Simple Router Table
By Doug Stowe
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While many woodworkers spend weekends making stationary router tables, mine have always been very simple, driven by expediency, and the desire to get other things done. My first was just a router base screwed to the underside of a piece of plywood. I simply clamped the plywood to a workbench, installed the router and bit, clamped on a board as a fence, and let her rip.
Things haven’t changed much in my shop. I still like the convenience of a router table that I can quickly disassemble and store, so I don’t lose the floor space that a stationary router table would require. One thing that has changed, however, is that the router table I use today is more sophisticated. It has an aluminum router plate and a pivoting fence with dust collection. This table takes only an hour or two to build, and it can last for years. To make your own, you’ll need a router plate and a plunge router equipped with a template guide.
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1. Start by positioning the router plate on the router table blank. Clamp pieces of
uniform thickness all around it, to create a routing template. Then remove the plate.
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Click on any image to view a larger version
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2. Remove the waste by plunge routing,
using a spiral bit and a template guide.
This operation leaves a 1/4" lip inside
the clamped-on routing template.
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3. Rout a rabbet to house the router
plate, using a pattern bit. The depth of
the rabbet must match the thickness of
the plate.
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4. Fasten the base from your router to
the router plate. Reinstall the router
motor and then fit the router plate
assembly in the table.
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5. Assemble the pivot fence with biscuits
and glue. Make sure the joint is flush on
the bottom when you clamp the parts
together.
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6. Check the fence to see that its face is
square to the surface of the table. If it is
not, use the jointer to make it square.
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