RT Top
#8
I'll be making a new RT Table top to include my new Incra LS. Any suggestions and preferably pictures would be appreciated.
Jim
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#9
Tops are pretty flexible, and what you want someone else may not. like a  slot for a miter gauge, since shoes have come along a lot less people are using the slots. Use something that will sit dead flat, and offer ZERO flex, you will already be hanging a 3# tool at it's weakest point, so "substantial" should be an adjective you use to describe it. I'd just say buy or make a VERY sturdy insert, that is the most work, and some of the really cheap ones flex enough to give you problems with consistent depth. I wouldn't have one that didn't have a slick, coated, or veneered top. Slick is good. You are better off if the only drag you sense is what you get right at the cutter, sort of keeps you attuned to the cut.

Pretty does not win prizes for accuracy, or ability to adjust and use your router table, my thought anyhow. So I don't chase purty
Big Grin

I sold my bigger table before I moved, and have been getting along with a 17 year old version of this guy. I was thinking about starting on building up a larger one next month.


[Image: Bench-Dog-40-001-router-table2.jpg]
Worst thing they can do is cook ya and eat ya

GW
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#10
Steve;

Pretty much my way of thinking. I'm redoing my kitchen, so I'll probably use the laminated counter top that's on the island. Pretty big.

Jim
Jim
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#11
I used 2 layers of 3/4" phenolic over a grid, 8 years later I need to do it again.  Supporting the top is huge!
"I tried being reasonable..........I didn't like it." Clint Eastwood
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#12
My last RT build, my Folding Router Table, used 2 layers of 1/2" Baltic birch ply bonded together with high pressure laminate on top and a backer sheet below. 32 x 18" with a miter slot and it has not moved at all in about 5 years. I sell the plans for making the table, I will be happy to send you the PDF free. (Or anyone from here who asks).

I have built probably 40 router tables in my career. Everything from a hole in a piece of plywood without even a fence to a three-router door making station. Here are a couple take aways:

I no longer use slots, t-tracks or any of that stuff for the fence. Build the top with an overhang and Clamp the fence to the top. The table above uses a Rockler Clamp like that that works with their multi-track. The best new Clamp for fences is MICROJIG's Dovetail Clamp. Any new RT fence I make will use the dovetail clamp.

Miter slots in the table top are more of a pain than useful. A sled riding the fence is much faster and easier to use. Aligning the fence parallel to the miter slot is time consuming and without purpose if you can simply ride the fence with a sled. 

My table above DOES have a miter slot, and in 5 years I used it once and that was in a demo video showing three ways to cut finger joints. Unless I had a specific task in mind that needed the miter slot, I would NOT add one to a general use table top. It weakens the top and just becomes a placebo where parts can hang up.
Ralph Bagnall
www.woodcademy.com
Watch Woodcademy TV free on our website.
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#13
I built a modified version of Norm's router table a few years ago, For the top I glued together two pieces of 3/4" MDF, covered it with plastic laminate, and edged it with 1" x 1 1/2" maple on three sides. I installed a Kreg dual track in order to use featherboards. It measures 24" x 32", and is as solid as a rock...


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#14
Dave, just a reminder to throw a handful of dust and chips around before you take pics. It ain't natural not to have any mess, un-natural I tell ya
Big Grin
Big Grin
Big Grin
Big Grin

Just pulling your chain.... Absolutely the cleanest shop I have ever seen, well maybe Cian's You guys are dusta-phobes
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Worst thing they can do is cook ya and eat ya

GW
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