a photoblog of what i did today.....

[infinite monkey]

That place, that lake, looks so peaceful...I just want to go there and relax for like a thousand days.

Sheesh I need a vacation.

[chrisinhouston]

Well this is a combination of a few days of work in my garage workshop. I had this older style Ryobi plunge router that I seldom use because I have a nice new Hitachi model and I also had an old metal framed table sitting around so I decided to make a router table that could come in handy should I ever get around to redoing my kitchen and making my own cabinets and doors.

Image 1. The table which I had to cut down in size since it was bigger than the 24 x 32 inch top. I also added some supports for some shelves which will help firm it up.

Image 2. The table with shelves and top in trial positions. I then took it outside and painted it with fresh black spray paint. The top will be 1 sheet of 3/4" birch plywood laminated to 1 3/4" sheet of laminate covered particle board. The laminate makes it easy to slide the stock across it.

Image 3. The insert which is 3/8 aluminum plate and is about 9 x 11 inches. I traced it to a scrap of birch ply and cut that out and then sanded it until the insert plate slid in smoothly. This is my pattern for routing the laminate top.

Image 4. I used construction adhesive spread with a notched trowel and then used just about every clamp in my shop to squeeze them together and left overnight.

[chrisinhouston]

Ok so the next morning I removed all of the clamps. The insert plate came with some pre-drilled holes for non plunge type routers like Porter Cable which are more common but like I said, I had this nice one not being used and it is a more powerful one then my Hitachi. I removed the small cover plate from the bottom of my router and discovered I had room to drill out the holes and tap new ones to allow for a bigger machine screw. I then matched the adapted router base up with the insert plate and drilled holes on my drill press. I went with a nice countersunk machine bold that is tightened with a allen wrench.

1. and 2. Attaching the router base to the insert
3. I added a locking nut so the machine screw can't accidentally vibrate loose.
4. Here is a closeup of the pattern cutting bit on my Hitachi router. I used my sabre saw to cut the area that would not be needed and would leave a lip to be cut with a rabbet. I then clamped my plywood pattern and used the pattern bit to cut the rabbet. The ball bearing above the cutting tips runs along the pattern. It took 2 passes to get the correct depth.

[chrisinhouston]

I purposefully left the lower piece of plywood on the table top slightly larger, about 1/8" and used a longer pattern bit to trim it to get a perfectly smooth edge. Then I attached some 1/2 pine to give a nice solid edge and hide the ugly view of the particle board and plywood. I used glue and my brad nailer to attach it and then used a small rounding bit on my trim router to round off the edge and the corners.

1. Edges attached and smoothed out.
2. Insert plate installed with router attached and bit just protruding.
3. View from underneath showing the router hanging upside down.

[Cyber Wolf]

The IT tech in me said: "Why on earth would someone need to build a whole table for one router?"

Then I saw the last photo and, after 10 seconds on Google, said: "Oh."

Nice handiwork.

[glatt]

look very solid. That will be handy. Now for the fence!

[chrisinhouston]

Thanks, and yes it does have specific use beyond what most hobbyists need such as making the cuts for cabinet doors to be assembled.

I still have to get it wired up with a central safety type switch, add some wheels and construct a fence and a slot for a miter gauge to move along. I'll also probably add some type of vacuum hookup since routers make a lot of fine saw dust.