Router Table Advice

[Dave MacArthur]

so moisture doesn't absorb at diff rates through the two sides, thus producing cupping or warpage. Same reason edgebanding is applied--not just for looks, but for moisture absorption control. Always treat both sides of a board the same for finish if you want to avoid warping. Many folks advocate this approach to cabinet making also (inside of cabinets being finished vs. unfinished).

[Chris Stolicky]

would a peice of hardboard work??
any help would be great.

I recently bought a Jet Proshop TS and am looking at building a router table on the side. I was thinking of using the basic hardboard, with the smooth white side, on the top and bottom of either MDF or plywood (then band with hardwood) rather than messing around with glue and laminate.

Has anyone had any experience with this?

The stuff is designed for use in areas such as laundry rooms so it does have some moisture control properties. You can also easily put a coat of wax on it to ease sliding material.

[Anthony Whitesell]

Did you check at the borgs in the cabinet/kitchen section? The lumber people didn't carry it in their area so HD/Lowe's "did carry it". WHen I asked for the contact cement, they pointed me right to it, and WOW there was the formica, right under the gallon pails of contact cement.

[Jay Jolliffe]

After seeing the Freud router fence in Brent's post are there other router fences that are split so you can adjust one side or the other ?

[Peter Quinn]

Greg, beware. I put my Bosch 1617 in a table, two months later it quit. Turns out they don't use a sealed rocker switch, and the motor creates a little vacuum that sucks fine dust into the switch. Hanging under a table it can go down real quick. Bosch repair man wanted $65 to look at it...found a Bosch 1617 gripe post on line, turns out its real easy to remove, blow out dust, replace. Seems this happens to almost every bosch 1617 owner at some point. Now I keep a kit of metric torx drivers in my router kit for repairs...have had it quit on installs, in the shop, at the beach....also put better under table dust collection in the cabinet. Great router in every way except that switch. Funny cause they really market it as a good table mount too. Check the switch on a PC or Makita router, both used sealed switches, almost look military.

[Travis Gauger]

You want to laminate both top and bottom and edge around the sides because the MDF will act like a sponge and wick moisture out of the air. If you never used your router table (Yeah Right) your MDF would never get a scratch. It's the scratches where it starts to get the moisture in it. My first top was 2 layers of MDF and then masonite on the top. Worked great till spring when I opened up a few windows. Went to use it one day and it was shot. The edges had gotten Fat. New top is actually made out of 2" thick corian counter top material. Got it from a cabinet shop as a cut out too. Went through a few cheap HSS bits milling it out, but it works great now.

[Travis Gauger]

I would stay away from the hardboard top. I used the white covered stuff from lowes that is actually rated to be used as a shower wall, backsplash, or washdown area wall covering. It didn't last at all. The edges swell right up, I couldn't imagine using this stuff anywhere it would really get wet like they state. Look in your yellow pages for a re-store or some kind of a habitat for humanity store. They are often selling used and recycled building materials for cheap. I just picked up 12- 4'X8' sheets of a walnut print laminate for $10. Not a bad score.

[mike thomas01]

Still kind of green ....Could I ask what a "borg" refers to? Is it an acronym or something?
Thanks

[Brad Townsend]

Still kind of green ....Could I ask what a "borg" refers to? Is it an acronym or something?
Thanks

Big Orange Retail Giant. Also, if you are a trekkie, it refers to that big square evil collective entity in Star Trek - The Next Generation that tries to assimilate everything in it's path. A good analogy for Home Depot.

Also, I discovered that some HDs carry laminate and some don't. I have two within twenty miles of me. One has it, the other doesn't.

[Steve Leverich]

Jay, you asked about individual in/out fence adjustments - several do this. I have the Jessem one

http://www.jessem.com/mast_r_fence.htm

and love it. (bought 3, one for each table I'm building)

Tool corral has 'em for $164.99, most everyone else wants $199

http://tool-corral.com/shopsite_sc/s...2517fa46465763

HTH... Steve

[Marc Prudhomme]

what about this table.I have been trying to finout info on another post with no avail.
www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=894

[Ed Howe]

what about this table.I have been trying to finout info on another post with no avail.
www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=894

I have this table, and it has been fine for me as a beginning woodworker. I've pretty much only made picture frames and simple shelves so far but I've been happy with it.

[Wade Lippman]

I used a Bosch 1617 in a table for 2 years. It was okay, but a larger router would be really nice. If you are planning on using the same router in the table and hand, you will get sick of that real fast. Upgrade now, before you make a mistake.

I just built a new table out of 3/4" corian. The one time I tried it (before burning my router up, but that's another thread) it was very sweet.

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Greg, beware. I put my Bosch 1617 in a table, two months later it quit. Turns out they don't use a sealed rocker switch, and the motor creates a little vacuum that sucks fine dust into the switch. Hanging under a table it can go down real quick. Bosch repair man wanted $65 to look at it...found a Bosch 1617 gripe post on line, turns out its real easy to remove, blow out dust, replace. Seems this happens to almost every bosch 1617 owner at some point. Now I keep a kit of metric torx drivers in my router kit for repairs...have had it quit on installs, in the shop, at the beach....also put better under table dust collection in the cabinet. Great router in every way except that switch. Funny cause they really market it as a good table mount too. Check the switch on a PC or Makita router, both used sealed switches, almost look military.

Yep same thing happend to me with the switch. I just took it apart and blew it out. It's funny how people refer to this as a "great router". Oh yeah, except for the switch problems and case corrosion.

[Bill Huber]

Greg, beware. I put my Bosch 1617 in a table, two months later it quit. Turns out they don't use a sealed rocker switch, and the motor creates a little vacuum that sucks fine dust into the switch. Hanging under a table it can go down real quick. Bosch repair man wanted $65 to look at it...found a Bosch 1617 gripe post on line, turns out its real easy to remove, blow out dust, replace. Seems this happens to almost every bosch 1617 owner at some point. Now I keep a kit of metric torx drivers in my router kit for repairs...have had it quit on installs, in the shop, at the beach....also put better under table dust collection in the cabinet. Great router in every way except that switch. Funny cause they really market it as a good table mount too. Check the switch on a PC or Makita router, both used sealed switches, almost look military.

I had this same problem, the key word is had the problem.

Check out these post, I have yet to clean my router and I have been using it a lot more then I ever did in the past. I have even done a bunch of MDF.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=65058

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=69349