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How high is your router table?

4K views 12 replies 11 participants last post by  cutmantom 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
...and how much room does it have for feeding work?
...and why?
If you could set it into a working bench, would you? Would it be flush with that bench, or raised a couple of inches (or 1.75"), with movable work support blocks (2×4s) spaced along the bench at need?

I know many people's router is mounted on as TS wing, but is that an optimal working height, or so good a way to use a table and fence really efficiently that it's worth the compromise?

My table saw doesn't have a router table, and I already have one I'm happy with. I'm trying to figure out if I should build a cart for it, or set it into a counter/bench (the bench will already be 34" high, and it's another 14.375" to the router tabletop - switch and cabinet in front of table).

What say you all?

Thanks,
- John
 
#2 ·
One of mine is 45" from the floor to the table top surface… and the other is 43" from the floor to the surface.

I rejected (and have never regretted) the idea of a router table top 37" from the floor (what it would be on the table saw).

If I read you correctly, yours would be 48.375 high when you put the router on the bench. I could deal with that all day long.
 
#3 ·
All I can say rais it to the height you are comfortable with. Every one is a different height so the comfort and optimal zone is different. If you make to high.. then you can always lower it. :)
 
#4 ·
my router table is 38" high on 3" casters….top is 41" by 38" WITH A MITER TRACK…2" thick top banded with maple laminated top…flush trim bit stays in it most of the time..for running patterns….a big flat surface works good for cuting circles an shapes.
 
#7 · (Edited by Moderator)
My independent Jessem router tables are about 36" x 24" deep and are about 42" high. I don't like them in a bench, and I have the room to have them stand alone.

I have always liked a slightly higher router table, as David says.

It feels better and safer to me than the lower ones yet I am not that tall, 5'9".
 
#8 ·
My primary router table is at about 36" high, the top is 40" wide, and the router is set closer to the front than most. This relates to the way I do most of my router work.

If you primarily do heavy work on your router - long moulding, raised panels, etc - you'll probably want your table lower for a mechanical advantage when pushing the workpiece. If you do more small, detailed work, you'll probably want the table higher, where you can see and control your work.

I offset the router to the front of my table instead of putting it near the center like most guys do. My thought was that it would be useful to have different size surfaces around the router. For long, narrow work, it's nice not to have to reach very far back on the cabinet. When I'm doing raised panels, I pull the cabinet out and use the large surface on the back side to support the larger workpieces.
 
#9 ·
Thanks all for the replies. Looks like the answers are about equally split between saw table height and higher, with those who are at table saw height seem to be mostly either using the TS fence or taking advantage of the router table to support the table saw.

David, your point about having the table higher is well taken. I don't need to use the router table as a TS accessory, and I'm not sure I'm all that excited about having the table at the same height as the table saw either. As Peter says, I'm more likely to be doing smaller, more detailed work on the router, rather than making mouldings or panels.

Peter, I like the sound of the way you use your table, but mine's already built with the router in the middle, so I'll have to wait for the next table to try your solution.

I designed a cart for the table to take it to TS height, but I think maybe I'll wait on building it and instead, drill a set of holes in the bench to accommodate the mounting bolts on the router table (maybe drop-in pins to make it easy to remove from the bench when not in use?) I'm about 6' and have an old back, so I think higher might be better. Also one advantage I thought to get from making everything the same height appears to be moot, since the floor isn't level and true modular shop use isn't really going to work. :mad: Guess I'll have to build a dedicated outfeed table for the TS that will fit it where it is.

Thanks again for the thoughts,
- John
 
#13 ·
mine is a 1 inch mdf top laminated on both sides with oak edging, it is attached by gravity at the moment to a trash compactor frame, it is about countertop height, i have used one that was probably close to 48 inches but I think that 1 inch below your elbows would be a maximum
 
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