My day job is in IT, so the routers I normally deal with don't usually produce sawdust.
However, I'm currently working on finishing the baseboards in my kitchen so I can move on to building my portable radio shack, and that meant it was time to dig out my old router and find a way to make it work for me.
I bought the thing many years ago to trim counter top laminate, used it for one job, and then put it away. It's such a huge bulky thing that I've never bothered to dig it out. I even have a router table, which I've never used. (My router doesn't fit, and I've never gotten around to modifying the table to suit. I also don't have space in my garage for another table.)
However, the router is the perfect tool for cutting the baseboards to fit around the stairs, specifically the little relief cuts so the trim will fit around the metal bullnose on the front of each step. And so began the project to find a way to make the router useful. And by useful I mean it can be set up in a minute, stashed out of the way quickly when not in use, and doesn't take up a lot of space when stored.
The result is what you see below. The router table is composed of a sheet of 3/4" plywood, that has a couple braces on the bottom so that it can sit on the rails that extend from the side of the table saw table. The table saw fences can be used in some situations, and I can clamp the vacuum near the bit to collect the sawdust.
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| The portable router table. It's being used, even while jammed in a corner. |
Using this rig, with the flush trim bit, I can easily whip off a dozen identical pieces of trim for wrapping the stairs. When I'm done, the router simply lifts out of the saw table, and I can throw it on a shelf.
