[SJA]

Hi all. I hope you'll treat an oldie from the UK lightly on his first post!
I'm thinking that this forum is based in the States but please correct me if I'm wrong!
I've joined up to satisfy a learning curve about the art of routing in general. I've owned and used a router for some years but not really done much other than simple rebates and the fitting of many door hinges. Being a left hand guitar player I've done most of the repairs and mods to both acoustic and solid models since the beginning of the seventies and now I'm actually in my seventies I have the hankering to actually make the guitar body and progress onto the neck and fret-board. I made a guitar when I was in the last few years of my schooling so its not completely new ground for me.
When my father passed I ended up with all his woodworking tools. Its surprising how much better the metal was then! I own four routers, the better one is a Trend 1/4" which someone gave me along with a trend bench table. I think its an early Mk2 with a green steel insert that doesn't have the holes in it for the T5 router, in fact, none of the four router I have will fit to it and I'd very much like to know exactly what this insert was ment for! It has "105" stamped into the under-side. I think its a CRT E but who knows?
Anyway, going on a bit now! Looking forward to conversing......SJA.

 

[John Smith_]

Welcome to the forum - pull up a stool and sit a spell.
With your background, you will fit in quite nicely nere.

 

[SJA]

Thanks for the welcome John. Being 71 means that I've been around a bit and done quite a lot of different things. It would probably be better to give you my life in some installments! But here's a "potted" account of it.
When I finished school in 65 My Mother who was working in an insurance office was asking any client that came through the door if they wanted someone to "do things" I ended up working for a printers and got to learn how to print stationary and the like. When I'd done my time I went to work in London at a litho printers and moved on to other printers till in my thirties I elected to open my own printing company which lasted till I was 65 when I sold it all and retired.

My spare time was taken up competing in quite a lot of motor-sport which involved the building of cars for other people.
Now I'm retired I'm still selling off all the tools and car parts that I've collected along the years. I also never employ anyone to do anything I can do for myself. I build everything. Walls wood buildings, car ports, green-houses and do all my own vehicle maintenance, last year changing the auto-box on my Jaguar XK8. So I still do quite a lot in spite of being "over the hill" !!!

 

[John Smith_]

Thanks for the update: I think that most of us here are in the 60-75 range with some in the 80s. So there is a LOT of "Old School" information here. The younger guys bring the New School into the forum so we have a very diversified bunch of experienced craftsmen to learn something from.

 

[DesertRatTom]

Welcome, interesting story. There are quite a few Brits here, as well as many from other countries. Not quite sure what your question was about. Perhaps you could send a picture? You can easily upload any picture you can get into your computer. You just type your entry, then look for the rectangle just below, which is the add picture icon. It pops open a small window and you just drag and drop your picture file into it, and voila, done. The picture inserts anywhere you happen to have the cursor, so you can mix copy and art to tell a story if you wish.

I'm 79, going on 22, and still mentally lively. I was a journalist in my youth, so spend a lot of time in press rooms. I worked for a daily back in the hot type days. Many Linotype machines, hot lead, those great mechanical sounds, and turtles loaded down with half a ton of lead aboard. I'd learned cold type pasteup in college, so when the paper went to photo typesetting and offset, I spent some time teaching the old hot type crew some tricks of the trade. I started a couple of magazines later on, and designed and wrote brochures, so I've always been around presses,. Amazing and precise machines,.

Glad you decided to jump in. It's quite amazing what can be done with a router. Be sure to have good sawdust collection or work outdoors with a mask, because that tool is a prolific producer of fine sawdust particles that will destroy your lungs.

 

[jw2170]

G'day @SJA , welcome to the forum...

As Tom mentioned, a photo of the plate may help with identification.

We have a few of the 'older' UK members here who may be familiar with the Trend routers.

 

[old55]

Welcome to the forum @SJA

 

[SJA]

Well here.s a few pic of this table. I've seen identical tables on the web with at least four different insert plates, all steel, one of which was red and the rest the same green as the one I have which has 501 stamped into the rear. The one I have has a hole in the center of course but no means to locate a washer or a guide bush securely. I can make up a plate of my own in ally but its only 3mm (1.8") so may be a little thin for an ally plate.

 

[biotec]

@SJA

this is my best guess CRT Craft Router Table their web site
it seems to show a mid size insert plate. CRT/ A - E and X. there web site show three sizes this seems to match.
the newer ones have a small plastic plate used on the MK2 about 2009
the newest have the large plate 230mm x 305mm from about 2016

on page 33 of the manual (blow) it shows a plunge setup. the Trend T5 may match

if you have round or a oblong base router then a center cone will helpse next video

how center a base plate

a plunge router in a table is harder to set the bit hight.

good luck

 

[SJA]

Thanks for that biotec. I don't get all that on the UK site, in fact all you get are the latest models with no manuals to down-load. At least I know what I'm looking at now.
I've actually seen one of these CRT tables online here on a second-hand parts site. The guy removed the legs and used the top as an insert. Today I took delivery of a sheet of melamine so I could either do that or simply buy a good insert that would take some guides. Here's a look at what the guy has done. I've not found any insert rings that would fit this.
The thing that bothers me a bit is that the fence is made of plastic but having said that, its quite old and is still working!
Just a small note: Its a rare thing to find a non plunge router over here these days but I intend to put a shelf in the table I build that will have a rise and fall height adjustment on it. Some of the more expensive tables do have this as standard as I'm sure you know.

 

[biotec]

I hope the manual will help with setup from page 33

note the threaded holes in the router base.
print page to make template.
make sure that holes on paper match the four corner hoes in plate should dead on. the new holes appear to be 13mm away from the original threaded holes.

it show using countersink screws on page 28

i would double check all off it before drilling the router base

good luck

 

[SJA]

Many thanks for all your help biotec. I'll get it all out tomorrow and compare everything. The table above has a Hitachi router fitted and they get good reviews over here but I have four routers here so I may as well get one or two of them to fit. I think I'll be making a couple of insert plates to suit.

 

[biotec]

@SJA

Remember this this table is from the late 1990s or early 2000s based the router model numbers listed.
so older routers may match up to the base plate.

 

[SJA]

You are so right biotec!
I've looked everywhere for the plastic centre collas that originally came with this trend table but they are long gone out of stock everywhere. Its also interesting that there are, I think six different CRT plates for this table, none of which support a trend router! The plate I have is "E" so to use it I'd have to buy a Hitachi M12V or a Bosch GOF1300ACE.
I think I may as well dump the idea of using this and put my money into a table that would take the machines I have.
I'll keep you posted!