philip sewell
Established Member
Router tables often crop up so I thought people might like to see my set up.
Originally I bought one of those tables where you bolted the router to the underside and the table pivoted for access. I didn’t like it very much and at the time I had the opportunity of buying an old Cooksley spindle moulder off my old employer for £40 so the seed was sewn to convert the spindle into a router table.
This is going back possibly 20 years and I was doing an evening engineering course at a college in Wigston in Leicester.
With access to their machines and some tuition I made all the parts. I had to take the cast iron top into the college to do some machining which was a bit challenging!
A big downside of most router table systems imo is the plunge depth you loose so I removed the router base and replaced it with a disc the router stems fit straight into. The disc sits flush with the spindle table top and I’m not loosing any plunge depth.
I could improve the rise and fall system but the ratchet drive works ok enabling me to reverse rotation and I’m so used to it I can set it up very quickly.
It works an absolute treat. Having the mass of the cast machine and an industrial fence where I can offset the two sides if needed is great. I can remove the fence and I‘ve got a large surface for template work.
If you have some metal working skills and can find a cheap old cast iron spindle moulder it might be worth having a go.
Phil.
tooleypark.com
bespokehandmadeboxes.co.uk
Originally I bought one of those tables where you bolted the router to the underside and the table pivoted for access. I didn’t like it very much and at the time I had the opportunity of buying an old Cooksley spindle moulder off my old employer for £40 so the seed was sewn to convert the spindle into a router table.
This is going back possibly 20 years and I was doing an evening engineering course at a college in Wigston in Leicester.
With access to their machines and some tuition I made all the parts. I had to take the cast iron top into the college to do some machining which was a bit challenging!
A big downside of most router table systems imo is the plunge depth you loose so I removed the router base and replaced it with a disc the router stems fit straight into. The disc sits flush with the spindle table top and I’m not loosing any plunge depth.
I could improve the rise and fall system but the ratchet drive works ok enabling me to reverse rotation and I’m so used to it I can set it up very quickly.
It works an absolute treat. Having the mass of the cast machine and an industrial fence where I can offset the two sides if needed is great. I can remove the fence and I‘ve got a large surface for template work.
If you have some metal working skills and can find a cheap old cast iron spindle moulder it might be worth having a go.
Phil.
tooleypark.com
bespokehandmadeboxes.co.uk
