Welcome to the forum, Eric.

First, tell me what you want to do with the table. [hobby or professional]

There are pluses and minuses on almost every table.

Some people just use a 3' x 2' piece of melamine coated chipboard.

Those packages way exceed my requirements, but if I HAD to buy one of those, I would choose the Incra simply for the precision fence.

 

Hello Eric
Welcome to the forum.

 

This is an easy question. Hands down the Router Workshop table!

 

Incra dude, every time.

It just works.

 

As James asked--what are you doing and what are your space needs? The ultimate answer is that the best is the one that works best for you. If it were me, and money were not an object, and I had the room, and SWMBO (She Who Must Be Obeyed) didn't know....

I'd delete the Freud--my opinion is that it's not in the same class as the other 3.

Woodpeckers--always top notch products, I have one of their closeout table tops in my shop that will be added to my table saw over the winter.

JessEm--with a pair of Bosch 1617's that can be adjusted from above, I personally don't need a lift. Would be nice, but not a need for ME. I believe JessEm makes the lifts for Incra, so if the lift is important then 2 of your choices have fundamentally the same lift.

Incra--I have an incra Pro system on my main router table, and a TS-LS on my table saw. Spot on positioning with minimal effort. Whatever table/lift/legs I did, i'd probably put an Incra positioner on it. I also like what I've read/seen about their inserts with the airflow--can't think of the name, so their router plate or lift would be a little higher on my list.

If I were assembling a free standing RT today--for ME and what I do (hobby)...
Find a suitable top, around the size of the 43" incra top--either make from MDF or buy.
Incra plate with the new inserts.
Incra positioner (probably 25", the 17" I have on my table today comes up short every now and then--not enough to spend money on now, but i'm dreaming here)
Build my own cabinet--if I chose an extruded frame as a base (like incra), i'd pick up some extrusions from 80/20 Products (the sell off-cuts on e-bay) and slowly build up the cabinet in a modular fashion. Other wise, just a basic plywood box with a ton of storage.

My opinion for me. Your needs may vary greatly from mine.

earl

 

The major difference between Incra and any other company's product is that they've got a system of fence placement which does NOT rely solely on vision. If woodworking is going to be in one's life for the long haul, there is an extremely high probability that most people will live to see vision changes, especially in near vision. A mechanical system will give more precise results longer than any system which relies on perfect vision. Nobody will have perfect vision forever.

I'd get the Incra. You can hang a lift on it if you want.

 

By the way, you can also mix and match parts, if one company's framis isn't as attractive to you as another company's whatsit. But get the Incra positioner/fence. It really makes a difference. It offers a superior function that addresses an issue most people will have to handle eventually.

 

FWW's Tools & Shops issue out now has a very thorough breakdown and review of several tables, lifts and complete packages. It's well worth the newsstand price for it alone, but the entire issue is great.

 

They all look really nice...but way out of my price range so I will never have any experience to share.

I made my own and it works well for me building whatever comes along in my small one car garage including raised panel doors.

 

Any table that suits you. A lift, if you are swayed that way. (personally, I can do without). Get an Incra Positioner. I am a Incra "user," but not an Incra fanatic.

I have a 25" LS Super System (mine is an older model, but they just changed the name of my model to this same). What makes this work for me is that I can take it off and use a regular fence when I just need to do things... But when I need to be accurate and make accurate adjustments, it's there.

This may confuse some people or seem a contradiction. Think 1/32" incremental adjustments, with a micro-adjuster for going in between... "Sometimes" that micromanagement gets in the way and I just need to do things that I don't even need to measure with a rule. I have numerous guides and templates made up. Sometimes the simplicity of a clamp-on fence that can quickly be anywhere is just faster.

But when I want to do something that that system does best, like box and dovetail joints, repeatabiility between known measurements, etc., I have it. If I'm not using it, I pull it off. It doesn't cost me to put it to the side until needed. If left there, it can move quickly from one measurement to another... but those exact "measurements" are sometimes a distraction to me.

There is a learning curve. You may like it or not. Some people don't learn it. Some people don't use it to it's capabilities. If you do... it's possible and it's there.

 

Welcome to the forum Eric.

 

Welcome aboard. Personally, I wouldn't have any router table now, except one I made myself.

 

Agreed with Theo.

 

yup, vision is a great consideration, especially when in the bifocal age

 

One more for home built tables. All the ones the OP showed, besides being expensive, have a common flaw in my opinion. The holes are centered in the table which means that no matter which way you have the fence there is wasted space behind it. The Incra is offset but mostly because the positioner takes up half of the table. Mike's Oak Park table has the insert offset. In the fence position in the photo it's good for small work. If you put it on the other side on the router it will comfortably do large panels. It seems a waste to me to spend a lot of money on a table and only get to use 1/2 of it.

 

It seems a waste to me to spend a lot of money on a table and only get to use 1/2 of it.

I love that logic, Chuck! Does that mean when your using the short side of an offset table, your wasting 3/4 of your table?:lol:

Really, I do agree, offsetting gives you the best of both wolrds, fence close when you need it to be... or lots of table space for larger work pieces!

 

All of above is good. I double (or is it triple or...) the Incra fence comments. If you look at the picture of their table you can see that with their fence you'll want the offset cutout. I have the 24" Incra (older than the LS) on a Woodhaven table.

Good luck.

 

Home made,no question!

 

You made that? Very nice. I like the slide system on the front edge.

 

That looks like a nice table and a hefty hunk of metal. I picked up a Powermatic 66 table saw this past summer and built a nice heavy laminate covered MDF extension for it. I'm kicking myself a little right now for not incorporating a router table in the extension.
Hank

 

Hi I notice that all router tables have no below table dust collection so I would say that the manufactures are letting you down. Dust collection is very important.

 

I have to say personally I hate dust , so for the first time I have actually tried to address that by going with the clean sweep cabinet dust collection system that bolts directly underneath Incra's RT .

But why can't the other members here engineer a system themselves . I mean we are wood workers are we not ?
I am disappointed in myself that I did not build a table, but time is not on my side right now. If I had though , I sure would have saved myself a lot of money and created exactly what I wanted to suit my needs.

 

Well, I'd say the best table is probably the Incra Combo #3 with the LS 25.

 

well, i'd say the best table is probably the incra combo #3 with the ls 25.

x2