Yet Another Horizontal Router Table

Looks like an item you’ll get a lot of use from in the workshop.
You need to be careful with dampness creeping in to the mdf.
I had a router fixture which I didn’t use for some time, so I stored it in my garden shed – dry but no heating.
When I dug it out some months later, I found that it didn’t fit any more because the dimensions had changed slightly due to the mdf increasing in thickness – only very slightly, but it turned it from useful to a scrapper.

Looks pretty nice. What kinds of things would you use it for?

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

looks good and useful. can you show us some work as a result of having it?

-- making sawdust....

Hi there,

can you tell me the advantage of a horizontal table over a vertical one.

I am still trying to learn :)

Thanks

-- Keep your tools sharp, your mind sharper and the coffee hot

I get the concept Praki. i am also interested in the advantage over a horizontal table.

-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python

davidtheboxmaker – I am afraid of a similar fate. I hope it survives long enough for my real wood working projects!

GaryK – I started on this to make slots for mortises. But I am also using it to make tenons after discovering that the tenons I cut on my table saw are hopeless. My table saw blade is not perpendicular to the table top at all and I have been unable to adjust it. I just feel more comfortable with table mounted routers. In addition to M-T joints, I will try loose tenon joints.

motthunter – sorry, I don’t have anything built with this yet beyond test mortise and tenon joints I made. I also used this to cut groves and form beads for shaker style panel. Most of my usage so far has really been more of a study than work that can be shared :( Wife is anxious to see things that she can use in the house than all the tools, jigs and fixtures and I working furiously towards that goal :)

Yettiman and Grumpy, – this setup makes routing on the edge easy (at least for me). I also like the fact that bit adjustments are easy and the whole bit is visible. The X-Y tables are turning out to be really good at sliding. There are some things that this can’t do – route dados. The books I mentioned earlier claim a lot more but I haven’t reached that stage yet.

Thanks for looking and your comments.

-- Praki, Aspiring Woodworker

Nice design and performance.

-- Jiri

Good job. I love these sorts of things. You can oil MDF. It soaks it up, but will really control the expansion. Just brush on heavy and wipe off after it soaks in. Repeat. Try to oil the inside also.

I modification I could see is to add a long threaded rod running vetically between the router and the curved route on the back. Attach this to the back and add a knob on the top. Now you can loosen the lock knob you have, and dial in the height you want before retightening. You can count the turns to get a precise movement.

-- Stevethepeeve -- I'm no rocket surgeon

Nice Table. I like your slideing table setup and grooves. I like my verticle adjustment better but agree that a fine adjustment needs to be added so am modifying mine.
http://lumberjocks.com/jocks/Islandwoodworker/blog/4054
I saw a photo of one somewhere that a fella had added levers to move the table on either an X or Y axis; not sure about height adj. Worth looking into.
Nice job.

-- Islandwoodworker@Gmail.com

nice table

-- Wood and Glass they kick (well you know) Have a great day - Dug