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First Router Table (DIY) / Makita M3600

6080 Views 12 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  Biagio, 
M
7
Version 1.0 with basic sled and Makita M3600

- Yes it looks like it's floating. The base was not yet attached, and when I tested the US$20 jack/lift, the router springs lifted the entire table off the base (see the dog saying 'told ya so').

- The M3600 is a beast of a budget router, really solid and I like the power; but for my next table, I might go with a more table-friendly router - one with a bit more finesse in terms of features and installation.

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sreilly
Welcome to the forum Michael. Interesting table concept but I'm wondering what you do for bits larger then the one you used to bore that hole? Is the fence where it meets the table beveled at all to keep sawdust from hindering the wood from being up against the fence? An interesting approach to adjusting the router depth, I have not seen this lift device before. I'd be curious how well this works for you and what, if any, limitations you discover.
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B
Michael, I have the predecessor to that router, the 3612C. They never quit, and for a table-mounted router, I doubt you will need any bells and whistles.
Regarding your lift, a UK member posted a similar setup a good few months back - I will give you the same caveat I gave him: the router has ventilation slots on the surface in contact with the lift's table. You may want to have some spacing arrangement in order not to impede airflow (cooling matters to longevity). Or drill holes in the lift table.

As regards the dog, when I did an internship in NYC in 1975, there was a common sign in offices and stores: "If you're so smart, how come you aint rich?"
Years back I had a smart-ass Siamese cat, that expressed a disdainful opinion on most things I made.
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harrysin
4
You've certainly built a router table that will last for a thousand years! There really is no need for such a hefty construction. At one time I had a Makita 3600 under my table then replaced it with a 3612C variable speed one followed by the present Triton. as shown in the two shots, I made a very simple easy to use foot operated lift.
The tall fence is very useful. Welcome to the forum.

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roxanne562001
Gotta say that's an extra HD router table wow
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M
Thank you for all the comments! I was getting overwhelmed by the amaze-balls router table builds on the forum, so I went for a simple version 1.0 build, to learn all the wrong and right things to do. There was an initial fuzzy plan at the beginning, but it took on a life of it's own - so all your comments are very useful, interesting and sometimes surprising to me.
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sreilly said:
... wondering what you do for bits larger then the one you used to bore that hole?
Click to expand...
Good question, honestly didn't think that far ahead. If my current bits cannot bore a bigger hole, I'll use a Forstner bit on a drill.

sreilly said:
... Is the fence where it meets the table beveled at all to keep sawdust from hindering the wood from being up against the fence?
Click to expand...
See, that's why I built version 1.0 - and now your advice makes a bit more sense. So thank you for that. The fence/sled is not attached, so I'm gonna flip it over and route out a bevel under the fence (which means I'll need a bigger hole to put in the bit for a bevel).

sreilly said:
An interesting approach to adjusting the router depth, I have not seen this lift device before. I'd be curious how well this works for you and what, if any, limitations you discover.
Click to expand...
That jack to lift the router is pretty good at fine adjustments, but making large adjustments is a slow process. Unlike the more common "lift" which pulls the router up, this jack pushes the router up from the bottom - which means the base needs to be strong enough to hold the router. In my case, I kept the springs in the router so I have to deal with that force when adjusting the jack.
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Biagio said:
Michael, I have the predecessor to that router, the 3612C. They never quit, and for a table-mounted router, I doubt you will need any bells and whistles.
Click to expand...
That's good to know that the Makita is a solid work horse, I would prefer to keep it if I can figure out how to adjust the speed (electrically). At full speed/2-horsepower - it's frightening to use with small finer pieces of wood.

Biagio said:
the router has ventilation slots on the surface in contact with the lift's table. You may want to have some spacing arrangement in order not to impede airflow (cooling matters to longevity). Or drill holes in the lift table.
Click to expand...
Thanks for that! I didn't even think about it until now. The router ventilation is indeed in contact with the jack/lift - so I'm going to have to figure out something to separate them.

Biagio said:
As regards the dog, when I did an internship in NYC in 1975, there was a common sign in offices and stores: "If you're so smart, how come you aint rich?" Years back I had a smart-ass Siamese cat, that expressed a disdainful opinion on most things I made.
Click to expand...
Yes, animals make fine companions, and they know right away when you're about to do something stupid. :smile:
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roxanne562001 said:
Gotta say that's an extra HD router table wow
Click to expand...
harrysin said:
You've certainly built a router table that will last for a thousand years!
Click to expand...
Both your comments surprised me and made me laugh - I didn't even think about it that way. I kinda "winged it" and it took on a life of it's own, with whatever wood I had on hand. Makes me wonder if there's a correlation between "not having a solid plan" = over-compensating on the build.
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M
harrysin said:
At one time I had a Makita 3600 under my table then replaced it with a 3612C variable speed one followed by the present Triton. as shown in the two shots, I made a very simple easy to use foot operated lift.
The tall fence is very useful.
Click to expand...
1. What did you like better about the Triton?
2. For the foot operated lift - how do you make smaller-micro adjustments?
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harrysin
In my opinion the Triton TRA001 was designed for table use where it really does excel in every way. However, when hand held it's very clumsy and awkward to use compared to the Makitas .
By the way, you did remove the springs from your router didn't you?
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harrysin said:
... did remove the springs from your router?
Click to expand...
I did not remove the springs. I will eventually for version 2.0 of this table.
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B
That's good to know that the Makita is a solid work horse, I would prefer to keep it if I can figure out how to adjust the speed (electrically). At full speed/2-horsepower - it's frightening to use with small finer pieces of wood.

Michael,
1. You will probably need to reduce speed more with a large-diameter bit, than because of a small piece of wood, where a holding jig or featherboards will decrease the scary factor. I understand that in the US, you have quite a choice of outboard speed controllers - there have been some posts on this forum in the last couple of years. In my view, better to have the outboard controller with a table-mounted router, than a hand-held one.
2. If you thread on two nuts to the end of the threaded rod on the lift (i.e opposite end to the star knob) and lock them together (with cyanoacrylate for good measure) you will be able to make the big height adjustments with a power drill (with forward-reverse) fitted with a suitable socket, then make finer adjustments with the star knob. In principle, I have a similar arrangement, though I modified the router to access the adjustment above the table.
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