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This is my version of Norm's router table. I really just used his plans as a general guide as all my dimensions were different. The wood for this project was all free! The plywood was left over from a large set building project for a local church. In the first picture you can see in the background that I still have a lot more free plywood to use. The pine used to edge the plywood is flooring I pulled out of a 100 year old house.

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Very nice. I also built a modified "Norm's Table."
 

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I like the idea of the mobile base. Cabinet looks great.
 

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6,840 Posts
Excellent interpretation of a now-classic design!
 

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Very nice. It looks like the dust collection is split so that you're cleaning out the inside of the cabinet too - is that correct? That's a great idea. I may have to try to rig up my little Bosch table that way.

Since it appears that you are a heavy router user, can I ask you what the benefit is of using a hand-router in a table like this over a dedicated shaper such as the Grizzly G0510Z? I could have got that for about the same as my Bosch set up and since I don't plan to use the router outside of the table it seems like it would have been a better purchase. But, I may not know enough about it yet so I'm asking…
 

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Good looking table! Is the the router table top/fence/lift a commercial unit?
 

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Have you used the dust collection ? Did it work ok ? I have been told that your set-up won't work. The reason given was that when you put the smaller pipe into the larger pipe the larger pipe will be the primary pipe and little draw will be applied to the smaller pipe. I don't know this is so. I designed my cabinet so the smaller pipe feed into the main chamber and the large pipe pulls from there. I'm not sure that my design is any better than yours. I am planning a radial arm saw dust collection system and am thanking about using the same design you have used.
I would like to know if it works.

Pop
 

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Great looking table!

Pop, what you say about the air flow through the smaller pipe would be true, except that the chamber the larger pipe leads to is nearly sealed. The only airflow is around the edge of the cabinet door and through the hole that the router bit is in. The result is that most of the airflow will come through the smaller pipe. Even better, the smaller pipe will raise the static pressure (assuming the dust collector can handle the load) and that is ideal for fighting against the force the router is using to try to throw the dust away.

At least, that's the theory. I have yet to build a router table for myself but it is definitely on "the list" and I'm hoping to build something along the lines of this.

Smitty22, I'm almost certain that is the Kreg table, plate and fence.
 

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Very nice implementation.
I added to my favorites, my next shop project will be router table too and your's will be reference for me.
 

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Thanks for all the kind comments. Chodgson, thanks for answering the questions.

It is a Kreg table and fence. I looked around for months before I finally made that purchase. I think this set up offers the best off all options for the price. it was around $400 for both items. I like the Mite-R-Slide option the Jessem, but at $300 that isn't gonna happen. I think the Kreg fence design is a superior one. it works like a "T" square and with their fine adjustment knob it's very easy to make really small adjustments. I think one notch on the wheel is .005". I'm very pleased with the way the whole thing works. Simple and accurate. The only thing i would change is my router. I have a 2 1/2hp triton, which I love, and it works well. I just have to move the fence to access the hole to change the bit height. With the way the fence is set up I can quickly and easily bring it back to the same position I had it in. Since I already had the router, I wasn't gonna buy a new one. when that one goes, I'll get a motor with a lift plate. Hopefully not for years to come.

As far as dust collection goes, I am using a shop vac run through a Thein baffle on a metal trash can. It works pretty well. I would like to see more suction coming from the small hose on the top, but that won't happen with a shop vac. Not enough air flow. In about 2 weeks I will have a 2hp PSI dust collector to attach to it and all my air flow problems will be a distant memory.
 

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Randy

I'm not really a "heavy" router user, but I use it a bit. Probably more now that I have this done. I'm not sure the expense is worth it for a shaper. Something with a good user friendly fence and easy adjustments is more costly. The low budget ones that I've seen just don't seem to be that great. I'm sure the motors are nice and powerful and will definitely outlast most hand held routers. Maybe if I had a production shop it would be worth it.
 

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Can you give me an idea of how you set up the wheels for the base? Are they separate?
 

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very nice work.
 

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The wheels are a mobile base from woodcraft. They come as 4 separate corners that you attach to a piece of plywood that you size as you need.
 

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So many router tables on here … and I don't have one… YET. Its getting closer to the top of my list. Nice work on this one. Going in my favorites list for reference.
 

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I got my 2hp Penn State dust collector last week and have been able to hook it up to the router table and use it. It draws a considerable amount of air from the 2 1/2" hose at the top of the table. A lot more than came from the shop vac.
 

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Thank you for your router table and great ideas for the mudroom coat organizers. The 2nd led me see your other projects bringing me to your 1st. Nice work sir. Both I am planning to start…wood is in the shop. Thank you for the inspiration.. I hope you haven't raised the bar too high.
 
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