Working with a router can help make some interesting deigns as well as better joints in your wood projects and the process can be made simpler with a wood working router table.

There are inexpensive wood working router tables on the market which function well for the hobbyist and for a beginning professional, or you can actually make your own. It doesn’t have to be a large router table that experienced professionals use, but a wood working router table can be useful for the person who works on the weekends.

You can buy the router table top at www.routerworkshop.com or at some of the larger wood working or hardware stores. The top will already have the opening routed out to hold the router attachment. You can make it any height you choose depending on whether it’s going to sit on top of your workbench or be a stand-alone wood working router table. However, it will have to be high enough for your router to hang under it.

Don’t Forget Accessories for Your Table

An adjustable guide to keeping your material straight as it goes past the router blade will be needed as well as a removable fence along the back. Two adjustable fences may be used to ensure against unwanted slide as the wood passes through.

About 80 percent of routing work can be done on a wood working router table, especially straight runs, rabbetted joints and dovetail work. It can make sure the cuts are straight and even. Rounded pieces may be better routed by hand. A wood working router table may not be suitable for performing template work when the quality of the cut is factored into the finished piece.

Whether you make or buy your wood working router table is a decision only you can make. The important things to consider are safety, workability and stability. Today’s routers can handle bits which can cut up to 4” which is a job mainly for shapers, but the bits are there so people use them. While a wood working router table will make them easier to use, it can also reduce the stability of the table as the deeper the cut, the more pressure is required.

If you choose to make your own wood working router table consider adding drawers and shelves for storage. Remember, though, it’s a tool stand to be used often and not a storage cabinet, so simplicity is the key.