#Diy router table how to#
#Diy router table full size#

If you expect to get lots of use out of the table, making a laminate top would make the table top last longer that an un-laminated top.įor size, you can pick what ever works for you, and you can pick what ever material works for you too, but bear in mind that you will need to have leveling screws for the router base so you will want something that will hold those screws without them stripping in a thinner stock (but laminating a strip of plywood underneath would be a good alternative). For this smaller version, I am expecting more limited use and so I am still using MDF for the top, but in this case I did not laminate the top. That top had laminate glued to id because I expected to be using bigger wood and it would also get more use.

#Diy router table how to#

Some time ago I made a series of videos on how to make a standing router table and top. I would estimate that with my parter router and router table, at least 80 to 90 percent of what I do with that router involves using it on a router table, whether it's building doors, trimming wood of cutting rabbets or dados, so I expect the same would be for the trim router, which is why I decided to build this portable table for it.

#Diy router table full size#

Since those days, counter top manufacturing has evolved and laminate trimmers are seldom used for the purpose they were designed, but there are still good uses for these smaller router versions.Īny router, full size or hand router, can do much more when it has the benefit of a router table.

The sheep material always stuck out over the edge so that it could be trimmed off even with the edge of the counter, and this was the original purpose of the Laminate or Trim Router. After the cabinets were made and installed, the counter tops and the back of the sheet laminate material were coated with contact cement and bonded together. The main purpose of the 'Trim Router' was back in the day when cabinet makers were building kitchen cabinets, a newly invented material was being used for counter tops and it was called Laminate. True, they are limited in their abilities, but with some add-on jigs and accessories, Trim Routers can be a useful item. But Trim Routers or Portable Routers can be a nice alternative in a woodworking shop for people who don't have full size routers. Trim or Laminate Routers have been around for many, many years but there are very few manufacturers because they just aren't as popular as they could be, simply because they are small, low powered and limited to 1/4 inch bits only.