Router table

[chunkolini]

Wood work not metal working, but who knows I may get bored and try it on screwdrivers and fingers some day.
Getting fed up with fannying about demounting my router from it's dodgy table installation, also want a NVR switch on it after my near miss a few days ago with it. The thought of reaching under the table to find the switch at the same time as collecting errant fingers does not appeal to me.

I have been looking at cheap nasty router tables. The £50.00 ones with a router and box of spinny things (they cant be decent bits at that price). Thinking about it I know you get what you pay for.
I have see this on Amazon
Triton RTA300
I reckon I might be better off going for this with a skil router
and the Charnwood NVR switch for another twenty quid from Amazon all up about £180.00
I dont fancy making my own router table, I am after something to build into an existing wooden workbench.
The other option I have found is this Fox Router table which looks just the ticket but does look as though it is made by Fisher Price. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200666333490? ... 1423.l2649 which looks tempting but is it any good?
I am not doing any heavy duty work, just cutting small rebates in the shelves that I make and maybe rounding edges off. No cabinet making and Fancy pants joints etc.

So whaddya think?

Chunko'.

Many thanks, Chunko'.

 

[Wozzaaah]

The first two links were broken Chunko, I've fixed them but can you confirm if I got the correct items?

 

[chunkolini]

Didn't I just reply to this?
Anyways, yes they are what I was looking at.
Cheers Wozzaaah.

 

[GrahamGKD]

Hi Chunko,
I see Axminster do a range of tables - not sure if they are any good but there are customer reviews on some of them?

 

[Hitch]

Axminster, they do a cabinet top router table iirc.....any use?

Ready made table/fence etc, just mounts onto an open cabinet....might push the budget up a tad though....


I have a wolfcraft one i got for Christmas years ago, dont use it all that much, but does the job. Looks the same as most in the price range. Ally top, pressed tin table extensions and legs.

Just spotted the above post, the white one at the bottom row £120 was the one i was thinking of.

 

[chunkolini]

Well spotted Hitch, that looks as though it would do the job, with router and switch it does put the price up a bit, but I could squeeze it into my workbench at that price. A small cupboard would be useful but it would need (and quickly get) a custom paint job.
The Wolfcraft one is I think one of the generic ones I started off looking at.
I am jhust waiting for the enxt order for shelves to finance this one.
Chunko'.

 

[mike os]

any of those should be ok chunko

 

[Angusdog]

Wood work not metal working, but who knows I may get bored and try it on screwdrivers and fingers some day.

Famous last words...

Anyway, carbide tipped woodworking bits apparently work fine on aluminium in a metalworking lathe. Haven't tried it myself but I mean to at some stage.

 

[Hitch]

Trend do a whole range dedicated to aluminium, mainly aimed at window production.

 

[Drains]

If you ever go to the US and see how they do it there.... their routers are different, mostly. The router itself has no handles, but it inserted into a handled plunge holder, or non plunge static height adjustable thingy. That one, you leave in the table. When you need the moving gubbins you just slip it out and insert into the plunge body.

Like this - http://www.ebay.com/itm/DeWalt-DW61...ltDomain_0&hash=item53e9e3dae5#ht_3731wt_1156



It means that instead of a fancy table, you can get away with a board with a hole in it, a straight wooden edge and a couple of clamps for a fence, and no faffing about getting the router out from underneath. Works a treat.

Why we don't do It like that here, I have no idea.

 

[mike os]

having used them... i know why

just buy another router & leave it in the table.....cheap enough these days

 

[Drains]

having used them... i know why

just buy another router & leave it in the table.....cheap enough these days

Tell us then!

As for your second sentence - sound advice

 

[mike os]

bloddy horrid things... the bodys move in the "base", realignment after removal is almost impossble.... and no need whatsoever,

 

[chunkolini]

I was thinking that looked like a good idea.
Ok, corrected.
Chunko'.

 

[Drains]

Years ago I had an American cabinet maker buddy who made all sorts of fancy furniture using not much more than a fixed base router, and he was always whipping it in and out, fnar. He must have known something you don't Mike!

Mind you, I've never used anything other than the UK version, so I'm not in a position to say either way. I know that I find adjusting a plunge router under a table a total PITA, and I like the look of the big screw hingmy on the fixed body.

 

[mike os]

get one of the trend table versions... have micro screw adjustment from the top....

not saying it cant be done... just far easier ime.... mind you i have 4-5 routers some setup just for a single job.

you could also try a plunge bar... think woodrat or veretas make them.

 

[chunkolini]

I did look at the Trend ones but they are over my budget.
Originally I was looking at the 70 quid versions with a router, but cant see how at that price they can be much good.
Budget around £160-180? (when the money comes in).
The Fox one does look worth the effort, because as Drains says what a pain fiddling around under the table.
But I reckon you could use a screw jack mounted under the router as a fairly accurate adjuster.
Decisions decisions.

 

[Hitch]

I use the height adjuster thing on my M12V. I guess that's a touch harder if it is enclosed in a cabinet, but not much.

It's just a bit of tube with a thread in the end pretty much.

 

[Blurk99]

Bosch do fixed and plunge base twin pack - never had a problem with the bodies working loose, had a commutator disintegrate after 4 years and i sent it back, they serviced and repaired it free of charge (one of the reasons i like bosch...) Rutlands also sell parts for router tables, phenolic tops etc, and there's a pretty neat (??) benchdog system that i keep thinking i ought to copy, really like the simplicity of the site table they sell...

jim

edit - i'd buy this in preference to that fisher price fox table..
http://www.rutlands.co.uk/workshop-...fts/router-tables/3200/bench-top-router-table
i've got a cast iron fox wood lathe that's great kit - but that looks terrible

 

[hareng]

Chunky keep on eye on this, not too far from you.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Power-Cra...Home_Garden_PowerTools_SM&hash=item3cbe210a0c

Alternatively pop round and you can have same as this for nowt, not used for 15 years. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Black-Dec...Home_Garden_PowerTools_SM&hash=item20be915e95