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Reclaimed-Drawer Router Table

by rhoddity on March 11, 2013

Table of Contents
Reclaimed-Drawer Router Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Intro: Reclaimed-Drawer Router Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Step 1: The Drawer and Router . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Step 2: Prep Base for Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Step 3: Layout Holes for Screws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Step 4: Drill Mounting Screw Holes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Step 5: Top Surface Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Step 6: The Fence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Step 7: Adjustment Slot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Step 8: Final Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Author:rhoddity
I'm a percussion instructor (for now) from San Diego, just trying to make it by with what little tools I can find/restore, and slowly build up a workshop, with help
from my unbelievably supportive girlfriend. =) I'm also slowly saving up to afford the rest of my Private Pilot's License (Helicopters).

Intro: Reclaimed-Drawer Router Table

Hello all!
So I was walking home one day when I found an old discarded drawer in a field near my house. I only had to take one look at it to know exactly what I wanted to make.
Having recently acquired my own plunge router, I figured it wouldn't be too terribly difficult to turn the drawer into a makeshift router table!
The following shows my process in making this, for those who wish to try it, or for those who are simply curious. I can already think of over a dozen modifications that I
can (and more than likely will) add to the table as upgrades, and will list a few (or more) of them at the end. Not knowing a whole lot about router tables going into this
project, I made it all up as I went, using mostly scraps and hardware I had on hand.
I welcome any and all questions, and will explain my reasoning for any design element you may choose to question! ;)

Step 1: The Drawer and Router

So now that I had my idea, the first thing I had to do was make sure the router would even FIT in its new home. I stood the drawer (hereafter referred to as table) up and
held the router in place for a second, sizing it up while checking to make sure all the controls and adjustment areas could still be reached. I tried to make sure to keep it
as far back as possible to allow for the largest possible work area above.

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Image Notes
1. Plunge-Router from Harbor Freight

Image Notes
1. Box full o' nothing but possibility.

Step 2: Prep Base for Layout

After determining exactly where the router would be positioned, I proceeded to unscrew the base plate. While leaving it still on the router, I attached rings of blue painter's
tape (my fix-all for taping) to the base.

Image Notes
1. Unscrewing the base.

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Image Notes
1. Masking tape rings.

Step 3: Layout Holes for Screws

After moving the router back into its desired location, I pressed the unit upwards into the underside of the table's top surface. The tape rings kept it held in place without
making it difficult to remove, allowing me to easily transfer the location of the mounting screw holes to the table.

Image Notes
1. Pressing the base in.

Image Notes
1. The base sticks!

Step 4: Drill Mounting Screw Holes

With the base attached to the table, I needed to drill holes for the machine screws to pass through the top and into the router's mounting holes inside. I made sure to get
screws with enough length to make it all the through the table and router base.
After flipping the whole unit over, I drilled 13/64" holes into the table from the inside, using the existing holes in the router base as a guide. I then turned the whole thing
back around and counter-bored 3/8" holes, which then had to be enlarged (3/8" was my largest bit), about a 1/4" deep, to get the screw heads below the table's surface.
Once all the holes were drilled and counter-bored, I checked make sure that the weight of the router would actually be supported by screwing in the actual router. With
that done I moved on to the rest of the layout.

Image Notes
1. This particular router needs three of these.

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Image Notes
1. Drill 13/64" holes for the shanks.

Image Notes
1. Counter-bore 3/8" holes for the heads.

Image Notes
1. Mounting the router to the table.

Step 5: Top Surface Layout

In laying out guides and cut lines on the table top, I only needed to know where to put a fence, where the router base would extend to, and how much clearance I would
need for my largest router bit to fit through the table.
For the router base, I simply unmounted the router from the table, and removed the router base once again. I placed it on top of the table, using the mounting screws as
registration pins by inserting them through the base into the holes I previously drilled. After tracing around the outside of the the router base, I traced the inside opening
and removed the base from the table. This gave me a visual representation of where my router would be underneath the surface.
For the bit clearance, I only needed to mark the router bit's center point, which was easy with this router, since the opening has corners that I could draw a line through to
find the center. Then I measured the diameter of my largest bit, which in this case was rounded up to 11/2" for the larger of my two round-over bits. Using this
measurement, I was able to mark a circle with a compass that would later be cut out to allow the bit to pass through it.
The fence location was to be indicated by a straight line drawn across the entire back side of the table top, about 1" from the edge.

Image Notes

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1. Marking the router bit center.

Step 6: The Fence

I made my router table's fence by drilling two 1/4" holes in a 12" long piece of 2"x5/8" scrap wood I had, each about an inch from the ends. I then inserted 1/4" dowel
centers into the holes which I would later use to layout an adjustment slot.
With the dowel centers in the fence, I lined it up on the layout line I made earlier, and pressed down just hard enough to mark the location of the two holes that my fence
locking bolts would go through.

Image Notes
1. 1/4" Dowel Centers.

Image Notes
1. Drilling 1/4" holes in fence.

Image Notes
1. Dowel centers in holes.

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Image Notes
1. Fence marking on the layout line.

Step 7: Adjustment Slot

I wanted to make the fence adjustable, so I set one of the marked points as the pivot point, wherein the other would run along a slot cut into the table. Lacking a
sufficiently sized compass, I found that the easiest way to mark the arc for the slot was to use the other dowel center to scribe an arc where the slot would be.
To accomplish this, I first lined the fence up with the edge of the circle drawn earlier for the router bit. Once there, I pressed down on the fence to mark another center
point. With these two points marked, I was able to swingthe fence between them to scribe an arc directly onto the table.
Knowing that the slot would have to fit a 1/4" bolt, I moved pivot point 1/8" to either side of the original point and scribed two more arcs. With everything marked out, I
drilled 1/4" holes on all three center points, and then cut out the slot and bit opening. I used a jigsaw to cut both the slot and opening, but it would advise using a hole saw
or even a large Forstner bit, if you have either one. Sadly, I don't. =c
Now, it is probably worth noting that I made these cuts after the sun had set, and without an alternate light source (my "workshop" is a small corner of the yard
underneath a peach tree), I lost a fair bit of accuracy when cutting, as I was unable to see my layout lines. Please exercise caution and use safe building practices when
working with any tools. That being said, I didn't do half bad for cutting in the dark, eh? 'xD

Image Notes
1. No need for the fence to swing past the largest bit.

Image Notes
1. Scribing the arc.

Image Notes
1. The slot is marked.

Image Notes
1. Don't cut circles in the dark! =P

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Step 8: Final Assembly

I attached the fence using some old 1/4" bolts I had, which I fed up from inside the table and secured with plastic knobs on top of the fence. A quick check to make sure
the fence could swing easily when unlocked, and I was good to go!
With the fence in place, all I had left was to mount the router, hook a vacuum hose up to the dust port on the router, and pop in a bit! I ran a few test cuts, and quickly
began to understand how this simple setup turned an already versatile tool into an indispensable workhorse. I works great, and considering I paid about 1/100 of what I
could have, am extremely pleased with the result! I can tell this rig is going to see a LOT of use in the near future!
Well there you have it! With a few leftover parts, and a bit of ingenuity, we've once again proven that one man's trash, is another man's workshop! xP
[Future Upgrades]
-Cut a matching clearance hole in the fence
-Using the long sides of the drawer as the table top
-Making a split side fence
-Moving the fence knobs behind the fence
-Support for a miter gauge
-Improved dust collection, including surface dust
-Ability to raise the router with more ease and accuracy
-Custom router plate to increase bit range
-Add feather boards
-Many more!
Thanks for stopping by! Until next time!
Feel free to comment below! =)

Image Notes
1. Knobs lock the fence in place.
2. Bolts fed up from inside.

Image Notes
1. Dust collection via Harbor Freight shop-vac.
2. Dust collection! Very important!

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Image Notes
1. 3/4" Straight
2. 3/8" Dovetail
3. 1/4" Box Core

Image Notes
1. Suddenly, router table!

Image Notes
1. 3/8" Roundover
2. Once more, don't cut circles in the dark!

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