Woe is Me

[egon]

Several years ago I built a router table of which I was quite proud. Not so long ago someone mentioned a conversion to router tables. Went back and looked closley at mine and am now in the process of making a new one. Picture of old one.

Egon

[fivestring]

Looks like there is nothing wrong with the old one!
I guess if you want quick-change this, rapid-raise that and standard mounting plates, you'd have to build new.
I still use a cheap table-top metal table. It does all I want it to do right now.

[egon]

Gary:

The old table was fine, it was just that it could have been a bit better. The one I'm working on now is driving me around the bend. Gotta redo almost everything at least twice.

Want a high fence for raised panels is the main reason.

Egon

[fivestring]

At the woodworker's show, I watched a demo where a man made raised panel doors with his table saw with the door lying face down on the table. No need for a high fence. He said it was much safer because there is no way for the panel to tip, exposing fingers!
He made a temp fence of a piece of 3/4" scrap (2" wide) and clamped it to the table at an angle (about 30-45 degrees). A piece of lexan was screwed to the top of this fence over the blade for safety.
He then ran the door over the blade on all four sides, then raised the blade and repeated until he had the height right.
He had a door done in less than a minute!
Plus, the cove cut looked better than a flat angle cut.
He showed how you could stop the cut and let go of the door with the door under the lexan. This lexan guard (about 5"x5") held the piece down onto the blade since the tendency is for the blade to want to lift the piece up.

[egon]

Gary:

That same principle can be used on the radial arm saw set up in several different fashions depending on the size. There are also moulding heads that could be used on the saw. I've got a set but dislike using them. One could even try a router bit in the drill chuck with the radial arm but the rpm would be low and feed rate slow. Probably not give a good finish.

With a router table there are two styles of bit. One is horizontal, large diameter and requires multiple passes. The other is vertical with a much smaller diameter bit. It also require several passes but does not require as big a router motor. This is the method I will be trying. Vertical bit is a little less money too.

Then one could mount the router horizontally.

I would think the router will give a better finish

Egon

[fivestring]

"I would think the router will give a better finish "

You might be right but, the man passed the panel around and it was pretty smooth.
He then raised the blade a cat's hair and fed the panel through R E A L S L O W. He then passed it back around.
It was S M O O T H! [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img]
He said speed is the key when using the table saw.

[GaryM]

Have you ever seen the router table made by RBI? It is hinged in the middle and the section with the router mounted tilts from horizontal to vertical. You can make angle cuts, make slots and more.

Check it out here: http://www.rbiwoodtools.com/s/static...ershop_one.htm

[egon]

Gary:

I haven't seen that Gary. Just getting a horizntal table is starting to be a real challenge at the moment.

Maybe later I could hinge the present table cause all it is is a sheet of 3/4 ply with 3/4 ply strip on the bottom that fits into a workmate bench and has the router insert there also.

Thanks.

Egon

[Hank]

<font color="purple"> Want a high fence for raised panels is the main reason. </font color>

A shaper is not for every home shop, but raising panels is an excellent example of the advantage it presents. The panel is run flat, with a very extended cutter coming out from the spindle. It takes a robust spindle and HP to run this way.

I have raised panels in a variety of ways (jointer, table saw, shaper, even hand plane in the case of "circle" or radiused panels), and find the shaper the single most effective method.

[Pat]

Egon, The March 2004 issue of "American Woodworker" (the only issue I ever read) is the 4th annual router special and has a project entitled "Shop-Made Router Lift" complete with photos, and dimensioned drawings and instructions for making it. Several pages of detailed instructions. Maybe that would be of interest to you. This assumes that you aren't in the throes of building this right now...

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]