Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Shop Makeover Part II - Router table

After some thought I changed my mind on how to configure the three, small, rolling cabinets. I decided that having one dedicated to each tool would be better than having the out-feed support.  All of the tools have their work surface at the same height so that I can still use them as out-feed for one another, but I won't have to swap tools around which will be nice. 


All of the base cabinets are the same, but the router table cart has some added features dedicated to the router table top.


The router table top is a piece of maple glued onto a frame to keep it flat and raise it up to the proper height. 


I wired a paddle switch and an outlet into the door to the router compartment.  The switch I used was 6$ from Amazon.  I found that it fit through the opening of a large "decora" style outlet cover. A couple small screws through the plastic cover and it is quite secure. I like the paddle style switch for the router table as it is not possible to accidentally bump it on with a knee, but you can turn it off that way.  I sacrificed an extension cord for wiring the router table. This gives me plenty of length to plug it in anywhere in the shop and I used the female end of the cord to connect the router inside of the cabinet.  The outlet is also wired to the switch so that I can run the shop vac directly from the router table.


My old router table fence wasn't great and was too long.  I spent a bit more time constructing this one so it is more robust and taller.  I also added two, movable, secondary face plates that can be adjusted to match the size of the bit.


For the dust collection I cut down a universal adapter and screwed it to the back of the plenum on the fence. This provides a nice, secure, attachment for my shop vac hose. I am considering adding another port to the cabinet for either connecting the vacuum inlet or possibly the vacuum outlet which should pressurize the cabinet and force the chips up into the fence dust collection.


The lower portion of the cabinet has a deep drawer which works for holding all of the various router accessories that seem to keep finding their way into my shop.  I also added a floating bit holding tray.  

This was the last part of the shop remodel so I'm now onto building the doors for the laundry room access panels. More on that later.