The BEST DIY Router Table for Beginners. #woodjigs21

now look using the router freehand can be a little tricky because if you're not careful the base can tip from side to side giving you an uneven finish g'day folks uncle knackers here and in today's video i'll be making a very simple portable router table that takes up very little real estate in the workshop and is going to help you gain more confidence and more control over your router now just in case you're interested this is a quick follow-up to last week's video where i did a beginner's guide to using a router tutorial if you haven't watched that one i'll link to it down below so do yourself a favor and check it out for the router table i'm using 17 millimeter black foam ply because it has a tough slippery surface which will help reduce the friction between the wood and the table [Music] now the first thing we need to do is to cut all the pieces for the router table base and top using the table saw but if you don't have a table saw don't panic a circular saw will also do the job and if you want to know all the measurements make sure you keep on watching as i'll share those a little later on in the video [Music] before i screw the base together i think it's time to pimp it up a touch because well let's face it router tables they can look a little boring a little cut here and there with my circular saw and jigsaw is all that is needed which will help break up the bulkiness of the unit and make it a little more appealing to the eye next i attach some blocks of wood to each of the side pieces with double-sided tape this will act as a template for my router to follow [Music] then with the black surface removed i can add my patent pending rt-1000 image transfer too easy speaking about patents and inventing stuff did you hear the one about the guy who invented the door knocker it was such a fantastic idea that he won the nobel prize nobel classic how's this for a fun fact which one of king arthur's knights invented the round table circumference yes he did good old circumference wonder if you used a wrapper a quick run over all the edges with a chamfering bit just highlights the black against the ply which i think looks pretty spiffy and take it from me do this prior to assembly [Music] now just a quick tip regarding the fence and that is i want to run a small chamfer right along that bottom edge which should help minimize dust buildup as we're running our piece across the face of the fence [Music] now before we steam ahead and start assembling the fence we need to cut a clearance hole for our router bit which looks something like that now this will be on both pieces and all you need to do is to find the center go up 60 millimeters and that will be the top of your hole now i'm using a 44 millimeter hole saw for this job i'd like to use a 40 millimeter one but i haven't got one so the 44 will have to do the trick [Music] now just a quick heads up this is the back and this is the front and if you cast your mind back just a little bit we went up 60 millimeters from the top of the hole down to the bottom i'm changing that on the back piece i'm coming back instead of 60 45 millimeters and the reason being if i go back 60 all the way back here that's just going to weaken that board a bit so i think 45 millimeters should be plenty to assemble the fence glue and screw the two boards together making sure that you pre-drill and countersink the holes [Music] check the fence for square clamp the boards together and drive in no screws to help strengthen up the fence screw on a couple of support blocks okay let's talk dust extraction by making a very simple box to fit my shop vac or vacuum cleaner too [Music] now as far as the hole for the vacuum cleaner i'm putting that down lower rather than in the middle or up the top because i think most of the dust is collected down here and not up there [Music] and then follow that up by gluing the dust extraction port in place with the fence finished it's now time to mark and cut out the recess for this awesome looking router insert plate that will attach our router to and if all goes to plan it's going to look something like that once again using blocks stuck down with double-sided tape as a template for my router i just need to cut out enough so that the insert plate sits flat with the table surface now just a little tip to help keep the router flat and level as i'm cutting out the recess i've added a block in the middle for the other side of the router base to rest on just a quick mental note folks utility knife blades they are sharp blood blood blood blood and blood mate that was a deep one can't believe i did it what an absolute idiot [Music] stupid [Music] with the insert plate having a large rounded corner i'm going to have to freehand all of these corners to get a nice snug fit [Music] beautiful [Music] now as you can see i've cut out those little shapes there that's to suit the base of my router and now it's time to fit the insert plate so cross your fingers see how we go oh she's snug it's looking good looking good there you go snaps into place awesome now let's see how level it is or flat beautiful this way spot on love it looks good too now the next thing we need to do is to install this t-track which i absolutely love because it has so many uses and that's going to enable the fence to slide backwards and forwards [Music] to install the t-track there's not much to it i've cut mine to a length of 235 millimeters and i've come in from the edge 90 millimeters so if we can place the t-track down and butt that up against a square and then push it across till we get to our 90 millimeter mark once you've done that through the holes in the t-track we'll temporarily screw that down and as before we can then place our blocks around the track unscrew it to remove it and then get our router out and route out that recess now just one more quick thing and that is all t-tracks come with a center line marked on it follow that line all the way along and then transfer that up onto our fence and that's going to be the center point or the center mark for our t-track bolt and nut that way everything's going to line up and run smoothly [Music] so [Music] so that's it folks we've made ourselves a very nice little sliding router table fence and it works an absolute treat all you need to do is to square the fence up with your square tighten down those locking nuts and you're good to go and now the next thing we need to do is to just screw that box together then we'll attach the router give it a crack and see how it goes all righty that went together really well now we need to install the router so the first thing we need to do is to take off this black base plate so that's it folks the rt-1000 done and dusted and i have to say i'm really happy with how this turned out all the parts went together well which was a pleasant surprise and that insert plate and those t-tracks they are recessed in nicely as well the shop vac that's ready to rock and roll and i think there's only one thing left to do that's to give it a whirl stand back folks now just one more quick thing and that is when using this router table you can either have it sitting on top of a workbench like i have here and just clamp those legs down or you can use the overhang here to sit on top of the workbench which should take the weight but then i've also added a block down here which will bring the router table out and make it nice and level and then just simply clamp it back to the leg of the workbench i reckon that should make this a more comfortable working height okay let's fire this thing up and see how she goes [Music] and there you have it check this out all four sides beautifully chamfered love it gotta say i'm very impressed by the whole setup now just a couple of quick tips if you want to make one of these just remember that all machines are different so set yours up so the controls are easily accessible and that you can also remove the battery without too much problem and also make sure you give yourself enough height so you can easily remove that base if you need to beautiful now this is my entry into the hashtag woodjigs21 challenge hosted by james over at fix it fingers now i'll leave a link to james's youtube channel down below so make sure you check him out he does some really cool stuff and tell him that uncle sent you all righty look forward to seeing all the other wood jiggy type creations from all you guys out there until next time be good be safe and i'm out of here cheers

Channel: DIYForKnuckleheads

Views: 599,466

Keywords: router table, how to make a router table, benchtop router table, diy router table, router table build, router table dust collection system, homemade router table, how to build a router table, simple router table, woodworking tips, easy router table, mini router table, router table diy, diy router table fence, router fence, router table basics, build a router table, power tools

Id: MxNbfjyHqyg

Length: 15min 0sec (900 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 10 2021