router table.

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It was time.

I want to be able to build my own picture frames (along with many, many other things) and so I tested doing that towards the end of last year. But it was stupid difficult with the router setup I had (which involved a $20 garage sale Ryobi router - which worked okay by itself so that wasn't the big deal - but no table or easy way to route small stock like that used for frames). At the same time - I realized of course it would be really stupid easy if only I had a router table.

So I searched the ol' Craigslist and found someone selling a nice Rockler tabletop for fifty bucks. Check. And being cheap - uhh, I mean 'thrifty' - I scrounged and scrounged for a way to make that ol' garage sale router work (which would have involved making my own router plate - no big deal actually - but ultimately it would be a total pain in the butt trying to a) change the bit with the router mounted under the tabletop and b) detach the router from the table for those projects where I would want to use it handheld).

So it became obvious I would need to cough up some change for a new tool. Rather than just make due again - I searched and searched and landed on the primo Porter-Cable 895pk (which included a plunge base for handholding the tool and a fixed base to mount to a table, along with a gadget to adjust the depth of the router bit from above the table).

Next up... a stand for the Craigslist find tabletop.

Of course I could buy one - but that'd be no fun. So I scrounged up a plan for one and got to work...

First we planed all the 2x4 stock -

Then I went to town on all the dados... which turned out to be a major pain but in the end I learned a couple of things - it just took WAY longer than anticipated -

(I had started using a router but realized quickly it was way too much material to remove with a router so moved to the table saw-slash-chisel combo... )

(... then used the router to clean up the dados... )

And... done -

Then glued the legs up -

In the meantime - I drilled 3/4" holes in the stretchers to insert hardwood dowels (since the screws holding them together would be drilled into end grain which isn't very strong and the wood could split). Then inserted the glued dowels -

And screwed them to the legs -

Added two 3" wheels to the back legs cos I knew this table would need to be mobile -

Then got to work on the switch I wanted to install so I wouldn't have to always reach under the table every time I needed to turn the router on and off. This took a few additional parts (but ended up being the easiest part of the whole assembly - I love electrical!) - including a 4" metal box, 15A outlet and switch, 14/3 15A extension cord and some miscellaneous electrical things I had lying around.

The wiring schematic looked like this -

Then I got to have some fun wiring it up!

Then attached to the stand...

And the stand was complete!

Now then... for the tabletop. Uhh - turns out what I bought from the dude on Craigslist was not in fact a router tabletop... but a drill press table top. No worries though actually (the only real difference was the drill press table top didn't have a miter slot - but after some Googling I agreed with a lot of opinions out there that a miter slot really isn't all that useful). And maybe most importantly - the used tabletop came with a fancy Rockler fence which was worth more than $50 in and of itself...

So I visited the local woodworking store, got hooked up - and went to work.

Here then is the tabletop... before -

I traced the outline of the cutout I would need to insert the fancy router table plate I bought and rough cut it with a jigsaw -

Then taped the jig to the table -

And routed the rest of the opening with a 1" pattern bit -

To get the final opening like so -

Along with the jig and plate - I had also gotten a leveling kit for the plate to level it to the tabletop (shown attached from the underneath here) -

Then it was time to (finally!) mount the router to the plate. And - uhh - this is where the trouble really insued... Sparing the details - basically the plate kit came with the (seemingly) necessary screws for a few different brands of routers (along with various holes for those different brands - why router brands can't just all get on the same page and have a universal standard for router bases I don't know... ). But two of the screws (#10-24) included for the Porter Cable routers didn't quite tighten - and in the process of trying to tighten one of them it - uhhhhhh - broke off in the router base.

Awesome.

In my after-that-little-fact sleuthing I read in some fine print an update to the plate's product description -

Sweet. Good to know. Well... a little late for that info...

(note the 1/2" screws I had to purchase)

(and the plastic sub-base - which indeed is not supposed to be mounted to the plate with the router base as I correctly had it - but which ended up being why one of the 3/4" screws it included broke)

But... after all that (and scrounging yet again for a new base on Ebay - which isn't the biggest deal cos now I'll use the base with the broken-off screw as a fixed but unattached base - for when I don't want/need the plunge base - and leave the Ebay find base permanently attached to the table)... it was finished!

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Now time to use this puppy! It'll be soooo much easier routing things with a table!


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Things learned:

- THINK about the design and putting all the steps in order to achieve the most accurate fits of pieces and - ultimately - the most beautiful finished work (see below... )
- ALWAYS leave extra material when first cutting stock 'to length' (particularly for the planer - see #3)
#1 - if being joined, do not necessarily cut wood stock exactly to size (case in point: drilling the rails and inserting the dowels - once inserted, the rails really needed to be planed on both top/bottom to make a nice, clean-looking fit for the dowels - I should have cut them mostly to length [see point #1 above and #3 below], drilled and inserted the dowels, then planed them along with the rest of the stock)
#2 - if at all possible - use the planer to 'cut' rough stock to size (case in point: instead of using the table saw to trim off 1/4" of each side of a 2x4, use the planer)
#3 - if planning to plane stock after it's cut - cut it LONGER than necessary to allow for the infeed/outfeed ends of the stock to get gouged slightly by the planer - then plane and cut to final dimensions
#4 - use the planer more precisely (there's a height gauge for a reason!) - take note of final planing heights for certain pieces of stock so not everything has to be planed at the same time (see point #1 above) but can ultimately all be the same height once planed (even if not in order)
#5 - remember to consider the amount of material being removed when deciding how to best remove it (router for small amounts of material vs. table saw/chisel for large amounts)