I had a local guy ask me to make some house vents for him. He provided the wood and I went to work.
I routed slots for the slats to fit into but I found that my only good work area without a back wall on the bench was the top of my router table. The table itself is one we had at the car audio shop. There was no dust collection, no fence, it was used primarily for template work and round-over/chamfer bits. It was a basic thing, built from MDF with an Alucobond top. The table and JessEm lift were given to me when the business moved to a new shop and they bought four new lifts.
Anyway, while building those vents I decided I needed a new router table with more function. I wanted a router table that I could use to do more than simple template work, I wanted a larger work area, dust collection, and storage for tools and bits.
Since I'm not a dedicated or hardcore woodworker I had to have a table that, when not being used for routing, would be functional for other tasks. If I want to throw something large on a table it would be nice if it could hang off the sides without hitting a back wall.
I searched the Internet and found that everyone seems to build dedicated router tables or add-on extensions for table saws. After a bit of searching, I decided I wanted to use the dust collection idea from the "Ultimate Router Table" build and I'd design the rest.
I went to Woodcraft for Incra miter and T-channel tracks. While there I picked up one of their 1 1/2" x 27" x 60" birch tops. On the way home I stopped by Lowe's and grabbed two sheets of 3/4" maple plywood.
Got home, routed the pocket for the router lift as well as miter and T-channel slots. screwed the tracks in place and put the new top to use cutting up those sheets of ply to build the cabinet. The cabinet is 54" long and 23 1/2" deep.
I made the router chamber as compact as possible. I thought the smaller chamber volume would help with dust evacuation and the smaller chamber also allowed me to maximize drawer space.
On the right side of the router chamber I made three small drawers. One for 1/2" shank bits, one for 1/4" shank bits, and one shallow drawer for router lift inserts and wrenches for the router. The bottom and fronts of these drawers are made from 1/2" ply with 1/4" MDF for the sides and back wall. 6-32 T-nuts were used to attach the drawer slides to the drawers.
Since I wanted an on/off switch mounted above the drawers I made a channel for cable routing above and behind the drawers. The small drawers are mounted on full-extension 20" soft-close slides.
The last picture is how the table sits now. Used 3/4" maple for the rails and stiles. I made the door frame for the router chamber tonight and will get the acrylic in it and get it installed tomorrow. I still need to build more drawers and get more slides. I'll use 22" slides for the rest of the drawers. I don't have the fence yet, but when I get it, it will go on. Wife says it's going to be my birthday present so I'll wait a couple of weeks.
Anyway, I know guys are always wanted to see router tables, so here's mine.
Input, advice, and criticism are all welcome. :laugh:
I routed slots for the slats to fit into but I found that my only good work area without a back wall on the bench was the top of my router table. The table itself is one we had at the car audio shop. There was no dust collection, no fence, it was used primarily for template work and round-over/chamfer bits. It was a basic thing, built from MDF with an Alucobond top. The table and JessEm lift were given to me when the business moved to a new shop and they bought four new lifts.
Anyway, while building those vents I decided I needed a new router table with more function. I wanted a router table that I could use to do more than simple template work, I wanted a larger work area, dust collection, and storage for tools and bits.
Since I'm not a dedicated or hardcore woodworker I had to have a table that, when not being used for routing, would be functional for other tasks. If I want to throw something large on a table it would be nice if it could hang off the sides without hitting a back wall.
I searched the Internet and found that everyone seems to build dedicated router tables or add-on extensions for table saws. After a bit of searching, I decided I wanted to use the dust collection idea from the "Ultimate Router Table" build and I'd design the rest.
I went to Woodcraft for Incra miter and T-channel tracks. While there I picked up one of their 1 1/2" x 27" x 60" birch tops. On the way home I stopped by Lowe's and grabbed two sheets of 3/4" maple plywood.
Got home, routed the pocket for the router lift as well as miter and T-channel slots. screwed the tracks in place and put the new top to use cutting up those sheets of ply to build the cabinet. The cabinet is 54" long and 23 1/2" deep.
I made the router chamber as compact as possible. I thought the smaller chamber volume would help with dust evacuation and the smaller chamber also allowed me to maximize drawer space.
On the right side of the router chamber I made three small drawers. One for 1/2" shank bits, one for 1/4" shank bits, and one shallow drawer for router lift inserts and wrenches for the router. The bottom and fronts of these drawers are made from 1/2" ply with 1/4" MDF for the sides and back wall. 6-32 T-nuts were used to attach the drawer slides to the drawers.
Since I wanted an on/off switch mounted above the drawers I made a channel for cable routing above and behind the drawers. The small drawers are mounted on full-extension 20" soft-close slides.
The last picture is how the table sits now. Used 3/4" maple for the rails and stiles. I made the door frame for the router chamber tonight and will get the acrylic in it and get it installed tomorrow. I still need to build more drawers and get more slides. I'll use 22" slides for the rest of the drawers. I don't have the fence yet, but when I get it, it will go on. Wife says it's going to be my birthday present so I'll wait a couple of weeks.
Anyway, I know guys are always wanted to see router tables, so here's mine.
Input, advice, and criticism are all welcome. :laugh: