Woodworker's Journal 2009-33-6, страница 61

and adjusted from a position slightly forward of the bit axis to the back edge.

There are those who might contend a cast-iron tabletop is overkill. Yes, it is flat, smooth and won't sag. But, aside from the benefit of the vibration dampening offered by the heavy top, a workpiece routed on a cast-iron tabletop can't be differentiated from one routed on a flat, smooth, MDF table-top. Value is in the eye of the beholder, to edit a phrase, but to put it in a useful context — just the cast-iron tabletop costs as much as Kreg's entire package. It's worth noting that Bench Dog offers a nice phenolic top and allows customers to mix and match.

Mounting Plate

Both Kreg and Bench Dog follow the industry convention for mounting the router — an insert plate nestled into an opening in the center of the table. This plate must be flat, of course, and flush with the top.

Kreg includes its plate with the top, while Bench Dog charges extra for it. "While the plate configurations are the same, the dimensions and composition differ. Kreg's 9%" x ll³/i" plate is phenolic; Bench Dog's 8'/i" x 11%" plate is aluminum. Both plates have a hole for the largest available bits and a reducer or two to use with smaller bits.

Personally, I have issues with

Do You Really Need a Router Table?

The fact of the matter is, a router table is stone simple. It's really just a tabletop with a mounting for the router, a fence to guide the work and some sort of stand to support the tabletop while you work.

Router tables turn the portable router into a precision stationary machine. Hanging under a table, they're on standby

for work, just the way your other tools are. Install a bit, adjust the fence, and they're ready to cut.

Too, immobilizing the router in a worktable somehow makes it less intimidating, so you'll use it more. And if it's housed in a cabinet, its noise is muffled. Capturing dust is also easier and more efficient. With that said, router tables

Clamp-on Router Table (June 2009 issue)

can be expensive. It's easy to drop more than a grand into a router table with an expansive top, a powerful router and lift, a sophisticated fence with micrometer adjusters and lots of attachments — plus a cabinet replete with bit and accessory storage, dust collection and its own electrical system.

Horizontal Tilt-top Router Table (this issue, page 38)

The Journal has many plans for shop-built router tables and accessories. Plans are online at woodworkersjournal.com/store.

mounting plates in general, and neither of these plates merits an exception. An uninterrupted feed demands the plate be flush with the tabletop surface. As well, the reducer must be flush with the plate surface. To get everything into the same plane, you adjust set screws — lots of set screws. It's not difficult, but it is fussy.

When I build my own router tables, I make a smooth, plate-free tabletop with snug-fitting reducers.

Fence

The most-used guide system on a router table is the fence. To work properly for you, the fence must be perfectly straight from end to end, and its face must be perpendicular to the tabletop all along its length. If the fence facing is split — and it

ought to be — the halves must be coplanar.

In addition, you must be able to move (and even remove) it easily, yet lock it quickly and securely.

Both the Kreg and Bench Dog fences are based on aluminum extrusions with through slots for accessories like bit guards, featherboards and split facings. These extrusions proved to be straight and square. Both fences offer a plastic dust pickup. Beyond these fundamentals, the fences differ significantly.

The Bench Dog fence is utterly simple. It's mounted with a bolt at each end that's captured in a tabletop slot. The fence has considerable free movement, and you set it by measuring from the bit to the face, then tightening knobs on the mounting bolts. You make fine adjustments by loosening one end only and pivoting the fence on the still-tight bolt.

Despite being bolted to the table, the fence does come off quickly. The far ends of the mounting slots are enlarged: loosen the bolts, slide the fence back, and lift it clear off the table. The fence is slightly shorter than the tabletop width, so it can't overhang either end.

The Kreg fence is more elaborate. It mimics a table saw rip fence, riding a track fastened to the left end of the tabletop. The face thus is parallel to the table's front edge. Flip up the locking

Today's Shop continues on page 64 ...

Woodworker's Journal December 2009

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