How flat should a router table insert plate be?

[skiskool]

I recently bought a small benchtop router table from Axminster (http://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-pr ... uter-table). The table itself, and the accessories are fine and certainly do their job, but the insert plate was rubbish and sagged by a couple of millimetres when mounted with a Trend T11. I went back to the shop, and was told that it sagged due to the size of the router, in a "that's just how it is" sense. So I bought a UJK 6mm plate, and associated hss bits that were big enough to drill all the holes/countersinks. I've just finished fitting the new plate - using a light behind my straight edge to level it. Once I was happy that all of the corners were level I checked at various points and found that there was a gap around the middle of a bit less than 1mm - on the long axis of the plate. There is a small gap too across the centre of the short axis, but it's less than the other axis, maybe around 1/2mm.

So my question to those of you who know what you're talking about, is "Is this amount of deviation from absolute flatness normal?". Am I being unrealistic to expect an absolutely flat plate? How flat are your table tops? Are you in feeler gauge territory to measure the gap or do you accept about a millimetre of deflection?

Cheers,
Ste

 

[Ian]

I have the incra router lift which has a 3/8" plate, when I received it unpacked and installed it was badly bowed. Contacted them and it was a bit are you sure what straight edge are you using and all this rubbish. Well they were going to look into it but after a day or so it straightened up quite a bit. I put this down to being in storage in a far away land for a long time. Ok so to your question - less than 1mm say 0.5mm is ok as this is what mine is like.

To be honest I think you are not going to get a perfectly flat one and the problem is all the sales rubbish that they will never sag and are perfect - well nothing is perfect!!

Take it back and bring your straight edge and don't buy until you get a flat one.

Ian

 

[custard]

It's not just the sagging of the insert plate that's an issue, think what this implies for the orientation of the router bit itself , if the insert plate is sagging it's unlikely the bit will be perfectly vertical.

Not really a problem if all you're doing is running off some moulding, but what happens if you're trying to cut tenons for example on the router table? If the bit isn't vertical then the shoulders won't be tight. Copy routing would be impossible to do accurately and using a complex bit like a lock mitre cutter would become frustratingly hit and miss.

 

[Baldhead]

Ste

I am not an expert, but it would seem to me that if the insert plate isn't strong enough then the table is not fit for it's designed use, therefore you could have claimed a full refund, that is what I would have done.

Baldhead

 

[Eric The Viking]

I'm with baldhead on this - they don't work well unless the table is flat.

I've got an aluminium plate (older Axminster one), and it's fine (decently flat) with a T11.
Anyway, the T11 ought to weigh less than a T10

 

[skiskool]

Thanks chaps.

I think I can live with it for now. I've wasted enough time setting the two plates up now, so think I'll just compensate where necessary. I did a couple of sliding dovetails yesterday, and know how to correct for it. Baldhead, I would have taken the whole lot back, but I like the cabinet and fences and other bits, it was only the plate that I had a problem with, so rather than being totally without a table I just got a replace plate instead.

If it becomes an issue in the future, then maybe that will be the push to build my own table and spend a bit more on a quality flat plate

Cheers
Ste

 

[Tony Spear]

Thanks chaps.


If it becomes an issue in the future, then maybe that will be the push to build my own table and spend a bit more on a quality flat plate

Cheers
Ste

I can't at the moment remember who, but somebody on here had a number of properly engineered inserts made a year or two back.

May be worth doing a search?