Router Table

  This was my first router table built in 1979. It has a 1/2 inch thick by 18 inch by 24 piece of boiler plate as an insert. The table top itself is made of a 1 inch by 48 inch by 48 inch piece of Royal Marine plywood with labratory grade Formica hot press glued both sides. Height from floor to finish top is approx. 39 inches. Legs are Douglas Fir and edge banding is Birch. The on/off switch shown has been replaced with a newer one with a 'panic button' for off mode.

  The top was Blanchard ground both sides and then the arbor hole and inserts were machined at my 'friendly neighborhood machine shop'. The regular fence is from a Delta bench top shaper of that same period with mating surfaces milled flat to each other.

I use a Milwaukee 1.5 HP router in the table. Milwaukee routers of that time used Ericcson type collets, same as on metal working machine tools. That is the principal reason I choose Milwaukee.

  Originally I planned to put two routers in the table, opposite each other. Instead I built a second table with four router stations. That has worked quite well for me as I can leave dedicated routers with cutters set for those repeat operations. One has a glue joint cutter another has a 'bull nose' or round over bit etc..