# Router Cabinet



## sprior (Aug 31, 2008)

This cabinet is a hybrid of the Kreg and New Yankee plans and I hope it will be very functional.


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## htank (Oct 25, 2010)

That came out awesome, nice work


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## haugerm (Nov 19, 2009)

Looks great. And that's a real nice looking shop you have there.
--Matt


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

Wow. Very well done. I like the lift up top and the area under it for cord containment. That's a great piece.


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## sprior (Aug 31, 2008)

I spent way too much time thinking about this one. I looked at the New Yankee Workshop design and didn't like the fact that the dust collection Y was outside the back because then I couldn't store it against the wall, plus I didn't think the way the dust collection in the lower cavity would work very well. Then I look at the Kreg design and thought it was better that way, but didn't like the bit storage scheme and how it had no drawer for wrench storage and didn't allow for tall bits. The Kreg design mentioned the option of a flip top which I thought was a good idea. The Kreg design didn't allow for managing the power cord. The New Yankee design of not tipping the top would have been a big pain to deal with the power cord even though they did have a chase for it, and not having anything to make the top removal easy to deal with would have been annoying. I had originally planned to build the top using the Kreg plate, but when I did the math of how much the materials would cost I just decided to buy the Kreg top. I was determined to have a window in the front door despite it probably not being all that useful. I made sure I started using the cabinet as early in the process as it was functional so I could make sure it was in fact easy to use and worked well while I still had a chance to change things.


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## sprior (Aug 31, 2008)

The workshop is actually about double that size, but the other end doesn't have the walls or nice lighting, I just keep machines wheeled over there that I'm not using at the moment - table saw, band saw, jointer, thickness planar, sanders, scroll saw, grinder, Tormek, and clamp rack.


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## Nick Ferry (Feb 23, 2011)

I am super jealous - a new router table/cabinet is close to the top of my to do list in the shop


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## sprior (Aug 31, 2008)

The funny thing is my old router table was functional, but an open frame made from 2x4's and a top and fence I made from MDF, but I screwed up making the legs and the table was crooked and it just bugged me that it was wrong even though it worked. So I went into my Christmas vacation thinking that since I had a couple of sheets of plywood around I'd order some wheels and knock it off during my time off, no big deal and I'd temporarily reuse my old top and fence.

To say that things didn't go according to plan is a vast understatement. First I realized that the old top wasn't big enough to cover the new cabinet so I decided to just buy the Kreg one. Then I decided that if I was going to get the Kreg fence eventually I might as well just get it now. Then when I started to cut out the plywood pieces nothing was coming out square despite the fact that I've had other projects come out fine. So I ended up buying the Osborne miter gauge and another sheet of plywood to build a table saw sled out of - I used aluminum angle as the back fence for that sled. I ended up buying another sheet of 1/2" thick ply for some drawer bottoms and the back. Misc hardware including the power switch, dust fittings and a whole box of pocket hole screws, 2 sets of drawer slides, plus a sheet of almost 1/4" thick plexi for the front door certainly were more than I had realized. I ended up buying a 1/2" plunge router bit to punch out the bit holder holes (I ended up making a template for the bit trays out of masonite on the drill press). I ended up using metal ducting to extend the angle dust fitting from the bottom of the router cavity out the back of the cabinet where I ran it through a quick connect flange. Plus that quick little project kept me busy for a whole month weekends and weeknights.

I don't think I've ever been this over budget and over schedule on any other project, but I'm happy with the results and glad this thing should last long enough that I don't plan on making another one :yes:


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## Sbrooks (Jan 15, 2012)

Very nice


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## rayking49 (Nov 6, 2011)

Nice work. Amazing how a project snowballs on you huh?

Sent from my iPhone using Wood Forum


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## Dominick (May 2, 2011)

That very nice and very functional.
Good job.


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## ACP (Jan 24, 2009)

Nice work. You have a beautiful shop.


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## Warnock (Apr 4, 2011)

Beautiful job, I spent some time looking closely at your photos and I plan on using some of your ideas on my table.

Very well done, and a very nice shop.


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## Fsucraigk (Nov 4, 2011)

Better to over do it, than under do it


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

rayking49 said:


> Nice work. Amazing how a project snowballs on you huh?
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Wood Forum


You got that right.


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## jlord (Feb 1, 2010)

Came out very nice. Looks like a lot of storage. How well does your dust collection work? What would you have done different?


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## sprior (Aug 31, 2008)

The dust collection works pretty well so far, but I'm just getting started. Notable exceptions are when I played with some MDF and routed the doors out of aspen - both of those left a fine powder on the router and around the cavity, but almost nothing outside the table. The Kreg fence comes with buttons you press onto the bottom of the fence, this left too much clearance for dust to shoot out so I removed them and now it's better. I'm not sure why they have the dust port on the fence off center, it would seem to be more efficient if it were right behind the bit.

The Kreg design didn't specify anything about banding the edges of the plywood and I didn't do anything to change that. It's a utility piece after all, but I've gotta admit I keep thinking about it. I used 1/2" thick ply to build up the runners for the bit trays and based on the spacing of the bit holes that left too little clearance to hold some larger diameter bits. I could probably have used 1/4" thick stock to build up the runners and still had the drawers run smoothly.

What you don't see is that the Kreg design has the right angle dust port centered under the cavity which means it doesn't come all the way back to the back of the cabinet. On advice from someone I bought metal sheet duct and trimmed it to length, then fitted that inside a quick release flange that I mounted ont he back of the cabinet, then I caulked the joints and sealed with aluminum foil tape. I think the Kreg design by itself would have had you just attaching the dust collector hose underneath with clamps and it would have been a pain to connect and disconnect.

I've got a Porter Cable 7529 plunge router which I was using in my old table, but it's a bear to adjust the depth on it, so I was planning to use my PC 890 series router in the new table with the nice above the table adjustment, but that would probably mean I don't use the 7529 for much of anything. Now I've seen the Router Raizer kit which could make the 7529 a viable option and leave the other router for handheld use. So I guess the moral of the story is to do your homework and plan before you drill holes in the router mounting plate - I already drilled the holes for the 890 base.

So far not a lot of design regrets, would be nice if the top big drawer didn't have to be U shaped to fit around the dust collection fitting, but the alternative would have been splitting it off using a Y outside the cabinet (like Norm did) which means it doesn't fit as well against a wall which was a design point for me.


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## sprior (Aug 31, 2008)

It just popped into my head that I wonder if treating the router cavity sides with some kind of static guard like is available for clothes would reduce fine dust powder sticking to the inside walls of the cavity...


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