Wagon Man

Great forums, tons of precious info! Been lurking / learning from the group for some time, but just registered today.. My pleasure knowing you all.

Quick intro: I am greener than green in woodworking, a 110% noob, but also 110% sure that I'll find joy in this hobby... my wife has been writing up a honey-due list as I went shoppoing for tools .. LOL. Already enrolled in 2 woodworking classes (both in January), may come out with less green (already less green in my wallet...).

I've been "fixing stuffs" around home (I did impress my 2.5 yr old) but never have really created anything.. but I know I'll enjoy this hobby, eventually. I do have some tools... - may be already too many for this noob : a Bosch Colt trimmer PE10, Bosch jig saw 1587, Ridgid TS2400, a DeWalt 703 Miter, several Bosch drivers, DeWalt drills, Makita drill .. several clamps ... anyway, I have bought a set of DW618PK last week from International Tools, due to arrive tomorrow, and am shopping for a router table.

I am leaning towards the Hartville table (I already got a 36" miter fence fomr them and I plan to moedify it into a router fence). I'll be building my own bench stand - wonlt be floor cabinet due to space. However they canont pre-drill the plate for DW618.

I like to understand the following, if I do ended buying from Hartville:

1. which router(s), if any) has the same pattern with DW618? (hoping that may be Hartville has the other hole pattern...)

2. how tricky is to properly drill the holes for mounting the DW618? Do I need some template? Where can I get one? Any other bits & pieces will I also need ?

3. Other than making sure that it will be dead center, what are the things I need to watch out for in drilling the mounting holes? Pls share some tips.

Sorry for such a long first post ...

Cheers
John

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Will S

Hi John, and welcome, from another newbie to the forum. That Hart table you are talking about is a heck of a nice one, and looks like a great buy @ $149, for 24"x32" table, made of 1 1/8" mdf, both sides Formica-covered, with router plate, a nice fence & free shipping. Another new member, Rhino, just bought one last week, and I ordered one yesterday.

The router plate can be easily drilled for your whatever router you have. Just remove the sub-base and use as a template. Drill and conter-sink, preferrably with a drill-press, if you have one.

Bob & Mike are two super-senior, knowledgeable and experienced members here, and have lots of great info to offer. I'll be they can give you some good tips on drilling the plate.

Be safe and have fun.

bobj3

Hi John

The top you are getting looks like it's not predrilled but it's easy to do with the EXTRA CENTER DISK W/ HOLE...they list ..

Most come with a 1/4" hole in the center of the disk..but you will need to check on that with Hartvilletool,,,most will have a brass line up pin for them or you can use a 1/4" dowel pin to chuck up in the router..

Once you have the right size pin, take one of the screws out of the black mounting plate, the norm is a flat head screw,,,take it to a ACE hardware store and pickup 4 or 5 Allen Set screws the same size and about 1" long, once you have the set screws take them home and chuck one up in your battery powered drill, with the socket end inside the chuck,,,now grind the end to a sharp point,,called a cone point,,,do that to all 4 of the set screws, once you have that done go back the router and put one in the hole you took the one you took to the hardware store, now remove the rest of them and put the rest of set screws in place with the sharp point out, all about the same height...

Now put some 2 x 4 or 4 x 4 on the work bench,, this will hold your new insert plate...now chuck up the line up pin in the router,,set the router unside down on the plate with the set screws down, now with a light tap on the base with a hammer on the router base , this will mark the spot to drill the holes to mount the router to the base plate, drill them out (with a 1/16" drill bit) and then turn it over and dill the holes out to the right size, counter sink the holes...if you are off just a little use the next size drill bit and open the hole just a little bit, then take out the set screw and put the flat head screws back in and you have it done...and it will be dead on center..keep the set screws they do come in handy if you want to make a 7" square base plate ...once you have the base in place pull the line up pin out and put it away for safe keeping..


Hope this helps....


http://www.hartvilletool.com/product/10942

BLANK CENTER DISK
EXTRA CENTER DISK W/ HOLE

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__________________
Bj

Dr.Zook

Hello John and welcome to the forums. Thanks for the intro and the questions. Glad to have you as a member. No need to lurk now. You just jumped in. Great!

__________________
Dave
the "Doctor"

In woodworking there is no scrap, only firewood.

Wagon Man

Tks Will! I initially intend to use my existing Hartville fence, so I'll be looking to spend <$100 for just the table ... I am still waiting for them to tell me the price for the mounting hardware & vacumn attachment... I may ended up taking the $149 option instead ...

Tks, Bob ... frankly, this is information overload But I read it a few times and I think I finally get it. If I'm taking the Hartville path, I'm sure I'll practice a few times on some scrap board first.

Tks again, will report in when (saw)dust has settled.

Cheers
John