Popular Woodworking 2000-01 № 112, страница 47

The

Incredible

Tilting

Router Stand

Sometimes what holds the tool is every bit as important as the tool itself.

"uring the past 25 years, I've designed more than a dozen whiz-bang router tables for various books and articles, each one supposedly packing a bigger bang than the last. But what finally dawned on me a few router tables ago is what makes this fixture truly useful has less to do with the tabletop than the stand it rests on.

Whether you build or buy a router table, you're faced with the same dilemma. The router is designed to be a portable power tool. All the controls and adjustments are easily accessible when the router is resting upright on a workbench. Bolt it to the underside of a table to convert it to a stationary tool and suddenly your router is a good deal less cooperative. Many of us spend a lot of time on our knees in front of our router table, fumbling underneath to change bits and adjust the depth of cut. A woodworker I know calls this "praying to the router god."

Some woodworkers solve this problem by mounting the router to a plate that rests in a rabbet, then removing the plate when they need to get at the router. Unfortunately, the sides of the rabbet wear as you pop the plate in and out. As the plate becomes loose in its rabbet, new problems arise with safety and accuracy.

A tilting router stand makes the router easily accessible and lets you secure the

by Nick Engler

Nick joins us this issue as a contributing editor to Popular Woodworking. He's written 52 books on

woodworking, and has invented more jigs and fixtures that he cares to count. You can visit him at his web site, nickengler.com.

40 I Popular Woodworking January 2000