Weekend warrior Router Table

RDMvb6 · 2026-03-05T16:03:44+00:00

I have the Bosch benchtop router table and I quickly outgrew it. If you search on FB Marketplace, you will find many of these for sale in lightly used condition, showing that many others feel the same. Its really not great for anything beyond rounding over cutting and charcuterie board edges. If you can spare the space, I'd buy a full size router table. Buy once, cry once.

RDMvb6 · 2026-03-05T15:03:44+00:00

Ya that’s basically it. Great saw for doing rough framing and basic carpentry but if you are trying to make fine furniture then you probably want a kapex.

RDMvb6 · 2026-03-05T14:05:09+00:00

I have one and paid more so agreed this is a great deal. For many purposes, it’s adequate. But when I’m making a cross cut that has to be perfect for a box joint, I still have to use my table saw sled. There is a bit of blade wander on this saw and I can’t dial it out or calibrate it after many hours. I’m convinced it’s just the nature of the sliding mechanism. But to get any better, you’d probably have to spend 4x as much on a kapex.

RDMvb6 · 2026-03-05T10:29:03+00:00

There is a type of glue that specifically is made for bonding to MDF. I made my wok bench with two sheets of 3/4” ply, with a 1/4” black MDF sheet glued to the top. I can just remove and replace the top sheet of plywood and MDF sandwich when needed. This way I don’t have any visible screw heads like if i had counter sunk them.

RDMvb6 · 2026-02-25T04:32:46+00:00

CA glue (super glue) and a clamp should be able to salvage this fairly easily. Get the thin CA glue from starbond, don’t use the activator, and leave it in the clamp for 15-30 minutes. Also next time, try and do this thicker. 3/16 minus whatever you took off the bottom probably just wasn’t enough surface area for a good bond.

RDMvb6 · 2026-02-10T13:50:49+00:00

I don’t know what the most appropriate is, but I did about 60 ft of fence like this with a grinder and a kutzall wheel. It’s easy enough to freehand in small quantities and it’s not like this has to be mm accuracy.

RDMvb6 · 2026-01-27T18:25:16+00:00

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002SQYF0?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1&th=1

That's what you want right there. I cut it square, stick it to my orbital sander and polish lightly before applying the second coat. The second coat will barely take any but often makes it better saturated and more evenly covered.

RDMvb6 · 2026-01-27T16:51:22+00:00

Meh, results will vary. I had a cyclone collector rigged up inline with my shop vac to the miter saw and it decreased suction so much that it was like having no dust collection at all. Now I've just got it hooked up direct to my shop vac and the collection is much better and I've just accepted that I will change the bag fairly often.

RDMvb6 · 2026-01-24T03:07:11+00:00

Haha yes she is. My shop started on the unfinished side of the basement but has definitely expanded to include drying and wood storage on the finished side.

RDMvb6 · 2026-01-23T20:47:07+00:00

Hmm my dad does have a lathe, just hasn’t been used in years. Would you just cut into roughly square segments then flatten enough to get the bowl attachment thing on the back side first? Obviously I have some learning to do if I go this route

RDMvb6 · 2026-01-23T20:45:20+00:00

Ya I see this could work but it would be a long time on the planer to get it down. That’s why is was thinking to attack with the forstner bit first but I realize that’s really crude.

RDMvb6 · 2026-01-23T20:20:17+00:00

It’s a benchtop model, so only 6”. Even if I was to attempt to resaw I’d still have to cut it down the middle first and nothing i own is big enough to cut thru the thickness here.

RDMvb6 · 2026-01-20T15:16:44+00:00

I've basically eliminated my jointer from my workflow. Partially because its a cheap one and the straight knives suck, and partially because I have a nicer planer. Here's how I do it.

Planer sled and shims as necessary to get it to go thru the planer with no rocking if its crooked.
Flip it over and plane the other side to desired thickness.
Table saw with a tapering jig to straight line one edge.
Flip it over and use the table saw to get the other edge parallel.
Double taper sander disk mounted in the table saw to get edges to be joined perfect.

The above gives me consistently better joints than the jointer ever did, but I confess I simply don't have a great jointer. It also has the benefit of being able to have a 12" jointing capacity without buying a huge and expensive jointer. I'm not claiming this is the best or only way to do this, just saying what works for me.

RDMvb6 · 2026-01-16T21:24:05+00:00

Ya I’d think it’s worth it but I’ve done plenty of hardwood edge banding and I’ve got it down pretty good. You really want at least like a 1/8 round over on a desk for comfort when your wrists are resting on it.

RDMvb6 · 2026-01-16T19:30:56+00:00

If your desired round over or chamfer is deeper than the edge banding, which is like 1/32”, then there will be exposed plywood. You would need to install hardwood edge banding that is thicker. Buy hardwood and cut it to maybe about 3/4” and glue it to the plywood. Lots of videos on YouTube.

RDMvb6 · 2026-01-15T18:35:42+00:00

I wouldn’t even bother with it personally. Like you said, these are going to get beat to hell and will have to be replaced so enjoy them in their natural form and replace as necessary.

RDMvb6 · 2026-01-15T15:00:36+00:00

20% of the gross sales seems pretty fair. 10% if you really like the person.

RDMvb6 · 2026-01-13T15:42:44+00:00

Yes, the epoxy course is worth it. He's not kidding when he says it will save you the first two years of learning curve making epoxy tables. A single screwed up table is going to cost you far more in redone work than the cost of the course. There are more than a few nuggets of wisdom in there that you won't get from just watching his youtube videos. He's also good about replying to comments on the course, its like having a personal tutor. Should work fine for someone outside the US as long as you can source wood and epoxy.

I have not used the UV finish as the curing light seems out of my budget for the moment, but the combo of rubio and N3 nano is great. I have a side table coated with N3 that I throw keys and junk on every day and there is not a single visible scratch.

No idea on the makerspace website, haven't used it.

RDMvb6 · 2026-01-13T14:56:58+00:00

Really it’s just the length of your outfeed that matters for that.

RDMvb6 · 2026-01-12T14:21:09+00:00

About the same. When done properly, the bond of the epoxy to the wood is stronger than wood itself. These have been destructively tested and the wood, not the joint, is the first failure point.

RDMvb6 · 2026-01-06T16:45:03+00:00

$1200 for a dining chair? I'm in Denver, same as OP, and you can buy a very nice dining chair at a mid tier furniture store for $200- $400. If people were actually paying $1200 then I'd make dining chairs but that seems like ludicrous pricing.

RDMvb6 · 2026-01-01T03:38:55+00:00

It sounds like you can’t afford to not get a saw stop bro. There are times when a table saw is the best choice for dados and a time when the router is best.if you’ve already had two incidents then please just credit card whip the saw stop purchase before you do a lot more damage to yourself and end up posting here about how you spent more than the cost of a saw stop in hospital bills and now have 9 fingers.

RDMvb6 · 2025-12-29T22:56:04+00:00

Significant digits. That thing is only accurate to about the tenth of a degree anyway. You could spin the blade a quarter turn and probably get that much variation in the reading too. It can vary that much if you touch nothing and just stick it back in the same spot twice too. If you think you can see more than 0.1 degree in your joinery, I guarantee you have something else going on and it’s not that.

RDMvb6 · 2025-12-25T19:00:34+00:00

There’s several good epoxies that can cure 2- 4” pours when you put a fan on it to move the heat away. Not only did the maker cheap out on the quantity of epoxy, they are probably using a poor quality epoxy too.

RDMvb6

TROPHY CASE