Router Table: What to Look for When Buying One

 A router table is one of the most useful equipment in a wood shop. Its role is to make your routing operations as precise and as convenient as possible. With your router mounted securely in the table, your hands will be free to control your work piece as much as possible when making a cut. This article takes a look at what you should be looking for when buying a router table.

                                                                

Sawstop Router Table 

Router table top materials

Your router table top surface should be rigid, and it needs to be as flat as possible to enable you obtain good precision when treating the edge of a board or cutting joinery. Even a small irregularity of the table top can give you uneven edge profiles or skewed joints. If your table top surface is not rigid, the downward pressure required in feeding wood may produce inaccurate cuts. Furthermore, a strong and rigid table top surface is necessary to support the weight of the router and plate without deflecting.

For these reasons, you need to get a router table with the best router table top material. A cast iron router table top is arguably the best because cast iron is a very stable and durable material. It is sturdy enough to absorb vibrations from moving parts and a perfectly flat surface which ensures utmost accuracy.

There are other router table top materials you may wish to consider if you are just starting out or working on a limited tool budget. The MDF (medium density fibreboard) table is often the most practical in such a circumstance because it is low-cost and is reasonably stable. Just make sure that the MDF router table top you are looking to buy is at least one inch thick and it is surfaced on both sides with a material that makes it easy to slide and does not wear easily.

Melamine surfaced MDF table provides sufficient slipperiness for easy stock feeding. MDF tables surfaced with high pressure laminate (HPL) are better and much harder than melamine surfaces. HPL comprises of many layers of phenolic resin-impregnated kraft paper which is stronger and thicker than a single layer of melamine. When an MDF router table top is surfaced on both sides with HPL, it provides greater impact resistance and is more likely to remain flat for a long time.

An even better router table top is the solid phenolic resin router table top. Phenolic router table tops are resistant to moisture and offer very high impact resistance. Phenolic material is an excellent choice for a router table surface due to its rigidity, durability, stability and the ability to retain its original dimensions and flatness for the duration of its service life.

Router base plate

Another important thing to consider is the router base plate. Its quality and layout will impact considerably on the functioning of the table. The router is often attached to a base plate which fits into an opening in the table top. The base plate needs to be solid and robust because it must remain flat while supporting the weight of the router. Mechanised aluminium and strong phenolic base plates are good options.

Keep in mind that the base plate needs to be compatible with your router and it should be perfectly level with the surface of your router table. There are often levelling screws beneath the table to enable you adjust the level of the plate. A more sophisticated system might even include a way for you to lock the plate down to the table.

Router table fence

A significant part of a router table operation involves guiding the stock past the cutter while keeping it pressed against the table’s fence. For this reason, you should ensure that the fence is strong enough for this task. There is a wide range of router table fences of different qualities and functionality. There are important qualities your router table fence should have. It should be rigid, straight and square. It should have a good adjustment range and must not shift when locked down. If your budget permits, you can have a look at router table fences with advanced features. These would be precision fence systems with incremental positioning mechanisms.

Router table accessories

There are various types of router table accessories which can enable you customize your router table the way you want. Some tables come equipped with T- slots in various locations for securing feather boards, stops and other attachments. For instance, if you have a slot across the top of the fence, it will allow you to easily attach a flip stop or some hold-down clamps when you need them.

Final thoughts

Essentially a router table is a specially designed table with a woodworking router mounted in it. It should be an essential component of every established wood shop because it allows the user to work the router at a wide variety of angles and makes it possible to perform otherwise impossible cuts. The table is very effective at consistently producing the same cut, which is very useful when producing commercial furniture that requires very high quality control. Buying a router table should be easy if you follow the guidelines provided in this article.