GaryA

Hello all...new to this forum...looks like a great find! I have a Ryobi BT3100 table saw which came with the router accessory kit...the only problem is the mounting plate is threaded for a Ryobi router, and I need to get my DeWalt router in there. Wondering if I should even bother with trying to get it to adapt or build my own table (I'm a little tapped on my tool budget right now, so I can't afford the table I want from Rockler)...any suggestions?? Thanks!

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Mike

Gary, you can build your own table for about $25 or less if you use donated supplies, cast off's from cabinet shops. I will give you one piece of advice on this. Buy yourself a decent router mounting plate like the one by Rousseau. This plate has removeable centers for using larger sized bits, accepts guide bushings and pops out of your table for changing bits with ease. When you get around to building the table of your dreams it will drop right in. To see an example of this plate look at Stu's router table, or the pic I posted of my first table. As it turned out I have installed 4 of these plates so far. Seems like somebody always wants to by my router table.

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Mike
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DONALD

[quote=GaryA]Hello all...new to this forum...looks like a great find! I have a Ryobi BT3100 table saw which came with the router accessory kit...the only problem is the mounting plate is threaded for a Ryobi router, and I need to get my DeWalt router in there. Wondering if I should even bother with trying to get it to adapt or build my own table (I'm a little tapped on my tool budget right now, so I can't afford the table I want from Rockler)...any suggestions?? Thanks![/QUO


You will have to build one for yourself but to get up and going right away adapt the Ryobi plate your DeWalt. Place the base of the DW on the Ryobi and center the DW collet on the hole in the RY plate. I use calipers. Attach the DW plate with masking tape (I use the blue painters) Be patient because you will have to realign the plate while you're taping. When it wont move with light pressure drill holes in the RY plate thru the DW plate. I use a screwdriver bit/drill combination made for installing door hinges. When the holes are drilled remove the DW plate and use a counter sink so that the screws are just below the surface of the plate. I bought my countersink from Lowes. It sounds difficult but if youre patient and careful it will turn out fine. My 618 came with an alignment cone. The bolt pattern from the fixed base.and the plunge base are different. Be sure you use the base for the pattern you want in the table. This will be enough to aquaint you with routing even if it doesn't have all the refinements in some tables. By using this set up you will quickly learn what features you want. The total cost for me was $9 for the countersink. I did this on a Tiny Ryobi drill press but it can be done with a variable speed drill.
good luck.. When you build or buy your own use quality materials especially the plate. I have a very 7518 PC router hanging from a phenolic resin plate and it hasn't sagged yet.

kp91

Gary,
first off, make sure you visit BT3central.com sometime in the future (I think it is being upgraded right now). That site will help you get the most out of your saw (especially to learn how to align the sliding miter table).
I had a BT3000, and did not use the accessory mounting kit, but picked up a piece of acrylic and made my adapter plate to hang my old porter cable router. It worked pretty well, but I still eded up building my own router table because the ribbed aluminum surface of the table saw would sometimes make feeding smaller stock difficult.

Drilling your ryobi plate should be pretty easy as described above.

Find yourself an old counter top, or some scrap MDF and build a table top. That is all you need for a router table at first. Either pick up the oak park baseplate, or any of the other manufacturer's baseplates and mount that in your table. You should be good to go for a while. My first fence was a 4 x 4 that I cut 2 straight sides on.

As you gain more experience with your router table, you can decide how YOU like to work, and then buy or build the table that suits you best.

Best of luck, and enjoy your saw. It's amazing the versatility of that little machine!

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Doug
1 John 1:9

billdcon

Hey Gary - I have the same router and table saw setup - everyone else has given you solid advice, so I won't waste your time repeating it, except to say that, until I build a mobile cabinet with a router table like the ones you will see on bt3central.com, I am using my DeWalt mounted in the Ryobi plate like others describe. It was a pretty easy task to drill and countersink the holes in the mounting plate, the motor pops out easily when I want to change to the plunge base, and everything is rock-solid and vibration-free - it's the way to go until you have time to decide on an upgrade or a different kind of router table (like something with a good drop-in router mounting plate with built-in levelers, etc...) Good luck, and let me know if there is anything else you'd like to know about this particular combo.