take their time. It would be a challenge, but the plans and video make it pretty simple. It’s available at the New Yankee website.

http://www.newyankee.com/getproduct3.cgi?0301

As for the M12V it has been a good worker. Once you get it mounted with a good drop in face plate it has plenty of power to handle almost anything. I can produce raised panels in one pass on my table but that is pretty hard on the bit. I used to take three passes but I found that power in the M12V is almost never an issue as long as the bit is sharp and the finish is clean. So if you choose to table mount you M12V it is a good choice that will serve you well.

My input for you is mainly as it relates to a router lift. I’ve thought of adding one for years and came close to buying a woodpecker, but it really just isn’t that hard to change bits and adjust the height without it. It would be nice but I haven’t really felt the need to spend the time and money and pull the trigger. If you choose to use the woodpecker as many here have suggested you won’t regret it. Looks like a good system that has satisfied most users. But a router lift is a luxury, IMHO, and not a necessity unless you have back issues that keep you from bending over at all. I actually make a rough height adjustment after mounting the bit and then zero it in and lock it after I put it back in the table. Not a big deal, and I have used the heck out of mine for 5 years this way.

The big news as far as I am concerned are the “new breed” of routers that have been designed for table use. Most routers are primarily designed for hand use and the ability to table mount them is more or less an afterthought. Certainly, the big 3+ horsepower routers are the most appropriate for table use as you seldom need that much power for treating an edge. But they are based on a hand operated design.

There is a very good article in the February 2007 Fine Woodworking issue that looks at these new routers and reviews their strengths and weaknesses. Since I haven’t used or even seen these routers in use I am not making a recommendation. I would just point you to the article so you could make an educated choice. They review seven routers with above table adjustment ability. The adjustment versatility ranges widely in these new routers and some make it impossible to change bits without lifting the router out of the table. I guess you could call these models hybrids. That defeats the purpose in my opinion – kind of like an ejection seat without a parachute. Why go to all the trouble?

Fine Woodworking magazine recommended the Triton MOFOO1KC because bits can be changed from above the table while it is still mounted below, and it is easy to adjust the bit height with a little hand crank that is not unlike the adjusting wrench for the router lifts I’ve seen.

I must tell you that this sounds like an interesting option - router lift capabilities from an in table router without the lift. All this for about $200. So for the price of a good quality router lift you get a router lift capable router. And that would also free up my M12V for hand use. I’m probably going to get one of these soon if I can find some positive user feedback on the forum boards.

The only concern I have is that it is a 2.25 horse router. I hope it has the power I sometimes require for intense table applications, and I may wait for a 3 horse version. But I’ll bet we see a bunch of these dedicated table design routers in the future. I’d like to see woodpecker come up with their own router design like SawStop did for the table saw market. For the record, I have no commercial interest in any product I’ve mentioned.

Has any one else had experience with the Triton mentioned above?

Good Luck, Dennis

[Kevin W Brown]

I appreciate all of your help. Is it bettter to use an Incra fence setup or go with a general purpose fence setup like Norms?

Thanks Kevin W Brown

[glenn bradley]

Is it better to use an Incra fence setup or go with a general purpose fence setup like Norms? Thanks Kevin W Brown

I feel a whole sub-thread coming on:

I use a standard Rockler fence. They're reasonably priced ($60 with a guard) and reasonably accurate. There are others in a similar price range from MLCS ($95) and Woodpecker ($110) and up.

To my mind the time and materials to build my own v.s. $60 put me to the Rockler. Your fence will obviously effect how your table accepts the fence; slots, tracks, outside edge clamps, etc.

Like I said, this could be a whole sub-thread. If you're going with a lift, some lift fence combinations from the same vendor have advantages. To thin the herd try to pick a function/price point that makes sense for you and look at the options that fit that requirement. You can also check this thread:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=49665

Enjoy!

[Gary Keedwell]

Looks like Fine Woodworking has hit the proverbial nail on the head! Went to the Woodworks Show yesterday and Triton had already sold out of their 2 1/4 router. The seller mentioned the buyers commenting about FWW article as a deciding factor.

Fence systems were drawing the crowds but lifts were not faring well where I could see. I kept going back to the JessEm display and it wasn't drawing hardly anybody. ( to my dismay, they were just standing around and no one was demonstrating). I went back later in the day and talked to one of the JessEm guys and he wondered out loud why the fence guys were drawing the crowds.
Oh, by the way, I sure was impressed by Steel Cities table saw.

Gary K.

[Dennis Hatchett]

 
Looks like Fine Woodworking has hit the proverbial nail on the head! Went to the Woodworks Show yesterday and Triton had already sold out of their 2 1/4 router. The seller mentioned the buyers commenting about FWW article as a deciding factor.

Thanks for the report Gary. Did they have a demo of the Triton? What did you think? Since my last post I found a 3.25 horsepower version of the triton. They have a video posted of the 2.25 horsepower model at the WoodCraft website but nothing on the big one.

They say that both of these routers have great table mount capabilities but I can't determine if the 3.25 horse version comes with the above the table crank capabilities like the router lifts have. It's not mentioned in the accessory list like it is with the smaller version.

Does anybody have one of these Tritons mounted under a table? What is it like. The only person to comment on this thread wasn't as pleased with the Triton.

[Jameel Abraham]

I made several router tables over the course of the last few years, and each and every one of them went the way of the dodo. I tried the kind that mounts to the table saw fence, with the router hanging under extension wing. No good. You can't use both tools at once. I tried a stand alone unit manufactured by a well known manufacturer, trashed that one. I finally hunkered down and decided to spend quality time and make a real one with micro adjustment and solid, beefy construction. I did quite a bit of research, and decided that I could spend the least amount of money (mostly on some nice handles and hardware) by making one from scratch. I picked one of Pat Warner's designs. A few years ago he had a real top-notch dial-indicator equipped unit in FWW, but I decided to combine some aspects of this fence with his single-point pivoting idea from one of his books. This table and fence have stood up to over 5 years of use without missing a beat. I highly recommend you built one of Pat's designs. It's very versatile, and SOLID. I absolutely love mine. Finishing MDF with a drying oil and wax also makes a very very nice work surface for the router table itself. I'm using mine with a Bosch 1617 EVS, but I'd go with Pat's recommendation of using the big porter cable unit. Spend the extra time NOW and you won't have to ever make another router table again.

[Quesne Ouaques]

The only concern I have is that it is a 2.25 horse router. I hope it has the power I sometimes require for intense table applications, and I may wait for a 3 horse version. But I’ll bet we see a bunch of these dedicated table design routers in the future. I’d like to see woodpecker come up with their own router design like SawStop did for the table saw market. For the record, I have no commercial interest in any product I’ve mentioned.

Has any one else had experience with the Triton mentioned above?

Good Luck, Dennis

I have the 2 1/4 HP Triton and I think it's great. I use it exclusively under one of my tables. It has plenty of power for what I need to do, and the features make it a great table router.

The only disadvantage I can see -- and this is only for hand-held routing -- is that it does not have a built-in light to illuminate the work area.

As for router tables, I have three but they are pretty much basic models, nothing to write home about. One is a Craftsman "Professional" aluminum table with a very good matching aluminum fence. The other other two are melamine tables with structural foam fences.

I've used the aluminum table for years, and it's basically a good table. I need to keep it well waxed, though, if I want my work to slip unhindered. My only complaint is the inserts are not really zero clearance, which makes it hard to do precision work. I am in the process of fabricating some inserts from leftover laminate flooring material.

The "Curtain Fence" table looks very interesting to me. I would be interested in hearing some people's comments on it.