I've always wanted a router table

[dasgud]

I made one for my B&D router that works very well. I even made an overhead pin router jig for repetitious "scroll" work. works well. it used to be hinged to my workbench to fold out of the way. but when I moved I took it off the workbench...

I love the SS router bits because they are so heavy duty and it's very easy to get smooth edges. I never did like having the router bit overhead though. That's why I didn't use the router function much. It just felt wrong to me. I did have an idea though to make my shopsmith into a "router table" with the bit under the table coming up through the table. I removed the headstock and the table slide, replaced the headstock and then the table slide (backwards) and mounted the router chuck on the back top arbor. It runs the same speed as the saw arbor and it felt much better. I used it a lot.

I called shopsmith about it and they told me in no uncertain terms that I need to stop because it wasn't engineered to work that way. I never did it from that day again :(. That's why I made a router table for my hand router.

Reading these forums though gave me an idea that should have been obvious. I could buy a used shopsmith. Make it a mini and mount the headstock and table backwards again, but this time make the quill move up and retract down. Just opposite of the action of a drill press. that would solve all my worries about the overhead router bit operation and would still keep true with the engineer's planning. Hell, operators make engineer's plans backwards all the time.

What do you smart people on the forum think about this idea? I could do it with the one shopsmith I have right now, but I don't want to go through the effort. I had the whole assembly apart recently to restore it and it's humming nicely now.

[iclark]

have you taken a look at the SS speed increaser?
http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/catalog/speedincreaser.htm

seems like it would do exactly what you want except you don't have to disassemble the whole machine if you want to use a different mode.

Ivan

[dasgud]

Well, that almost solves my needs completely. It's certainly much safer than overhead routing imo. It seems perfect for routing profiles the way Mr. Engler demonstrated in the Sawdust Session.

I say almost solves my needs, though, because I'd have to raise/lower the table to set depth. I would definitely prefer to use the quill feed to make it behave like a plunge router with an accurate depth stop. I like to use a pin router jig to make repetitive complex shapes quickly. I will attach a sketch I made to show what I mean. I'll also attach a scan of a template for a 3D Christmas star ornament.

Tyvm :) These forums are awesome.

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[curiousgeorge]

Have you seen these... Daisy Pin Router (http://www.mlcswoodworking.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/smarthtml/pages/daisypin.html)

[dasgud]

I have seen that. I made mine from a plan that I saw in one magazine or another. It isn't nearly as elegant as that one, but it works very well. I can't really upload a pic yet because my router table is not finished yet. Seeing that video has given me some ideas and I think it's time to go back to the drawing board and try for some elegance.

One thing I noticed at the end of the demo video, the router was still spinning and he wasn't even holding the work piece. That would scare me and that's why I like the idea of the quill feeding the bit into the work. I would hold the piece down (with a clamp probably) until I could have both hands free to hold the piece.

One other thing he didn't show. In one more operation, he could have put a decorative edge on the inside oval profile. Perhaps with a coving bit or something different. If the guide pin is a smaller diameter than the router bit, then he could have cut beyond the original shape into fresh stock to a shape of his choice.

This is a different subject completely but I do have some pics to share. I like the graphic someone has that states "worthless without pics" :). I made a bench vise to attach to my work bench and would like to include some pics of it now.

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I modified a 3/4" black iron pipe clamp to screw it to a wood face. I used lag bolts (4) to fasten the other side to the bench. There are two 5/8" dowels equally off center to give anti-twist stability. It has quick release, infinite adjustment and provides crushing clamping power.

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It's 15" wide and 4" deep. It can open to 15" too. In the first pic you can see that I didn't include a dog. I usually just clamp something to extend above the bench top and clamp something to the bench that acts like a peg. I had peg holes drilled for years, but filled them when I refinished the top of the work bench. The dowels are fairly effective to keep the vise faces parallel, but they like to bind because of friction. I wax them and that helps, but I think if I inserted dowels into a metal sleeve that would give a much smoother slide. Next time I guess...

Thank you for the link, you started me thinking :)