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Router Tables - A Beginners Guide

zz Knowledge Centre > Routing - Guides to Routers and Routing Techniques > Router Tables - A Beginners Guide

A Guide to Router Tables

The versatility of a router can be vastly increased when mounted underneath a router table. This arrangement effectively turns your router into a small spindle moulder, with all that entails in the way of greater precision, control and safety. It also allows much larger and more complex cutters to be used, like the profile scribing and panel raising range of tooling.

Hand Routing vs Router Table

Hand Routing

Advantages:

1. Ideal for machining large workpieces

2. Inexpensive

3. Increased flexibility

4. Ideal for drilling and countersinking

Disadvantages:

1. Difficult to machine small workpieces

2. Easy to make mistakes by poor handling

3. Operator fatigue on large runs

4. Harder to set up for accurate work.

5. Unsuitable for heavy cuts

Router Table

Advantages:

1. Good support for narrow workpieces

2. Increase range of available moulds from a single cutter

3. Quicker to set up jigs and guides

4. More suitable for production work

5. Ideal for copy profiling

6. More stable when using large cutters

7. Increased safety with small workpieces

8. Dust extraction is more effective

Disadvantages:

1. Poor access to change cutters

2. More difficult to adjust cutting height

3. Poor vision for grooving and panelling

4. Dust and debris falls into the router body

What are the Main Parts of a Router Table?

A basic router table consists of a support table, some form of router mounting plate and a straight fence. The table can be floor standing on its own legs, or it can be bench mounted. Tables vary in construction from heavy cast iron affairs to light plastic mouldings.

The Table Top

The tops on most router tables are either aluminium or steel. However, sheet materials such as MDF and dense particleboard are generally adequate enough if you want to make your own top. Plastic laminate faced board, with a balancing laminate on the reverse side to prevent bowing, is particularly suitable, being both stable and having a low friction surface. Whatever the material you use, the top needs to be flat, level and smooth with a longitudinal slot to take a sliding mitre guide.

The central hole in the table should be capable of taking insert rings of different diameters to reduce the size of the hole for smaller diameter cutters. This ensures maximum support at the cutting edge, reduces vibration and improves the cut finish. It also minimises the chance of the leading edge of the workpiece snagging in the cutter opening.

The size of router table you choose will mainly depend on the type of work you envisage using it for. Ideally, one around 800 x 600mm (32 x 24 inches) will accommodate most types of furniture and small joinery items. There needs to be enough support so that the workpiece cannot drop or tilt as it is fed into, or leaves the cutter. For wide or long workpieces, extra support can be provided in the way of a temporary side extension table or in/out-feed rollers.

The table should also be grooved to accommodate a mitre guide, or even better, some form of sliding table or fence. If there is no mitre guide available you can still guide the work by using a homemade sled running against the back fence.

How to Mount a Router to a Router Table

Every router table seems to have its own unique method of mounting the actual router, using a variety of holding mechanisms, which often include specifically drilled screw holes to suit a particular model. Some of these mothods can be rather fiddly, so many people will choose to dedicate one router to table use alone, meaning constant mounting and dismounting is not neccessary. Some router tables now have a quick release system to make things simpler. Please refer to the instructions that came with your table for more information.

Table Fence

To act as a guide for the workpiece, the table needs a rigid back fence that is also adjustable. Sometimes, it needs to be set a specific distance from the cutter, but at other times it has to be moved to allow the centre line of the cutter to be set back behind the face of the fence, so a good range of movement is essential.

Fence adjustment is ideally carried out using threaded knobs with captive bolts running in slots in either the fence base or the table itself.

Alternatively, the fence can be simply clamped to the table at each end. Because the router cutter is spinning on a vertical axis, there is no blade face to which the fence can be set parallel. However, it is worth trying to set it parallel to the table edge to allow work-holders, and other jigs and guides to be set up easily.

Adjustable faces, like those fitted to the side-fences on portable routers, allow the ends to be closed up to the cutter for maximum support.

The table fence should also be fitted with a dust extraction port, which should be positioned directly behind the cutter recess for effective dust removal. For ultimate extraction efficiency, a Y junction hose should be used, with one hose mounted on the router base port and the other behind the projecting cutter.

Ideally, the two halves of the fence should be independently adjustable in and out as well as fore and aft. This allows you to make full face mouldings or edge plane, where fine-tuning of the out-feed face is necessary to maintain support. If both fences are permanently fixed inline, this offset can only be achieved by fitting a thin shim or thicker false face to the out- feed fence. Similarly, a shaped facing can be fitted over the out-feed face when cutting full width edge mouldings.

Guard

Ideally, the guard should prevent any part of your hand from getting close to the rotating cutter, but the more protection the better, provided it doesn’t interfere with your vision or restrict safe holding of the workpiece.

With most table fences the dust extraction hood forms a guard to the back of the cutter. However, the exposed cutter in front of the fence must also be guarded somehow at the start and end of each pass. The most common method is to fit hold- down clamps or pressure guards. These not only guard the cutter but also prevent the workpiece lifting from the table surface.

Side pressure guards serve the same purpose, protecting the cutter from the side and additionally holding the work securely against the fence faces. Where pressure guards are inappropriate, alternative guarding can be purpose made to fit over the cutter. It can be secured to the table fence or a separate rigid bracket. Transparent guards should only be made from shatter proof plastics such as polycarbonate. Pressure guards may vary from the very elaborate with screw tensioners, to simple featherboards.

For certain operations, particularly with small section material, it is better to make up a tunnel guard which completely encloses both the cutter and the work to ensure a perfectly chatter free finish.

Switch

To avoid the dangers of reaching under the table to switch the router on and off, it needs to be operated via a remote switch fixed to the front end of the table. No-volt release switches are best suited for this purpose, ideally incorporating an easy to reach knock-off switch to cut the power in an emergency.

Using a Router Table

The table must be at a comfortable height, which is usually higher than normal bench height to avoid too much bending and stooping. Feed the timber over the table smoothly and continuously to avoid the inevitable burn marks if you hesitate or stop. Try standing to the right hand side of the table with the left hand holding the stock against the fence, with the right hand one doing the feeding in one long flowing movement. Make sure the work is held firmly, either by you or some form of hold down clamp and only take light passes.

1) For all table routing operations, the full depth of cut should be reached in a series of shallow steps rather than in a single pass. As with hand held routing, the depth of each step will depend on the size of the cutter, shank diameter, cutter profile and router power. Just because the router is firmly mounted don’t assume it will take heavier cuts.

2) With the router inverted, the cutter is rotating in an anti-clockwise direction. Therefore the feed direction must be from right to left, working from the front of the table against the rotation of the cutter. Do not run the full width of the material between the cutter and fence, or the cutter will grab the work with great force.

3) Always make edge cuts with the cutter set into the slot in the fence and the edge being machined against the fence face. Never run the material in the opposite direction, i.e. from left to right. If there is a choice, always use the cutter working underneath the timber rather than on top, as any distortion in the wood may cause it to jam and kickback.

4) If you need to make several passes to widen a groove, take care not to trap the workpiece i.e. adjust the fence so that the bit is cutting on the safe side of the initial cut, this ensures the cutting action pushes the work back against the fence.

You can find a more in-depth guide to router table techniques here.

Steps for Setting Up a Router Table

1) A router table may be very simple to use but it does require setting up carefully to maximise its accuracy and safety.

2) Ensure it is disconnected from the power supply before inserting the cutter well into the collet. Don’t try and get extra reach by getting the collet to grip the end end of the shank. Try to get at least three quarters of it into the collet and ideally up to the ‘K’ line mark on the cutter shank.

3) Fit the smallest possible insert ring to close the gap around the cutter, but spin it by hand to check that it is still clear.

4) Set the fence to give the required width of cut, then bring the sliding faces in close to the cutter. But make sure they are then locked up tight to prevent them sliding into the revolving cutter when you feed the wood against them.

5) Set the depth of cut remembering that several shallow cuts will always produce a better finish than one heavy one.

6) Check that the router speed is appropriate for the diameter of the cutter, as this is vital with very large diameter cutters.

7) Adjust the hold downs and guards to suit the workpiece dimensions.

8) Plug in the router and connect up to a dust extractor if possible.

9) Start the router and let it run up to the selected speed before starting the cut.

10) Think safety. Ear defenders and eye protection are essential and consider using a powered respirator for ultimate protection. Always use push sticks and safeguard your hands.