Hankstains

Hi Guys,
spent a lot of time looking through this site last night and got a lot of good info. Routing really is better than sex....nearly!!!The overall opinion i think is that the best thing to do with a table is spend as much as you can afford and get the best.
This being the case, and reading and looking around, I think a good combo would be a Woodpecker unilift router plate and lifter along with either a dewalt 625 or makita 3126c.

Still not sure of the best Fence??

Any thoughts or advice on other systems?.... or would this be the envy of the forum.

I was going to get a shaper but do not use it all day non stop, and with the new laws on chip limiters etc, the cutters are starting to get too expensive, this being so I have a budget of £500.00 / 800$ so this should give me a good table way under budget.

The reason i have not thought of porter cable or other good american makes of router is the voltage. i am here in the Uk and everything has to be 230V

Cheers and look forward to your thoughts

Pete

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Mike

Pete, hands down the best router table is the one you take the time to build yourself. If you browse through the articles on homemade tables you will find many excellent solutions. The trick is to design the table so it does what you need, not what somebody else thinks is right. One of the members built his large table top out of HDPE, perfect for routing the acrylic sheets he works with the most. Several have built theirs with home made router lifts. A couple have used the tilting top design. What do they all have in common? Their tables fit their needs to a T and they have the pride of having built them.

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Mark

As far as table, I'd have to suggest the Oak-Park one. Mainly because I'm familiar with their product and they have a very solid table.

http://www.oak-park.com

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DONALD

I think Mike has given you good advice. Build your own table and make it as simple as you can and still do the things you want. Put your money in the router and a few good bits. Order a plate with a template...........some dealers will drill the plate to fit your router. If you buy a router with above the table adjustment you wont need a lift. You will learn what features you need from using your shop built router and you can incorporate them into a simple table.

Hankstains

Hi, great advice,
It is very easy to buy a table that is good for someone else.
Sorry, I may have misled you all a bit,
I had intended to build my own, but as i will need to buy a router table insert, i thought i may as well get the best, is that the woodpecker.
I liked Stu's table and design, but i have to earn some money with this so time is not on my side. great job Stu but i don't have time to weld up t-bolts.
I already have a Trend router table which is RUBBISH so I know exactly what I need. I made a mistake buying this table and don't want to do it again
What do they say....buy in haste-repent at leisure.
I will take some of Stu's designs and add a few for my particlar needs,everyones different right? but i still need to know the best insert and the best router.
Any help.

cheers

Pete

BTW loved the noodle server....

dustmaster

Hi,
I have seen the Jessem Lift used in a couple of professional installations where they get some heavy use and if I had the money I would get one. Amazingly well made and really accurate.

Mike

Pete, the 3 most popular designs for mounting plates ranked in order would be the Rousseau, then the Rockler aluminum plate followed by the Oak Park Vacuplate. I rank them this way by the number of sales. In fairness Rousseau's plate has been on the market the longest which accounts partially for why they have sold the most. This is also the least expensive of the 3 running about $38. The Rockler plate is very high quality and many people are very happy with it. Look to pay around $54. (Different size inserts are optional and extra with this plate, also no safety pin.) The Oak Park plate is the newest and has the added advantage of the two vacuum ports built in. This is also the most expensive at $57. All good products and one tough choice. For me the features and price of the Rousseau plate plus the availability of a mounting template and centering kits for most routers make this my personal choice. It's also the plate Norm used for 10 years until Rockler sponsored him and he built a new table using their parts.

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reible

You sound like a person who would like the best and since money is not the big factor that it is for most of us go to leevalley.com and take a look at some of the Veritas stuff the have. Start with 05j38.01 at $119 US they also have other choises and If I had the money that is where I would start..... also take a look at the fences and all the other good stuff.

Ed

routabout

Hi Pete, I'm in the UK too and envy these guys the options they have. I use a Bosch GOF2000CE. The Triton is second equal (the Bosch came up first on ebay!). My rationale is that both allow instant disengagement of the return springs. I think this is a major feature for table work (Bosch don't even mention this in their advertising!). I've used a smaller Bosch, the Freud FT2000VCE and the Makita 3612CX. The engineering and featuires of the Bosch are unsurpassed. It's vibration free and hums through oak etc with outrageously heavy cuts. I have a Bosch 1400ACE for hand-held but use the GOF 2000 for heay stuff like kitchen worktops. My table is a cast iron Ryobi with aluminium sliding carriage. Smooth & solid. Had to fettle it a lot thoug and the fence is dreadful but it WAS a competition prize. US members could look at www.axminster.co.uk to see how expensive UK kit is. Enjoy your routing.