Router tables

[Anonymous]

Can anyone please recommend a good router table, I have a budget of £400 so I would hope to be able to find a good quality model. The only ones that I have seen in the flesh are from the Trend range and they appear rather plasticy to me, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Richard

 

[Charley]

Hi Richard,

There’s alot of decent router tables you can get for that budget. Yesterday I was at my local woodworking store and I had a look at the Record RPMSR, It seemed very well made with a good fence, cast iron top and a smooth running sliding carridge. When I got back I had a quick look for a better price and found D&M tools selling it for £279 (
http://www.dm-tools.co.uk/store/newsear ... le&level=2 )

I currently have the Porter Cable table from rutlands with is again very well made and sturdy but as I use it all the time, I want something bigger. I was going to build one like Norm's (newyankee.com) when I move to a bigger workshop but now I've seen the Record I might go for that.

Rutlands have a good selection of router tables: http://www.rutlands.co.uk/cgi-bin/psPro ... ::1,0,0,1::

Are there any tool shops near you? It will be worth seeing the models you like the look of in the flesh.

You also have the option of building one yourself. You can find some plans and get some ideas from this site: http://dai.butt.tripod.com/magicframeset.html

 

[Anonymous]

Many thanks, a great help. And what a great website!
Richard

 

[The Wizard]

I have to agree that the only way to go is a self built unit. I bought a Trend Craftsman II table which has served me well as a novice and, although I am still noviceish (is that a proper word? :? , I don't think so), I will be building a router table using a rout-R-lift unit or similar so I can adjust the height from above the table. This seems like a great option for me albeit I have never had the benefit of a fine height adjustment device on my T5.

Regards

Chris aka The Wizard

PS Charley, there appears to be two threads running on this subject, can you amalgamate them and if not, joing them will do. :lol:

 

[Charley]

Many thanks, a great help. And what a great website!
Richard

No problem and thank you

PS Charley, there appears to be two threads running on this subject, can you amalgamate them and if not, joing them will do. :lol:

Afraid not. I can 'split' a topic but for some reason you can't join one :?

 

[Anonymous]

With respect to self-build, I've been looking at the 'Routalift' unit that Axminster sell. I saw it on 'The Workshop That John Built' on TV. It looks like a good item to use in a self build router table. A bit pricey at £164. I would still need to buy a rip fence and mitre attachment seperately.

Richard

 

[Anonymous]

make this fence for peanuts

http://www.patwarner.com/routerfence.html


its really good


aleks

 

[Anonymous]

Can anyone please recommend a good router table

A Woodrat or LittleRat. Then you won't need a router table. Or a dovetail jig. Or a tenon jig. Or a morticer (at a pinch). Or - well, you get the idea.

Cheers, Jester

 

[sawdustalley]

dont mention the rat :twisted:

 

[Anonymous]

why???


aleks

 

[Charley]

The rat ain't that bad :wink: Although I've never used one I'm much happier with my router table but you never know when I get a 'free wall' the rat might be added to my tools list :twisted:

Seriously though Richard, I forgot to mention the rat. It might be worth you having a look at it ( www.woodrat.com ) I've seen it in action a couple of times at the woodworking shows and its a clever bit of kit.

 

[Charley]

Got my good woodworking magazine today they've done 5 tests on router tables including the record RPMS-R! They gave it 4 for value and 4 for performance.

 

[johnelliott]

They gave it 4 for value and 4 for performance.

I'm sure you meant to tell us what that score was out of?

John

 

[Anonymous]

They gave it 4 for value and 4 for performance.

I'm sure you meant to tell us what that score was out of?

John

Five

None of them got "Best on Test" which was a bit telling, I thought.

Cheers, Jester

 

[Charley]

They gave it 4 for value and 4 for performance.

I'm sure you meant to tell us what that score was out of?

John

Yes that would help wouldn't it.. Its out of 5..... As Jester said non of them got the "Best on Test" award :?

 

[Anonymous]

hi took 6 months looking at router tables ryobi ok but heavey and rusts up ,, £200 chaepest i found
triton .. i thought it was a bit inflexible ..
dewalt de2000 looked good but couldnt find one to try out
ended up with trent prt new one ...
i think its great fits in my van made skirtings etc done some heavy work ...
buy a 1/2" extension piece .. its worth it ..
have fun
karl

 

[The Wizard]

Just seen the "RAT" for the first time at Stoneleigh :shock: When first demonstrated I thought " this seems a bit complicated!" :? however, after 20 mins or so, I was beginning to get the idea and I must admit that it appeals to me 8) . No jigs to buy, all the fancy joints you can think of and a few you can't. I get the impression that this would be a tool you need to work with but once mastered, could offer a lot for a relatively low investment and not a huge amount of space. Am I missing something? Has anyone got any views they would like to share?

Wiz

 

[Anonymous]

Been drewlin over this for a while but i been flexin me plastic a bit hard recently .copy paste n dewl been told £25 for delivery http://www.machines4wood.com/index.cfm/ ... 9e9b650cec

 

[Noel]

Always admired that table. Mark Somerfield designed it for CMT some years ago. It was near £500 when it originally came out and although there is newer model on the way I think it still represents good value. wish I could afford/justify it. There was a test on it some time ago in one of the comics, a US one I think. I'll try and dig it out. Let me know if you want details on it.

Rgds
Noel

 

[Anonymous]

Lo me again just a thought with prices as they are by the time you set up a good router table with a nice router , fence , height adjustment and all the other bits and pieces its close to the price of a spindle moulder . I know it seens like a scarey bit of kit but its nice to have if you got the room and it leaves your router free . BTW dust extraction on RT's is vital if you plan on using a cheap router as dust gets straight into the bearings and before you know it your thinking whats that burning smell ,why's that router stopped . Killed 2 routers in my B&D workmate budget RT . But took em both back say what a pile of s*@t they were ,after 2 died i want my cash back .Poor sales guy :roll: