[AndyP73]

Hi,
Great forum, the wealth of knowledge and helpfulness of all the members and some of vast experience is just a privilege- thanks.
I saw a few other newcomers posting pics of their projects so got the courage to show some of my humble attempts so far with the table I'm building.. Top mostly done about to start on the base soon.
As my first I know there's no way it will be perfect so it's just a leap in and learn experience.... and enjoy experience too!
The top is 30mm thick, 3 pieces of 9mm (23/64") MDF with a 3mm (1/8")melamine sheet for the top laminated together
Overall dimensions 925x625mm (36.5x24.5) including Tassie Oak edging
Features
1)Triton MOF001 router (Thanks Desert Rat Tom- great little router!)
2)12mm 1/2" acrylic insert with height adjustment screws to get perfectly (or near as possible) level.
3)Quick release lock for fence, runs on aluminum bar rail, QR lever is from a bicycle seat clamp coupled with some 8mm(5/16") threaded rod (got the idea from a mini router table build I saw on Youtube). It seems to hold well thus far.
4)Split fence
5)Offset from centre





The emphasis has been on keeping things flat and square, by using machined edges for critical points, and lots of checking with squares and straight edges. Hoping the results will be okay for a amateur learner at home. I'm happy with it so far.
Thanks for looking and the great forum.

 

[Cherryville Chuck]

It looks good Andy and should serve you well.

 

[Stick486]

lookingt good and thanks for showing ...

 

[AndyP73]

It looks good Andy and should serve you well.

Thankyou Chuck. Do you think it is worth leaving 2" overhang on the table top to be able to clamp things to it easily if need be?

 

[Stick486]

Thankyou Chuck. Do you think it is worth leaving 2" overhang on the table top to be able to clamp things to it easily if need be?

I do...

 

[NJW63]

Great job Andy. I like that fence design.

 

[DesertRatTom]

I can tell you've been very careful with your precision work. That is as nice a fence as any you could have paid a bundle for. Because of they way you did the bracing behind the split fence, you can drop in a 2.5 inch (or metric equivelent) port for dust collection. You can use the commercial port that sits at a 45 degree angle to the fence, or just add a plate to the back of the triangle and use a simple plastic port of the same size.

How are you handling the leveling of the router plate? The simple way is to put screws through the second layer, and file the points off. Nice fat screws, predrill slightly smaller pilot holes so it forms a tight fit. The other option would be to go with the Kreg levelers, if available. Pix. (Oops, just noticed the levelers in the picture.)

I also added two pix of the dust collection options, one commercial, the other shop built.

Really nice job. You'll use that table happily for a long time.

 

[Herb Stoops]

Andy, you are doing great as a beginner. That fence is going to serve you well. Glad to see your pictures. You can be proud of that build.
Herb

 

[RainMan 2.0]

Great setup Andy ,thanks for sharing. Makes me regret not doing the same

 

[sreilly]

Andy the fence looks great. The idea of the 3 piece fence makes good design. Most only have the two fence pieces which leave little for a continuous reference surface. That will come in very handy with using jigs like a rail and stile sled. I recently saw a post somewhere where the user made a fence using leftover laminate flooring and used the tongue and groove slots to hold the center piece that had a cutout for the bit. Thinking this could give way to having many profiled center pieces for many different bits.

 

[AndyP73]

Thankyou for all the help and encouragement and advice... so valuable.
I started on the base today... did a rough fitup.
Using some half lap type of joints. I'm thinking of using splines to strengthen the joints... and just for the hell of it also.. Where end grains meet..

 

[thomas1389]

Andy, That's good for a first leap. It takes courage to start. There's always that fear of failure in a lot of first's at anything. There are some (read me) that ponder a project till the cows come home, trying to think of all the "what ifs" to keep from looking dumb in front of others. You just have to jump in and swim, making revisions and revising those revisions yet once again. That's the learning experience and the great feeling you get from accomplishing something. There's a tremendous lot of talent on this forum. There is also a tremendous lot of help always available when you ask. I'm getting off the soap box now. I must read the first few sentences again to fortify my own shaky resolve. Play safe.

 

[ScottyDBQ]

Andy, terrific job on the top and fence and excellent start on the base cabinet as well. You might want to consider adding some kind of sealant to the bottom side of the table top. I had a top made from the sink cut out from a laminated countertop. I use the laminated top as the surface for the router table and after some time it developed a very slight dip which I am thinking may have come from the fact that the top was more or less impervious to moisture/humidity while the bottom was not. It would be relatively easy to do now before your project gets done. Just a thought.

 

[mbrun]

Nice work Andy. Love the fence. Keep posting your progress.


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[AndyP73]

Andy, terrific job on the top and fence and excellent start on the base cabinet as well. You might want to consider adding some kind of sealant to the bottom side of the table top. I had a top made from the sink cut out from a laminated countertop. I use the laminated top as the surface for the router table and after some time it developed a very slight dip which I am thinking may have come from the fact that the top was more or less impervious to moisture/humidity while the bottom was not. It would be relatively easy to do now before your project gets done. Just a thought.

Thanks very much... I'll give the underside a coat! I had reservations using MDF at all to be honest. I really don't like the other reason being the dust is meant to be pretty harmful.. formaldahyde I believe. The upside is the the 9mm sheets came in the size I wanted and the thickness to allow the insert to pretty much drop in.
Will have to check out your table, etc soon!

 

[AndyP73]

Andy, terrific job on the top and fence and excellent start on the base cabinet as well. You might want to consider adding some kind of sealant to the bottom side of the table top. I had a top made from the sink cut out from a laminated countertop. I use the laminated top as the surface for the router table and after some time it developed a very slight dip which I am thinking may have come from the fact that the top was more or less impervious to moisture/humidity while the bottom was not. It would be relatively easy to do now before your project gets done. Just a thought.

Thanks for that advice.. saved alot of trouble doing it now! Not perfect, but well... it's the underside.. still looks nice though. I also sealed the cutout around the insert area. Looking forward to glueing up the frame tomorrow and sanding etc,
BTW what happened with that gap left hand side between the edging there and the MDF edge was I bought an extra sheet to thicken it and it was cut from supplier slightly undersize to the rest... Looking back I could have used a flush bit to get it flush... Ah well.. the edging is still glued to 3/4" that is flush. Minor details
Thanks again!
Andy

 

[AndyP73]

Got the basic base squared up and glued...next put in bottom shelf ,epoxy in rails and threaded inserts, finish dust extract area, install wheels, put in power switch.

 

[mbrun]

Look’n good. You are really going to enjoy the table.


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[1fizgig]

Looks good Andy. Did you visit Timbecon yet?

You're a step ahead of me, I have yet to buy the dust port so I can get collection going. TBH, I really need to buy a proper dust collector setup, but I'm seeing shop vac alone at $1k and I just don't have that kind of cash spare.
So far my $50 Bunnings home vac is doing at least something, and as always a good dust mask.

Where did you get your vac and how much was it, if you don't mind me asking?

 

[adpostel]

Looks good Andy. Did you visit Timbecon yet?

You're a step ahead of me, I have yet to buy the dust port so I can get collection going. TBH, I really need to buy a proper dust collector setup, but I'm seeing shop vac alone at $1k and I just don't have that kind of cash spare.
So far my $50 Bunnings home vac is doing at least something, and as always a good dust mask.

Where did you get your vac and how much was it, if you don't mind me asking?

You can get the whole "newbie" dust collection setup at the Orange store for under $150 bucks.