[2bigfeet]

I had a lot of fun looking at (stealing) idea's from other router table designs. I've gotten a few helpful tips from the folks here as well (also came up with a few of my own).

Researching the tables I found myself wanting for more pics of the process. So... I decided to document my build so others can indulge themselves, as I have, looking at the hundreds of pics out there in google land.

I already have three Kreg tables. But they are task specific and don't like changing things about. I wanted another table for general use that I can change bits and setups quickly. I decided to build this one and put in a Jessem Mast R Lift II and the PC7518.

All the cabinet materials, including the pulls and hinges, are left over from other jobs.

Enjoy...

The sides & back all dadoed...

The glue up starts...

Laying out the face frame...

Milling up all the parts...

Glueing on the face frame with a couple spring boards...

Next was making the door and side panels...

Notice the holes on the cabinet sides and the dust port out the back...

More to come...

 

[2bigfeet]

Adding spacer blocks for the side panels...

Gluing on the side panels...

I left the bottom filler out between the side wall and panel to create an air draw for dust collection.
Thats what those little holes in the sides were for...

All glued up and sanded...

Gluing the edgebanding on the base...

Edgebanding trimmed and sanded. Routing the air draw slots...

Here is the finished detail of the air draw.
There's now a base added with 1/2" slots routed in.
The four inch rubber wheels are from Grizzly...

 

[2bigfeet]

Fitting the door panel and drawer fronts...

Thicknessing the drawer backs & sides...

Cutting the backs & sides to length...

Dovetails and boxes complete...

The primer & paint goes on...

The drawers assembled and installed...

Here she is all dress up. The paint is on (Agualente water bourne lacquer),
hardware on, and one of two fences I have... a shop made fence and a newly
purchased Woodpeckers RF-3...

Storage down below. One drawer is poplar, the other is pine...

Router and lift bay...

 

[2bigfeet]

I had to relocate the screws on the Woodpeckers table
to line up with the height adjusters on the Jessem lift.
These screws keep the adjustment screws from digging into the MDF...

Shop made fence and adjustable height switch tower...

Fence is made from 3/4" birch ply and 1/2" & 3/4" Azek...

Woodpeckers RF-3 fence...

Closeup of the details...

 

[TWheels]

WOW!! Thanks very much for the detailed photos of the building process.
Clearly it is intended that the router is not removed and used for hand held routering, but then if you have three tables already, you must also have multiple routers. What is your preferred brand and model?
My one concern is whether there is sufficient air exchange for the router? (Thanks to Cassandra for raising my awareness of this point)

 

[2bigfeet]

WOW!! Thanks very much for the detailed photos of the building process.
Clearly it is intended that the router is not removed and used for hand held routering, but then if you have three tables already, you must also have multiple routers. What is your preferred brand and model?
My one concern is whether there is sufficient air exchange for the router? (Thanks to Cassandra for raising my awareness of this point)

Hi Tom,

I'm not sure how many routers I have. Three or four Bosch's I think, three Porter Cables, couple PC laminate trimmers, and an older Makita 3hp plunge router that is my work horse for dados. I can't believe this thing is still going. Thirty years I think of everyday use. No real brand preference. I'm happy with the ones I have. You might have guessed changing bits is a pet peeve of mine. I like to just pick up the router and go.

The dust collection is working remarkably well. There is some stuff left over in the corners of the router well. I may address it with baffles... or not. My shop vac adaptor broke that I use on the fence so I may go with a split hose setup to the dust collector. Haven't got that far yet.

 

[Cassandra]

Hi 2bigfeet:

Exceptional table!! Excellent presentation! A very big welcome to the Router Forums!!

Cassandra
(droolling)

 

[Cassandra]

My one concern is whether there is sufficient air exchange for the router? (Thanks to Cassandra for raising my awareness of this point)

Hi Tom:

Unless I'm missing something here, 2bigfeet has incorporated dust collection into the sides and back of the router cabinet. On the sides, air flow would travel up from the base between the double wall structure. On the back, the dust collector would pull the dust-laden air from the router cabinet. (Thanks for raising our awareness on this point!)

Tom, is your concern whether there is sufficient cross-sectional area of the air channels? The channels at the bottom of the walls might be a bit small. 2bigfeet, what is the cross-sectional area of the air channel, at the smallest area?

Excellent design work, 2bigfeet!

Cassandra

 

[2bigfeet]

...2bigfeet, what is the cross-sectional area of the air channel, at the smallest area?

Excellent design work, 2bigfeet!

Cassandra

Thank you Cassandra.

Using my expansive engineering knowledge (none!), I have no idea what the area is... LOL! I looked at the four inch dust port opening in the back, guessed the six side holes should cover it (well at least as close as the hole saw I had), then I guessed again on the bottom openings. Turns out it works. Good guess!

 

[Cassandra]

4" diameter hole has area of 12.6 sq in

Two wall channels --> 6.3 sq in per channel

If wall channel is 18" long, we would need 0.35" wide channel

You indicated that the slot is 1/2" wide

Conclusion: adequate cross-sectional area on air intake

(Yes, I know that a 4" duct is less than 4" ID)

Cassandra

 

[jw2170]

Great job, Kerry.

Obviously a great deal of detail went into the build.

 

[N'awlins77]

Super nice and clean looking Kerry!!

 

[papawd]

good looking cabinet much nicer lookin than mine which was built with scraps and funcionality in mind it works and will get the job done but does not look near as nice as yours

 

[Ralph Barker]

Nice build, Kerry.

 

[don_chr]

Nice Job

2bigfeet,

Excellent job on the table. The hidden air flow channels gives a great finished look. Enjoy your table.

Don

 

[2bigfeet]

Today I spent a little time coming up with a two hose system for the table. I had only tried the hose off the back port previously and it seemed to work fine down below, but the fence well filled right up.

In order to make the connections work, I removed the square port I had installed and just slide the "T" into the 4" hole... which fit like a glove.

I first cut some 3/4" rabbits in some scrap with the DC off. Naturally it made a mess and filled the fence in no time. I fired up the DC and did the same cuts. I literally could not see any dust being produced it was being sucked away that fast. With the DC still running I went to look inside and noticed a good bit of suction pulling on the door. You can also hear air whirring through the side air holes.

So I guess things worked out as planned. Here are a couple more pics showing the new setup of whats left behind... just a little dust in the corners. Absolutely nothing in the fence well...

 

[Marco]

Great looking table Kerry and glad you have it working like you want. I saw some pics of your shop in another post, NICE!!! ....... Excellent use of space and portable tables..... good size shop.... the 3 router tables looks awsome and that huge air compressor :big_boss:

 

[JBS]

Very nice table Kerry. Your table gives me very good ideas (air intakes) to finally build my stand-alone table!!! Thanx for sharing.

 

[2bigfeet]

Thanks for the all kind words guys.

The new router table has been getting a workout this past week and I must say I'm very pleased with the outcome.

The Kreg tables have been feeling a little left out, so I decided to give them a face lift and work on containing the dust from them as well. I'll post pics in a few days when they're all done.

 

[TwoSkies57]

Outstanding effort Kerry.... job well done indeed!