# Router Table Design



## WoodMachiner (Sep 19, 2013)

I am building a new router table for my shop. The current one I have I made several years ago before I really understood how they worked and what my needs would be. The old one attached to my craftsman table saw. Now that I have gotten more into wood working I see the need for a better more refined setup.

I have done some research on the forums here and I found some recommendations to place a T-slot no more than 6" from the center of the router. Others say it's not necessary. I plan on putting one in because I like it. My question is how much space on the left and right side of the cutter should I have? I plan on making rail and stile doors for cabinets among other things with this setup. I already have a homemade fence I made. The picture I attached doesn’t show the new adjustable fence guards I made.


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## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

WoodMachiner said:


> My question is how much space on the left and right side of the cutter should I have? I plan on making rail and stile doors for cabinets among other things with this setup. I already have a homemade fence I made.


I cut a piece of wood to fill in my mitre slot, so I am in the camp which does not find it useful. You may find a use for the mitre slot.

Are you are asking how wide to make the table top? If so, I would say allow for the width of a door on either side of the cutter, so that the wood is supported by the table top.

My table top is 27in wide. Works for most of my needs. If I need to rout a long piece, I have to rig up one of my rollers to support on the infeed and outfeed sides.


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## WoodMachiner (Sep 19, 2013)

Dave Paine said:


> Are you are asking how wide to make the table top? If so, I would say allow for the width of a door on either side of the cutter, so that the wood is supported by the table top.
> 
> My table top is 27in wide. Works for most of my needs. If I need to rout a long piece, I have to rig up one of my rollers to support on the infeed and outfeed sides.


David,

What is the dimension of your top the other direction? I guess I am looking at width from the side your normally standing on with the fence to your right.


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## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

WoodMachiner said:


> David,
> 
> What is the dimension of your top the other direction? I guess I am looking at width from the side your normally standing on with the fence to your right.


The depth of my table top is 30in. However, this is due to the Incra fence I purchased. This is a picture of my table.









The router top was purchased from Woodpecker.

If I were to start from scratch, I would give myself a few more inches in front of the fence for wood support.

The Incra fence I purchased allows for 16in distance between router bit and fence. I rarely have moved the fence more than 6in. I am typically using the router for edge profiles not for dado's. I think the depth capacity was aimed at dado's or dovetails for drawer construction.

I just checked my top. I have only 10in between centre of the router bit and the front edge of my table. If I were to make my own top I would give myself 12in for this distance. You do not want to go too deep or you may find it difficult to keep the wood down at the fence.


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## WoodMachiner (Sep 19, 2013)

Thanks, that information definitely helps me make my decision easier and more informed. I had looked in the LS system to attach to my fence but wasn’t sure how much I would really use it. I have a dedicated dovetail jig already. Being that you said you rarely use yours leads me to believe that I would probably be in the same boat. I will be sure to post pictures of the end product when I am done.


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## Pirate (Jul 23, 2009)

I have my router in a ts ext. table. I put in a t track, and use it a lot to attach a featherboard, with an expanding slide, to lock it in place.
One problem I do have, is the Rockler locking, t track, slide, doesn't expand enough, to lock in the Rockler, t slot track. I just stick a piece of paper in it. I should dimple it.

What are you folks using to attach a featherboard, to hold stuff against the fence?
One of these days, I will make a new table, and and open for improvements.


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## MissionIsMyMission (Apr 3, 2012)

I made one of these...


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## WoodMachiner (Sep 19, 2013)

Pirate said:


> What are you folks using to attach a featherboard, to hold stuff against the fence?
> One of these days, I will make a new table, and and open for improvements.


I have been attaching my featherboards to the top track (which is a piece of 1.5"x1.5" 80/20) on my fence. For my table I have a 3/4 slot in the surface in which I use http://amzn.com/B0000DD5SQ This works really well. I will probably put some T slots into my new table to allow for fence adjustment, but I will keep to the standard 3/4 x 3/8 T-Slot in the front.


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## Vander8 (Feb 15, 2014)

I am a new user to this site but woodworking for 20 years or so. I just couldn't help but to help on this post. I just purchased these hold downs from JessEm for under 100. I absolutely love them. They mount to your router fence, adjustable for the thickness of material routed, and hold the work against the table too and pulls the material into the fence as you push. Here are some pics. I hope this helps!


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