My first home made router table

[mldpsu]

Ok here is my 2 cents for what it’s worth. First, I really like CNCzone, lots of great people, projects and ideas. I like reading how other people do things. Here is a little about me. In the 80’s, when in college, I worked for a company that retrofitted CNC controls on machine tools. Everything from Bridgeports and Shizoka Mills to Hardinge Lathes. Got a great background working there. Recently, about 4 years ago now I added CNC to a Sieg X2 and then a Sieg X3. The X3 is a great machine, a real workhorse. I’m currently adding a gas spring as a counter-weight for the head and a one-shot lubrication system for the ways. So now, I thought it would be fun to design and build a large router table on a small budget. I started collecting parts about 2 years ago from ebay and everywhere else. I started construction in my spare time last May. Just finished about a week ago. The machine works great and cost me about $600 to complete. The working envelope is about 50”x36”x5” although I have reduced the X axis buy 15 inches for rigidity, but this can be adjusted back to the original 50” when needed. Take a look at the pictures and let me know what you think. One point I would like to get across is the material I used for the main structure. Anyone recognize it? They are the aluminum side rails from a computer networking rack. They are cheap, strong and straight.

Here are some pictures:







Thanks, mldpsu

[40fordcoupe]

I'm impressed, so impressed that I probably will hesitate to post my first router table when it is finished. BTW nice pictures too. What are you going to be using it for?

[mldpsu]

Thanks for taking time to read my post and for the compliments. I’m not really sure they are deserved. I’ve seen some beautiful work on cnczone. There are a lot of smart and talented guys (oops !!! people) on this site. I hope you do post pictures of your machine, as I’m sure it will be a nice piece of work. I hope to use my router for some production work engraving measurement grids in melamine and maybe some wood working projects for around the house. I purchased a copy of Vectric’s VCarve. What a great program. I can create programs for my mill in minutes, programs that used to take me hours to code by hand. I just tried it with my router table over the weekend and both the program and router performed great. I did however find an issue I just don’t understand. My router seems to loose .01” per foot or .001” per inch of x axis movement. It seems fairly consistent. I’m wondering if the motors I purchased off ebay were really 180 steps per rev. I’ll have to check it out when I get home tonight. Well lunch break is over, good luck to you and I’ll be looking for progress on your machine.