Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi Folks;
I need to replace the ancient PC router in my router table. It has seen better days & is not user friendly as a table mounted unit.
I had a quick look in HD a couple of days ago but they only had one router with an easy, though table, depth adjuster.
Router tables are fairly new to me... What other features should I be looking for?
Thanks, in advance. Dan

I find a shaper with a router bit adapter pretty hard to beat. You have all of the benefits of a router table with built in precise vertical adjustment plus the added capabilities of a shaper. Sure, a shaper costs a lot more than a router but when you figure in the cost of the router plus a router lift and a table (even if you make your own table you'll still need a specialty base plate) the cost gap starts to narrow.

Scott-
Interesting idea- if I had more space I'd give it a try.

Do you find that the slower speed (10,000rpm?) of the shaper is a problem vs the usual router speed range?

Cheers
John

Dan-
I can't help much here, I think. My 'big' routers are generally used in a hole in the outfeed table of my saw (aka cheapo router table), and I actually like the 'twist to raise' feature of the PC routers, and they drop out easily when I need to get them out of the way.

Do you have any pics of your (new?) router table? It sounds like it's difficult to get at the router for 'eye-level' adjustment?

Cheers
John

Thanks guys.
I did a bit of independent research this morning & found what I needed. The table I have now is a crude affair & will be replaced when I can get a new router.
Triton produces a trio of routers, beautifully equipped for table mounting. Some really smart engineering went into these units!
Since I need to replace my old PC anyway, I'll build the new table around this router.
Scott... Can you do a 1/4" stopped dado on a shaper? One of the main reasons for me wanting a decent table is to do dadoes for truss rods, CF bars etc.
Good to see ya posting, instead of just lurking, Scott! Hope you'll pipe up more often, now that you've broken the ice.

I've never found the slower shaper speed to be an issue. You can always feed a bit more slowly to get a chip load (amount of material cut per flute per revolution) equivalent to a higher speed router.

The shaper router adapter is a router chuck that has been adapted to attach to the shaper in the same way as shaper spindles. Once it's in the shaper, it works exactly the same as an upside down router would so stopped slots are no problem.

I was looking at lift system for my existing router, in the end I went for a new Triton and an Incra system. The Triton has a built in adjustment which can be accessed from the top of top of the table. I needed to get the Incra table drilled to fit the Triton but the suppier did all that for me.

http://www.incra.com/

John