Router Table Build, part 1

While I was out of town the critical parts of my new router table arrived.  It was time to start the build.

 

Top

I started with the router table top because that’s the fussiest part of the whole project.  First I cut two pieces of 3/4-inch birch plywood 22-1/2 x 34-1/2 and laminated them together using only glue and clamp pressure.  I didn’t want any metal fasteners in the table top because of all the milling that needs to be done to it.

Once the plywood slab was dry I added 1-1/2″ wide strips of white aspen (an inexpensive hardwood) around the perimeter to reach a finished size of 24×36.  Then I coated the upper surface with contact cement and applied a layer of plain white Formica laminate.  The laminate was left over from my knock-down assembly table and wasn’t quite big enough to cover, so I had to do it in two pieces.  I carefully placed the seam where I knew we’d be routing a groove later.

The top features multiple grooves — one for a miter gauge slot, two for hold-downs — and the cutout for the router lift.  Precision is highly important.  If the miter slot isn’t parallel to the table edge and the fence it will be harder to use; if the opening for the plate doesn’t exactly match the width, length, and thickness of the plate the router might shift during a cut and ruin the work.  Being careful is usually enough to get a good result.  Being careful and having access to a precision CNC mill, on the other hand, is even better.

My son Adam took the blank to X-Laser and set it up on the ShopBot.  With a half-inch solid carbide downcut spiral bit in the spindle, we watched the machine cut first the miter slot groove, then the T-track grooves, and finally the cutout for the plate.  My laminate lifted in a few places during the milling (visible in the photo) but not enough to affect the accuracy of the mill.  We test-fitted the plate from my router lift while the top was still on the mill and it fit beautifully; the plate is easy to insert and remove but there is absolutely no wiggle while it’s in place.  Perfect.
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While we were there Adam also cut me the two pieces of 1-1/2 x 1-1/2 aluminum extrusion that will serve as fence rails.  We cut them at 24 inches long; I will be mounting them to the sides of the finished table.

I took the table top home and applied some more contact cement to re-bond the lifted laminate pieces.  Then I added the tracks.  Incra miter gauge track comes in various lengths, but 36 inches isn’t one of them.  I bought  a 48-inch track and two 24-inch T-slot tracks for the smaller grooves, which are 20-1/2 inches long.  (No special reason for the Incra brand; the Incra ones just happened to be readily available.  Anybody’s equivalent brand would do just fine.)  I installed the miter gauge track first then the utility tracks, butting them right up against the miter track.  Then, with everything screwed down securely, I cut off the excess length with a hacksaw and smoothed the raw cut edges with a file.

The aluminum extrusion for the sides was easy to attach.  I predrilled five 7/32-inch holes through the center of each piece of the extrusion and fastened them to the sides of my table top with 2-inch #8 flat head screws.  The extrusions are placed just behind the miter slots, as planned, and stick out the back by about 3-1/2 inches.  If that excess length really bothers me I can easily cut it off, but I’m thinking I may want that extra fence depth now and again.

My table top was done.  I set it up on my knockdown work support and inserted the Woodpecker lift to test fit it.

Interestingly, while the lift fit perfectly into its recess, I couldn’t turn the fine adjust wheel because it was butted up against the plywood edge.  I had to take my jigsaw and cut away a small portion of the lip (about 1/8 deep and 3-1/2 inches wide) to accommodate the wheel.  A minor adjustment only.  The plate sits by design about 1/64 below the laminate; I will install the adjustment screws and bring it up to level when I’m ready to actually install the router.

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