Freud FT2000 into a Trend PRT router table - DRILLING!

[sammy.se]

Hi All!

I recently bought a Trend PRT router table (from a very helpful member of this forum) and now I am looking for a suitable router to go in it.

A relative of mine who is a kitchen fitter has kindly given me an old Freud FT2000 router, which seems a good router to have as my first bit of kit in that table.

The thing is, the Trend PRT doesn't have holes that match the Freud router - so I know that drilling is required.

I would rather drill the router since that was free to me, and not the more expensive router table.

SO, my question to you all is: What is the best way I should go about drilling the router base to fit the trend table? I tried searching the forum already, but found no suitable answers.

If someone can provide me some steps to drilling the router base accurately to fit pre-drilled holes in a table, that would be really appreciated. The plate from the router table is removable by the way.

Thank you!

Sammy

 

[Shrubby]

The base of the router should have threaded holes in it, drill the insert plate to match these. Drilling the router base is a can of worms as they are usually hollow die castings.
Matt

 

[sammy.se]

thanks Matt - so you think the better thing to do here is drill the router table plate? I'm only reluctant because the router table was a pricey bit of kit and the router was a freebie... was hoping for an alternative to drilling the table.
The insert plate forms most of the table - it's not a small centre section...

 

[Roughcut]

Yep drill the insert plate for the router hole locations.
A few more holes in the plate won't do any harm or affect it's use.

 

[sammy.se]

Thanks guys. Will let you know how I get on.

 

[LJM]

The hole on that router are not the easiest to draw out, not being evenly spaced around the centre. Perhaps you could download the Router Raizer installation manual, in which you will find a template for the drilling?

 

[Alf Beharie]

I have the Trend Craft Pro Mk3 router table, which has a 6mm thick, black-anodised Aluminium "insert plate", sitting flush in the laminate table top. The plate was manufactured with several pre-drilled holes in it, obviously to suit various Trend and Dewalt routers, but sadly not the Freud/Casals FT2000. My solution was to rotate the inverted FT2000 slightly clockwise until its baseplate securing holes were clear of any of the pre-drilled holes and then I accurately marked where to drill the three new holes using the plastic baseplate cover off the router and a hole punch, taking special care to make sure it was centred correctly. Then I drilled the holes in stages up to the necessary 6mm clearance using a Lidl sourced drill stand fitted with an old Black & Decker variable speed 650 Watt Hammer drill, and then carefully countersunk them afterwards, also using the latter. The final step was to re-black the now bright silver Aluminium inside the countersinks with a black marker pen. I fitted the FT2000 with the three black M6 screws supplied with the table. Jobs a good-un!

 

[sammy.se]

Hi Guys, Thanks for the replies. So, in the end, i simply pulled out the plate, and put the router on it, making sure the new holes I would be making were not near the pre-drilled ones (but rotating as mentioned above). I then drilled using HSS bits and a countersink and it all went well! The router bit is a few mm off centre unfortunately., but that's not a big deal - i'm working around that.

That template idea is good! wish I had though of that before doing this a few months back

 

[pcb1962]

The router bit is a few mm off centre unfortunately., but that's not a big deal - i'm working around that.

If you want to have another go at it you can fill the existing holes with car body filler - Isopon P38 or similar. That's what I did with my plate that was drilled for a different router.