Advice on router table

[diviy]

I picked up a table yesterday it is a Router table for the craftsman made by Trend .
The feather board is a thin metal strip curved would I be better of fitting slotted feather boards also anyone got this table and can recommend any other mods to it .
The only other job is to redrill two holes for fixing router to plate

Cheers Gerry

 

[Glynne]

I used to own one of these a few years ago.
Your "Spring clips" are hold downs so for keeping your stock flat on the table. The work OK in terms of keeping the wood down but not as good as traditional feather boards in terms of sideways movement so you need to ensure your stock stays against the fence (which you should be doing anyway).
I didn't like the fence, especially the adjustable push out bit designed for when you are edge planing. I drilled 4 holes and permanently bolted some flat MDF instead, wrecks the dust extraction but is far more accurate.
I very rarely used the mitre slot as even with the graduations on the fence sliders, it is difficult to get your fence completely parallel to the slot so I used a push block directly against the fence. You also need to ensure that the extension tables and inserts are level and don't catch on the stock as you move it through.
Sorry if all of this sounds a bit negative but I used the table for several years and managed to produce some good results so certainly worth experimenting with. I'm not sure if you have any lift mechanism for your router. I made a Heath Robinson contraption with a car jack and used this which was surprisingly accurate and there are other threads on alternatives.

 

[Cordy]

Same as Glynne
Not Brill but workable
I fitted Machine Mart car jack which works fine
Some wonder if it will damage router bottom ? been OK so far after a couple of years light use

Hitachi router

 

[diviy]

cheers guys only starting out again the bed and side plate are perfectly flat would be be better building a custom new fence . I am waiting for some threaded bar coming to build a height adjuster for it .I can afford a new table but it was cheap plus I had a few other goodies in the job lot .
But I think it will be a good way to get back into bench routing if anyone got any good links into building a a new fence and feather boards that would be really appreaciated .

Gerry