Which router for cast iron table?

[porker]

Hi,
I have recently acquired a Charnwood W015 cast iron router table. My plan was to put my old aging Erbauer 1/2" router in this as I have also recently bought an Hitachi M12VE as my new hand router. Unfortunately at this point the Erbauer router developed serious runout issues and is essentially unusable, so I am looking for a 1/2" router for the router table. It will be dedicated to this task so I don't have to consider hand use. The cast table though won't permit height adjustment from the top and I don't want to drill a hole in the cast iron top. Has anybody got a similar table and which router do they use?

I have looked at the Triton TRA001 and another Hitachi M12VE as candidates. I don't want to go much over £200 but wondered how easy the Triton is to use from underneath the table for height adjustment? I know the spring can easily be removed but I won't be able to benefit from the features from above.

Matt

 

[MikeJhn]

Why do you not want to drill a hole to facilitate height adjustment? It is so much easier than lifting a cast iron table, or getting underneath and fiddling about, the problem with the Triton is the interlock on the switch, which means you have to get underneath the table to disengage the lock when changing bits.

I have the Hitachi M12VE in my router table, but in a lift, its the perfect router for my needs, shame your table does not have an insert facility.

Mike

 

[porker]

I suppose I could drill a hole. The way this table works is that the whole top pivots up on gas struts so getting at the router is probably easier than fiddling around underneath in a conventional way. I hadn't thought about the interlock though so thanks for making me aware of that. I just saw a video on how that works.

 

[MikeJhn]

If you do get a router with above table adjustment facility make sure you position the router so the hole is far enough away from the fence you can turn the handle when adjusting the bit for height, may sound obvious, but Triton did not manage to do this with their own table for their own routers, once you have the fence adjusted to a bearing guided bit, the hole is under the fence. :roll:

I think a couple of Trend routers have the above table adjustment facility.

Mike

 

[MattRoberts]

The Triton TRA001 allows for changing the bit above the table. If you were to drill one hole to cater for the winding lever, that's you done.

 

[MattRoberts]

If you do get a router with above table adjustment facility make sure you position the router so the hole is far enough away from the fence you can turn the handle when adjusting the bit for height, may sound obvious, but Triton did not manage to do this with their own table for their own routers, once you have the fence adjusted to a bearing guided bit, the hole is under the fence. :roll:

Mike

Mike, you've said this before and I've responded before. Rotate your router so the hole is at the front and away from the fence.


The bottom left hole in the picture is the one for the winding lever, and as you can see, its position is far away enough from the centre of the router

 

[MikeJhn]

That is not a Triton Table.

And I have said this before, it can't be done, the insert plate for the triton table has only one way the router can be fitted, with the dedicated bolts that are pre-fitted in it and the holes in the router base plate, if you had one you would know this.

Mike

 

[MattRoberts]

My apologies then - what a silly design the table is then!

 

[Hot stuff]

I have the Fox version of your table with a Freud 1/2" router in it. Loads of go about it, solid and cheap to buy. The on/off switch is not a trigger type so you don't need to cable tie it on or by pass it altogether. The height adjuster is a big, easily accessed knob which you can reach from the front or back of the table.
Bit changing is a bit of a footer but with the table tilted only takes a minute or so. The arbour lock is a push type sliding plate so only one spanner required.
Popular with kitchen fitters so some of them have had a hard life but if it looks fresh then you'll probably be ok.

 

[porker]

Thanks. Interestingly, the guy who sold it had been using a Freud router and offered to sell me that too but I declined because I though I could use my other. Do you use a collet extender too? I also got this with the table and the table is a little thicker than a normal insert plate.

 

[Hot stuff]

I have a collet extender that I use depending on which bit I'm using and what depth of cut I need. How much did he want for the Freud?

 

[porker]

He didn't say because I told him I wasn't interested. It looked in good nick and I noticed he hasn't listed it on the bay yet. It was an FT3000vce I think and doesn't seem to be widely available in the UK.

 

[Hot stuff]

That's the latest version of it, I don't think they're made any more though. They crop up second hand regularly on eBay,£40 - £90 seems to be the going rate. Much more than that and you could have a decent Elu or Trend, no experience of those apart from what I've read. I've had a few of the smaller Trend ones and they're pretty gash electronically.