When my table saw stopped working mid-project, I must admit I had mixed emotions. I was pretty bummed that the table saw I bought second-hand many years ago wasn’t working, but that also meant that I was forced to upgrade my equipment. But as I started taking it apart to make it easier to move, I started getting a little sad thinking of how many projects I was able to make with it.
I thought about the cutting board I made for Molly, the stool I made for my kids when they were much smaller, the bookshelves I made for my son and younger daughter, and so on. Then a thought occurred to me when I realized that it was still good quality material; I could upgrade my router table. The problem now was how to make it work.
I wanted to make the entire table lighter so I could maneuver it around and pull it apart easier. The extensions were very easy to remove with a few bolts. The difficult part was removing the motor. We turned the table onto its top, but some of the parts required a hacksaw since a couple of the pins would not come out.
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With the motor out of the way, I could move on to the fun part. I traced the metal insert onto 1/2″ plywood. My original plan was to mount the router onto the underside of this, but I’m glad I went to option B for this. I cut the plywood on the bandsaw and used the disc sander to trim it down to the proper size.
When I had the plywood the proper size for the insert, I was able to continue to the more detailed, and stress-inducing portion.
My table saw has a 3mm deep and 5mm wide lip around the edge. I have a 1/4″ rabbet bit for my router, so that’s what I used. I set the depth so that it would leave a 3mm edge around the top and cut this on the (old) router table. Unfortunately I had to re-mount the router base back onto the table since I took it off to measure. Note for next time: plan first, then act.
The bigger issue was the additional extrusions for the mounting screws. If I just had a 3mm deep plate, I wouldn’t have had to deal with this. But since I was still planning on using this as a mount, I traced them and cut them on the router table. To do that, I set up the fence and some stop blocks and took several light passes.
I decided that it wasn’t the best choice to have the router mounted to the plate, so I cut another piece of 1/2″ plywood to use as a mounting plate. I cut the holes for the router base and the adjustment knob and mounted this with additional plywood, using the bolts and mounts used for the table saw. The center hole in the mounting plate is a 2-inch hole and in the top plate is 1 9/16 inches. To mark the correct spot, I just attached the router with a small bit and raised it enough to mark the center.
When the mounting plate and top plate were done, I added a few coats for oil-based finish to the top plate to make it smooth. This fence was the one I used on my previous (homemade) router table. It was mostly used for dust collection, so I will probably upgrade it sooner than later.
I also added some casters to make it more mobile since the additional items in the workshop have made things a little more constrictive. But with the additional mobility of the router table and planer (that I made a stand for not long ago) I feel like I have more room. I also re-arranged a bit.
The front was also opened up a bit to make some room to reach in to turn on the router. My plan is to add a switch to the front so that I won’t have to reach in to turn the motor on, but I will still need to access the router to change bits and tighten the base onto the router. I’m pretty happy with the way that it turned out. I haven’t used it much, but it’s nice with the little I’ve done with it. To stay up-to-date, please subscribe to the YouTube channel or to the website. Thanks for checking this out!