Replies

1. 
   delliottg | May 06, 2005 02:31am | #1

   Morty,
   I've got a Craftsman router table as an extension to my tablesaw. While it seemed like a good idea at the time, and is certainly convenient, I'm not impressed with the fit & finish of the router table. On the whole, if I were to to do it again, I'd simply build a table to fit in between my fence rails. One of the best things about the setup is the built-in dust collection system, which is very effective. You basically can't use it w/o dust collection of some sort, assuming that you like to breath afterwards. The fence is only sort of useful, when I'm doing something tricky, I'll use my saw fence instead, it's more reliable, but doesn't have the built in dust extraction, so I end up cobbling together something to suck it away. It's also pretty easy on my saw to just clamp a fence to the table. Useful for jointing with the router. Also, if you have a Dewalt router like mine, you have to buy a special adapter plate to attach it to the table, which I found out just yesterday isn't so sturdy, but that's another story.

   If money's not a consideration, there are a number of commercially available router tables that I've read good things about, including Bench Dog, and Woodhaven. Lee Valley has lots of good router accessories.

   Hopefully this was somewhat helpful, besides it got my irritations about my table off my chest.

   David

1. 
   forestgirl | May 06, 2005 02:59am | #2

   Bench Dog has a good reputation for their extension-based router table.  I'll put in my .02-worth for the Lee Valley Veritas steel table top, which I love.  Although eventually I'd like to have it cabinet mounted, right now it's mounted to the left side of my Jet contractors saw.  Here's a link to pictures I took a couple years ago.  Since then, the steel wings have been swapped out for cast iron, so the table frame is C-clamped on rather than bolted.  Note:  The LV links are old.  Here is the updated one.

   The things I like about it best:

   It will never, ever sag

   Universal mounting system means no new plate needed for different router

   The base can be as plain or fancy as you please

   Magnets stick to steelforestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) 

2. 
   scooter1 | May 06, 2005 03:54am | #3

   Do a search on Benchdog. Thats the system I have.

   Regards,
   Boris

   "Sir, I may be drunk, but you're crazy, and I'll be sober tomorrow" -- WC Fields, "Its a Gift" 1934