Router Base Plate

[Bruce Wrenn]

Over the years, I have made dozens of custom base plates, depending upon the need at the time. Most were made from 1/4" polycarbonate (Lexan) of which I have a bunch of scraps, plus a 4X8 sheet left over from a job. My custom, micro adjustable circle jig is made from 3/4" plywood. To locate holes for mounting, first I drill a 1/4" hole, and mount a 1/4" rod in router, and insert into drilled hole. Then using pointed set screws in mounting holes mark hole location on base plates. Drill holes and counter sink for screw heads. I made a jig that allows me to trim base plates within a couple thousandths of square, or turn it almost perfectly round. One base plate was made from 1/2" BB, and it's long enough to span opening opening in cabinets to allow for trimming of edge banding. I have some custom circles that allow me to make various sized corner radius corners. A set of transfer punches from HF allow for transferring factory base plate holes to custom base plates. Bill Hylton's book, ROUTER MAGIC has a several chapters devoted to making custom base plates.

[Johnnie Russell]

I was browsing recently and found these: https://makeawoodsign.com/collection...ic-base-plates

[George Yetka]

Tamars is well though out and useful. But a few different bases may be the ticket. I got the milwaukee cordless palm a little back. Its got a pretty good base about 6" diameter. The colt I had originally seamed to have too small a base as did the dewalt i recently sold. A 6" or 7" round base would be my most used.

[Dan Barber]

I was browsing recently and found these: https://makeawoodsign.com/collection...ic-base-plates

Those bases would be much more useful if they were round in my opinion. Being oval, they would not be practical to use with an edge guide.

[glenn bradley]

I ended up buying a piece of 1/4” plexiglass and plan to make my own. The Woodpecker plate looks awesome but the cost plus shipping in almost as much as what I paid for the router. The 6-1 jig looks great but most of the functions I will never use.

I paid $27 for a 12” by 24” 1/4” thick plexiglass from Amazon and the shipping is free. Hopefully I won’t regret my decision.

In case this helps . . .

Use your original base as a template for hole layout.

Colt Teardrop (1).jpg

I did a stepped hole to accept collars.
Colt Teardrop (3).jpg

The plunge base really makes the Colt what it was destined to be IMHO ;-)
Colt Teardrop (4).jpg

This no longer available one was made by Pat Warner but could give you ideas if you want more stability along with a compact footprint.
Colt-Offset-2.jpg

[Sanford Imhoff]

Woodhaven sells several types of phenolic compact base plates for a decent price. Free shipping.

https://woodhaven.com/collections/trim-router-plates

[Michael Burnside]

Yep, personally I’m a big fan of phenolic.