Reaching a new level in routing and organizing my shop

Published April 30, 2010 at 4:08 p.m.

Okay, this is slightly premature as this thing is half way mounted to my table saw, but already I can tell this was a smart purchase well over due for me. I have a small basement shop and space is tight. After a lot of reorganizing I can now do almost anything (table saw, bandsaw, jointer, planer, miter saw, drill press…) the minute I want to with no rolling things around and dust collection ready to go on all of it. The one missing piece was a router table. I recently sold my Bench Dog contractor table (positive review posted) and bought this extension for my tables saw.

The fit and finish is top notch. Absolutely no issues here. This thing is a beast at about 50 pounds and the miter and t-track slots on this new model are right there in the iron top. It is lining up with my top very well and I suspect it is flatter than anything else on the table saw.

I am being slightly unorthodox with this by mounting on the right side of my Delta contractor saw and attaching it to the existing right side iron extension. Instructions are clear – for this set up I need to reinforce with bolts through the rails for my fence on both sides to support this. I will also be adding legs, but in the future (maybe this weekend), I will build a cabinet to go beneath it to collect dust form below, support the table and give me some drawers for bits and other router stuff. The only issue was only two of the bolts on my table saw lined up with Bench Dog. I think this is due to my attaching to the Delta right side extension. So, I was able to use two of the threaded connections on my extension, but had to drill two holes in my table saw and am using my own bolts/nuts for the other two. Attaching to the fence rails will also require some drilling. Kind of surprising this all doesn’t “plug and play” with a Delta of all things, but my saw is old and lord knows what the original owner did when he put this together.

Nothing fancy here yet in terms of the router. I have a PC 690 and no lift. Some day I hope to upgrade to a triton or some other table friendly router, but I will be fine. I am new to routing (a year or so) and I can work with this. Of course I will may to shell out another $50 for a new insert from Bench Dog when I get a new router (depending on the router model), but I can live with that.

Will combining my router table and table saw be the smart move in the end? I have to say yes. I simply do not have space for a dedicated router table and this sort of “dual purpose” space is exactly the kind of thing I need to have a shop where not only everything fits, but is usable with little hassle so I can concentrate on wood working and not moving things around. I know there are many articles and advice on mobility in small shops, but I tried all that and taking the time to build a functioning shop with minimal mobility is better. It’s not easy, but it’s worth it. I think this Bench Dog product is a perfect fit.

Pickings are slim with this kind of product. MCLS has one, but without the t slot for feather boards on the table. I did not feel an mdf or phenolic table was what I wanted and wanted iron all the way.

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