Router Bench

[billw]

Router plate in.

I've just routed out the t-track grooves, I stopped short of where I needed to be (playing safe!) so I need to chisel out the last bits on both sides. Depth seems ok but I used a 19mm bit an the track is 3/4" to it's a tight fit widthwise. I'll just hammer it in and glue it down.

Things left to do include rewiring the router to put the NVR in, make a small box for housing it and then attack to one of the legs. I'll add a few hooks and things to hold the depth control rod, the spanner, and the other collet.

After that I guess it's pretty much done but I might add a couple of drawers into the space at the bottom which can store router bits. Seems a sensible use of the gap.

Couple of layers of shellac for the ply and Osmo for the valchromat and job's a good-ish-un.

 

[billw]

Oh - I need a fence too. Struggling to decide on a design though, well also choice of materials.

 

[mikej460]

Splendid job that man!

 

[Peter Sefton]

Looks very smart!

 

[Spectric]

What that now requires is an LS positioner as shown by the dutch woodworker

 

[Doug B]

Looking good so far Bill.

I opted for a piece of aluminium angle for my fence, I cut slots for adjustable MDF sacrificial fences & a dust port.

It needed a little attention to get it perfectly square but once it was I sprayed it black & made a MDF housing to hold the extractor hose

I drilled two holes either side of the dust port in the base of the the fence which allows backwards & forwards movement via slots in the table.
It’s a good few years old now & ive replaced the sacrificial mdf fences a time or two which was to be expected but all in all it’s worked very well.
Here it is in use.

 

[billw]

Looks very smart!

The Incra stuff is great too Peter, the plate is absolutely superb. Would never have coped without the template though!

Expect an order for some mitre track in the near future!

 

[billw]

What that now requires is an LS positioner as shown by the dutch woodworker

Haha yeah I did look at that but £££££££££ and would have meant having one large bench instead of the separate units I plumped for in the end. I could fix the two together easily enough, but as I will reveal in a later post there's a reason that wouldn't quite work at the moment.

 

[billw]

Looking good so far Bill.

I opted for a piece of aluminium angle for my fence, I cut slots for adjustable MDF sacrificial fences & a dust port.

I drilled two holes either side of the dust port in the base of the the fence which allows backwards & forwards movement via slots in the table.
It’s a good few years old now & ive replaced the sacrificial mdf fences a time or two which was to be expected but all in all it’s worked very well.
Here it is in use.

Yes I fancy a similar design although might just use ply for the frame and some valchromat for the faces, I have plenty lying around that needs using. I also wanted to build in a t-track on the front face to hold things like a perspex protection plate and feather boards.

Also seen some handy things (maybe @mikej460 ) like having a holder on the back of the fence for tools, or some slots for commonly used router bits.

 

[Ruffdog64]

Nice job,I’m in the process of building mine but having trouble finding the screws to hold the router to the plate, any ideas where might find some?

 

[Silent-impact]

Nice, where did you get your valchromat from? I am trying to find some in the midlands but all suppliers seem to be in London

 

[billw]

Nice job,I’m in the process of building mine but having trouble finding the screws to hold the router to the plate, any ideas where might find some?

My plate came with the screws, as it's specifically designed for the router.

 

[billw]

Nice, where did you get your valchromat from? I am trying to find some in the midlands but all suppliers seem to be in London

Avonply were by far and away the cheapest supplier, although I arranged my own transport as they wanted £125+VAT and I booked an online service for under £55 inc VAT.

Sydenhams Plywood & Panel Products (formerly Avon Plywood) Stocks

 

[billw]

Grooves routed and chiselled square at the end.

Track fitted. Luckily there's two batons under the top where the track goes so I can just screw it in securely. The router plate looks recessed because there's a separate supporting rim that sits underneath it which isn't in place in this photo.

What happens when you lift the router out before it's fully stopped spinning, and it makes you jump. Lesson learned.

I'll probably do the same thing as I will with the groove on the vertical panel, just cut around the error to make a square section ten drop a filler piece in. It'll be noticeable but not a problem.

Or I might just leave it there because it doesn't really matter.

 

[eribaMotters]

I'm not sure how much/if any of this is relevant. Router table and box
I've been using this for many years now and apart from a groove running along the length of the table I cannot really think of anything I would change.

Colin

 

[mikej460]

Nice job,I’m in the process of building mine but having trouble finding the screws to hold the router to the plate, any ideas where might find some?

If there are no screws supplied with the insert plate you could use the screws that secure the router plate to the router (you attach the router to the insert plate with the router plate removed). If your insert plate is thicker than your router plate then try eBay once you've worked out the size you need. I've just ordered longer counter sunk machine screws for a circle cutting template I'm making.

 

[mikej460]

duplicate response deleted

 

[mikej460]

I'll probably do the same thing as I will with the groove on the vertical panel, just cut around the error to make a square section ten drop a filler piece in. It'll be noticeable but not a problem.

Mix a load of that 'Purple Haze' with a bit of wood glue and slap it in Bill

 

[mikej460]

Lovely table Bill, nice drawers Colin

 

[billw]

Mix a load of that 'Purple Haze' with a bit of wood glue and slap it in Bill

Oh god I don't know how long I spent vacuuming it up today. It's everywhere. I'm going to have to remove everything off the cleats and clean them.