Router Table... Yes or No

[Brice Burrell]

....On an unrelated note, someone asked me a question about the OF2200 in a PM, so I thought I would share that in this thread.....

Hmmmm, I don't remember sending that PM. [huh] [big grin]

 

[Alan m]

All in place, just need to tweak a couple of things and I can use either of these beasties in it

what kind of miter gauge is that , how does it attach to the mft

 

[tiralie]

Router bit RPM is all about tip-speed, which is a function of diameter. It has been many years since I looked at those numbers, however, all but the smallest bits can operate down at the speed of a shaper and maintain adequate tip speed. More importantly, is that having too high of a tip speed is what causes burning, and most woodworkers can attest to the frequency they experience router bit burning. That's because the speed is set too high.

Rick, here are the numbers I come up with, if top speed of a shaper is 9,000rpm, and the top speed of a router is 22,000rpm, consider a ½” straight bit installed in both machines to be used to cut box joints. The tip speed of the bit in the router (at 22k rpm) will be around 48 feet per second (fps), this will result in a very clean cut for the joints. The tip speed of the bit in the shaper (at 9k rpm) will only be about 19 fps, that is significantly slower than the router. The result will most likely be a lower quality cut on the joints. There is more than a feed rate issue involved here, a small diameter router bit is specifically designed to cut material at a high rotational speed, that is where the best cutting action is obtained.

On the other hand, consider a 3 ½” diameter raised panel cutter run in a router set at 9,000rpm (large diameter bits MUST be run at the slowest speed on a router, they should NEVER be run at high speed!). The tip speed is about 137fps. The same bit can be run on a shaper at 9,000rpm and the cutting action will be the same because the cutter will be turning at the speed it was originally designed to operate at. Depending upon the motor size of the shaper the overall operation may be a little better on the shaper though due to a potential significant difference in available torque.

To give an additional example, consider using the ½” diameter straight bit in a router to make a rabbet. With the router set at 22,000rpm the tip speed is about 48fps. A 4” diameter shaper cutter running at 9,000rpm has a tip speed of 157fps, at 6,000rpm it would be 105fps. Because of the tip speed, torque, and the cutting action which takes place more tangential to the stock, a higher quality cut should be the result.

And sometimes there is the cost to consider. When I ordered my Felder slider (saw/shaper combo) I was at first considering the the router spindle option. Having a "router table" with a huge sliding table would have been great. The optional spindle came with collets for router bits and increased the speed from 10,000 to 15,000 rpm. But the added cost of the option was more than that of a well equipped router table that can run at higher speeds. I felt that I would have greater versatility in having both the shaper and router table.

Rick, John:
Great discussion, Thanks.
Is there any way to measure the speed (strobe gun?) of the spindle in my router table.
I have a Milwaukee router on a variable control switch and I was wondering how accurate the dial was.
The lowest setting is 11,000 rpm. I am assuming that is the spindle rpm, but I am not sure how accurate that setting is.
Tim

 

[extiger]

There was significant incentive for me to get a shaper while building my new house. Red oak timber was available to me for less than $!/bf. Too much stock to mill out into flooring on a router table. And people told me my arms would fall off if I couldn't use a power feeder.

I didn't get the shaper in the end. There were too many tasks overseeing construction of a house. But here is one thing I learned, and the reason I posted.

A router bit cutter contacts the wood at a relatively low angle. It more or less comes in from the side and nibbles at the wood. A shaper, however, makes much more a shear cut because the larger diameter presents the cutting edge from above. The edge comes down on top of the wood fibers, cleaving them. The milled board generally has a clean finish. I'm speaking in broad terms.

The big if with a shaper is "Are you doing production work". The volume justifies the larger investment in tooling. But  the machine itself, isn't that much more expensive that a Router Table.

 

[GaryB]

what kind of miter gauge is that , how does it attach to the mft

The miter gauge is an Incra V27 with a Biesemeyer fence. The  miter track is a Bench Dog 'titer miter' attached with a pair of Rockler right angle multi-track connectors. The Titer Miter has t-slots on the bottom. The Bosch router fence is clamped to the MFT fence with a pair of M6 bolts and wingnuts. It all comes off in seconds.

I still need to elongate the right angle connector holes so the track sits flush with the table top and make new faces for the router fence so they sit flush with the table top as well. All in all very solid and square.

http://www.amazon.com/Bench-Dog-40-038-Titer-Miter/dp/B000FW3VRC

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=22163

 

[stkalex]

If I don't afford to buy a good router table, can I make one myself? Is it too complected? Please let me know if any detailed tutorial page is available for such purposes!

Thanks

 

[johnbro]

I agree a router table is essential, I disagree that you've spent your money wisely:

For starting out, why not just make a Q&D (quick and dirty) router table like I did? I found a used PC 7518 on CL (along with 2 other routers) cheap--runs great. Piece of 3/4" MDF, cut out for the insert, and a phenolic insert from Woodcraft. When I'm in a hurry I clamp it to my MFT; if I need it longer I clamp it on two sawhorses. Fence? Shop made out of baltic birch ply, using a t-slot cutter, couple of T-bolts, two knobs (sliding fence opening, thank you) and a vac connector. If I've got $150 bucks in the whole outfit I'd be surprised. Any router will work for a table mount--a PC 690 will do fine for lower-horsepower jobs. It's when you're hand-holding you want plunge and micro adjust and edge guides and DC and all those bells and whistles.

I WILL build a router table pretty soon now, but my Q&D system has served me just fine for several years now while I figured out exactly what I wanted in a router table setup.

About shapers vs routers I have no opinion.

 

[HarveyWildes]

If I don't afford to buy a good router table, can I make one myself? Is it too complected? Please let me know if any detailed tutorial page is available for such purposes!

Thanks

It's not complicated if you are comfortable building a basic cabinet.  Mine has a 24x48 top.  The top is corian (free from a friend) over Baltic birch.  The 20x44 cabinet is split into two roughly equal sides.  One side has five hefty drawers of varying depth.  The other side has an enclosed cabinet with doors for the router and lift on top, with a 4" dust port, and open storage on the bottom.  The whole thing rides on lockable casters, but I also have screw-down levelers for extra stability.  I copied the design from a 24x32 topped cabinet with much narrower drawers.  One drawer has router bits in a foam router bit insert, but you could easily make a wood insert.  One drawer has boxed router bit sets and MicroFence stuff.  Two drawers have normal kinds of router accessories - bushing, extra collets, inlay bits, wrenches, extra bases, etc.  The last drawer has some shop safety equipment.  The open area below the cabinet has extra sacrificial fences (I make 5-10 at a time when I'm making them, and that lasts me 5-10 years), fence stops, and a coping sled.  In other words, the table holds a boatload of stuff.

Overall I really, really love it and it is far superior to anything I could buy for anywhere near what I paid for materials.  It's roughly 2 sheets of plywood, casters, some hardware, and a top (laminate, corian, whatever is flat and hard and smooth).  The box construction is really solid and stable, especially with the weight of all the stuff I've got in it.  Way better than the steel leg tables on the market.  It's mobile enough in the shop, but too heavy transport to a job site.

I've got a lift and an Incra fence, but there's no reason not to go with a plate and a homemade fence if you don't want to spend the money.  In the US I'd get the 11.75x9.25 size plate, which I think is the more flexible size, as opposed to the smaller Rockler-size plate.  If I were starting from scratch, I'd build the table first, then add a lift and fence later if I found that I needed them (which is exactly what I did ).

One last caveat - I've never tried to mount a Festool router in this cabinet, and probably never will.  I have a PC 3 1/4 hp router in the cabinet, so I can save my Festool OF 2200 router for handheld use.  The Festool router just has so many nice features for handheld use that putting it in a cabinet as a dedicated table router seems a waste.