My other half is a long time reader of this forum, I found this only by checking out his forums stored in "favorites". He has a birthday coming up, and I'd like to get him a router table top, fence, and either a lift mechanism, or some way to change the bits above the table. This may come off as a little long winded......typical for a woman, not?........but maybeit will give you a better idea of what I'm looking for.
He has a Freud 2000, and a couple of Craftsman routers,and the Freud is mounted to a benchtop Craftsman table ( He is very unhappy with the trueness of the table top, and keeping the plate level with the top,italways needs micro-adjusting after much use) but I know I've heard him say that you just can't have too many routers............so I wouldn't be adverse to buying a new router too. The problem is, I have looked at just about every table out there, Rosseau, benchdog, freud, rockler, woodhaven...etc, etc..........And trying to get "the complete package" is frustrating to say the least. We are farmers by trade,but woodworkers by heart (fishing and hunting are running close on the list though) We make things for ourselves and the children and grandchildren for the most part, nothing commercial. So far our major projects have been quilt racks, toy chests, deacons benches, hope chests and steamer trunks. All of these projects required a lot of router work,and our biggest frustration is changing bits and adjustments for height. We are looking at a project now that requires raised panel doors..........LOTS of router work..........and I cringe to think of all the grumbling that will go with this project. So I'd like to get him set up with a good reliabletable top, fence with slots for featherboards, easy to set-up and adjust,, the insert with either a ez-lift or at least a adjustment handle, and the right router (if the Freud isn't the one for the job). We can make the cabinet to fit the table top, he has his current benchtop model on another cabinet that sets his working height at about 46", and I like the idea of storage for all the components in one spot.
So far I'mleaning towards the Rockler #67356 combo, with a PC8529 router and a free height adjustment handle. I'm trying to keep this within a $500 budget, as I just bought him a Performax 22-44 drum sander a couple months ago (I think I said,"Well, HappyBirthday, Hon" at the time...........but what can I say..I spoil him.........maybe I'll have to say "Merry Christmas")
Anyway, I appreciate your input. Thanks for your patience. June
