Hello,
I ran into a small problem today. Found out that the router that the local tool shop had mounted for me on Lexicon (plastic) didn’t fit into my router table. The handles on the big 3hp Porter Cable router were too wide. Had they mounted the router diagonally across the plastic insert it would have worked.
When I purchased the router I made sure to tell them that I wanted to mount it beneath my R-1000 router table. I didn’t purchase it to use freehand. So I needed them to mount it to a plastic insert.
I Went into the local tool shop today and they told me the best thing to do was improvise…..CUT out a notch on either side of the table to fit the width of the handles. That way the router would fit.
Well, I’m not too sure I want to cut a 1 1/4 inch notch in my router table to fit the handles. I think they should have offered to give me a new lexicon plate. After all they are the ones who didn’t mount the router correctly so it would mount beneath the r-1000 router table.
I’m thinking of bringing the router back.
What would you do in my situation.
Wanda
Replies
Build a router table.
It often helps to use poverty as an ally; rely on yourself and no other for tooling.
If I was going to use it only in the router table and it was only the handles that was stoping it from going in the table I would remove the handles.
Garth
Mounting the router to the insert should be a fairly straightforward operation. You can reposition and remount on the insert you have, or buy a new insert and start form scratch.
Wanda,
Sorry your "tool shop" screwed up your order for a base plate for a specific router that goes into a specific router table. That sounds like a hard request to screw up.
You said that you might take the router back because the tool shop made you a baseplate that wont fit unless you cut big notches in the table. Can you take the router table back too? and the lousy baseplate? If that is a possibility, I would get my money back on the router table and on the baseplate. The big Porter Cable is a great router. I'd keep that. If they won't give you your money back on the baseplate, have it framed and put it on the wall as a reminder! I would not attempt to fix the problem
What to do about a baseplate and a router table? I wholeheartedly recommend you go to Pat Warner's router website. The router table part of it is at:
http://www.patwarner.com/router_table.html
He recommends against using inserts. They complicate things, and they weaken the overall router/table system. Just buy a piece of MDF and cut a hole for the router bit, and put it on a simple but strong base, which Warner shows you how to build. If you have bits that are big and some that are small, make a second or third "router table top" with different size holes. It is not hard to mount a router to a piece of MDF, and you can make a simple fence in less than an hour. This is the cheapest, strongest approach to a router table.
You should go to the library and borrow any basic router book. You can learn how to make your own lexan baseplates and to mount them. If you can do basic woodworking, you certainly can make and attach baseplates, if you really want a baseplate.
Everybody in woodworking goes through a few router tables in their careers. There was a recent thread in Knots on router tables that IF you go the Warner route, you can return the router table you have, or you can sell it.
BE SAFE. HAVE FUN.
Mel
Measure your output in smiles per board foot.
Hi,
Now that I have a band saw I suppose I could make my own lexicon inserts. Problem is you'd have to buy a sheet of lexicon and that material doesn't come cheap. Perhaps my best option (cheapest) is to keep the PC 3 1/4 hp router since it's one of the best out there and just fork over another $35.00 for a new insert.
Wanda
Why can't the insert be reused? Four extra hole will not affect it's use. Many universal inserts come with a pattern of holes. Did you buy your table at the same shop you had mount the router to the insert? Did they have a table there to try it in?What is "Lexicon" is it similar to Lexan? What make is the table, I was unable to turn up a router table with that model # in a quick web search?
Since the house is on fire let us warm ourselves. ~Italian Proverb
Hello Dgreen,
I'm pretty sure I won't be able to use the plate with the 4 holes. I thought about that before I broght in the plate and router earlier this morning. If I mount it diagonally the holes are too close together. I'll double check again just to make certain.
Yes, The store has the exact same router table I have. I purchased it last year from them. I've purchased all my big power tools from the same local tool shop. You'd think they'd cut me a break. I have no idea why they didn't double check to see that the router fit before drilling the holes in the plate. Oversight on their part.
The R-1000 router table is made in Canada that's probably why you haven't heard of it. King Canada had a picture of it on their website. Not sure if they still do. But they still make that model. The store told me they sold one today. Because I asked if I could demonstrate to them what the problem was. But the r-1000 table they had was sold.
I am still fuming over this fiasco. ( f... up!) :(
Lexan is what I meant to say.. sorry for th confusion
Wanda
Hello again Dgreen,
OOPs, I didn't see your post...... Thank you for clearing that up for me. I was pretty certain the handles weren't removable on the PC 3 1/4 speedmatic router. And now you have confirmed that.
Wanda
Hi Wanda
If they had the table there and did not make your setup fit I'd say they owe you a new insert that does. I still think the insert could be re-used without any harm but if they sold you the router and the table and the insert they should make it right. To my way of thinking they should give you a new insert properly bored. They should eat the insert that was improperly set up. Not you. Thanks for your response. It is a great router, I would keep it if I were you regardless of how the rest of the deal turns out.
Since the house is on fire let us warm ourselves. ~Italian Proverb
I had almost similar problem - the handle. I solved it by placing the insert on the table first, bring the router machine from bottom of the tabletop, my left hand holding the machine while my right hand tighten the bolts.
Hi,
That's the first thing I tried.. Handles were just too big...
Wanda
Wanda,
I didn't respond to your response yesterday, because I couldn't think of what to say. Rennie said it well -- a photo would help. As I read all of the other responses to you, I am overwhelmed with one thought -- WHATEVER YOU DO, KEEP IT SIMPLE. The simpler, the better. If you are not willing to make your own insert, or to use Pat Warner's approach of a slab of MDF, then I WOULD NOT get into anything complex like a router raiser. They can be hell to install. If you don't do your own installation, the cost and the future problems that others will have to solve for you will be insurmountable.I look for wisdom. It is hard to find. As the saying goes "when you are up to your butt in alligators, it is hard to remember that you were trying to drain the swamp." The best solution for you may not be "yet another table insert for your current table". I believe you need one thing: A SIMPLE SAFE ROUTER TABLE THAT WILL HOLD UP YOUR BIG ROUTER, AND WILL NOT SAG AFTER A FEW MONTHS. Using a LEXAN insert will probably sag after a while. Someone suggested a metal plate. Nice, but expensive, and you would have to have someone else make it, and your current router table may have a hole which is too small for your router, and the rest of the table may sag under the weight of the big router. I see two simple answers that you can use to hold up your PC without the table sagging for a long time. One is cheap. One is expensive.CHEAP - Do the Pat Warner thing with a slab of MDF.EXPENSIVE - Buy the metal Veritas router table from Lee Valley. It doesn't use an insert. You just attach the router from the bottom with some clamps that are attached to the bottom of the table. The Veritas router table and Pat Warner's approach have one thing in common -- they do not use table inserts (Base Plates). The problem with the Pat Warner approach is that you have to build a simple box to support the MDF slab, and you have to cut a hole in the MDF and you have to attach the router to it. That is not much of a problem and doesnt require much skill -- just simple careful work.I recommend the Pat Warner approach. Basically, I am cheap, and I believe in doing as much of my own work as possible. Simple is beautiful.Don't worry about having to let your old router table go. No need to be sentimentally attached to it. Don't spend a lot of money trying to adjust it to fit your PC. I had an old router table once, and found a good use for it. The nice hole in the middle makes it ideal to hold a plant, so I put it out on the back porch. So Keep it Simple, and find a good woodworker locally who you can trust and will help you come up with a solution. Think the solution through before you make another purchase. Here is a long-term piece of advice. You need to free yourself of the need to go to others to make base plates, table inserts, jigs, etc for you. You can and should learn how to do this stuff yourself. You CAN learn to do it!!! Don't let "fear of failure" stop you from learning. The worst thing that can happen is that your first attempt to make a base plate or a jig doesn't work. So then you try again. You can learn all these things from books, but it is much easier and more fun if you have a real person there to help. Enjoy,
MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot.
Hello,
Don't think I'm ready to turn my $389.00 router table into a plant stand quite yet. LOL I only purchased it last year. Even build a portable mobile base for it. I want to get some use out of it.
MDF would be great but I have a router table that takes an insert so I'll have to work with it. If it sags down the road well then I'll replace the top. Won't worry about that right now. I just want to get my router up and running so I can do some mouldings.
I've seen the Lee Valley router table... Very EXPENSIVE... I'd build my own before purchasing that. I realize router tables don't have to cost you an arm and a leg. They are relatively easy to make and cheap. I'm beginning to think I should have built my own table and saved myself some money in the process. Oh well too late now. Live and learn!
I've made a few jigs for my router. Used it to cut dadoes for a bookshelf and Also made one for my plunge router so I could easily rout mortises. Actually I've learned quite a few things building the odd jig.
Yup, I agree with you.. best to learn how to do things for yourself and not always depend on others. Do what you can for yourself and then ask for assistance.
Wanda
If you take the insert & router to the shop about which you complain, they may be happy to put a new set of holes in it free of charge such that the handles clear the opening. A few extra holes should not effect its operation. As previously suggested, the handles may be removed if the router is dedicated to the table. One thing you may regret is the plastic plate. With such a huge router, metal would have been a safer choice. LOL!Cadiddlehopper
As I have seen it suggested twice now I will put forth that the handles are not removeable on that router.
Since the house is on fire let us warm ourselves. ~Italian Proverb
Hi,
Let's just say they weren't too eager to suggest cutting more holes for free. They suggested the cheapest way was to improvise... Cut out a notch on both sides of the router table so the handles would fit. Well I am certainly not going to do that.
Not sure if the d-handles on the PC 3 1/4 speedmatic router can be removed. It's a fixed router. They are not knobs like on the Makita routers that can be unscrewed. Does anyone here on the forum know for sure if they can be removed?????? Right now I have the router put back in it's origional packaging.
They assured me before purchasing this massive tool that the lexan would hold this router without a problem. I was told it wouldn't sag. That is was strong enough to hold the router in place. The lexan plate is 1/2" thick. Surely that's strong enough.
Wanda
Wanda ... Why not purchase a router lift. They are handy, the router fits without the body which includes the handles and it will fill the hole that the lexan plate once lived it. Woodpeckers has various models which are not too expensive.
Barry
"They assured me before purchasing this massive tool that the lexan would hold this router without a problem." Can you reasonably accept their assurances? IMHO, the breed of businesspeople who try not to amend their own mistakes are the ones to avoid trading with.Most plastics will deform slightly over time under stress. Deformation, not breakage is the problem. Masrol made a good suggestion if it is dedicated to the table. I missed dgreen's point about nonremovable handles. Sorry!Cadid
1/2" thick lexan is mighty tough stuff. I don't think deformation is going to be an issue over the span of the insert.
Since the house is on fire let us warm ourselves. ~Italian Proverb
NO!!!!!!! Don't fork over any money. Take it back to the shop and tell them to either drill new holes in the Lexan and guaranee that the base will not break or make them replace the insert the way you ordered it in the first place. And take the router table with you so they can see why you asked for the base to be mounted the way you asked in the first place, not that you have to prove it because you are the client and, as you know, in most cases the guy with the gold makes the rules. (The Golden Rule!)The reason shops and companies get away with this crap is because people put up with it.John
I, for one, am having some trouble visualizing this. Any chance you could post a picture or two?
Regard it as just as desirable to build a chicken house as to build a cathedral.
Frank Lloyd Wright
Hi,
I'll see what I can do about pics.
Wanda
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