Router Table Upgrade now ver 3.0.3

Got the CI (cast iron) plates to the shed, and cleaned up overnight, so had a chance to play around a little with the layout to see how it might all work.  After a couple of iterations, I have been forming some more solid concepts with what I want to achieve.

Firstly, to the cleanup.  As we saw in the earlier post, they were wrapped in plastic with some horrible looking surface (which I hoped was antirust) and it turned out to be.  Very sticky too.

I decided to try some thinner on it, to see if that would budge it easily.

CI Wing Cleanup

It did!

Spun Metal Bowl

BTW, I find a small collection of these spun metal bowls very handy around the workshop.  In this case, it’s holding the thinner that I’m using, but they are good for all sorts of things, from collections of miscellaneous screws, to soaking old rusty components, to BBQ salads. Well perhaps not.

CI Router Table, Incra and MagSwitch

So once I had all the plates cleaned, I laid them out and placed the Incra LS Positioner on top to see how it would work, and what size table I really needed.  It also confirmed for me that just using two MagJigs is sufficient to solidly lock the fence down for routing operations.  Doesn’t the CI top look the bees knees!

Choosing a Layout

After trying a few different options, (and remembering I still have 2 wings to come, cut with the hole for the router), I decided that I wanted a smooth wing nearest me, then 1 router wing, then the other two smooth wings.  Having a second router mounted would cause it to be too far from me to operate safely, and the LS Positioner is not long enough to service both locations from the one mounting point.  Not that I can’t move it, but that defeats the purpose.

So the plan is back to having the other router wing mounted on the tablesaw, and this table to become a 680 x 1000mm cast iron router table.

Final operation would look something like this, with MagSwitchable jigs in play!

Looking the part

Just need the one with the hole in it so I can bolt it all together and start thinking about the base.

The Box Progresses

Glueup complete, now just needs to be sanded, have the lid fitted, oiled, waxed, felt applied, and inserts constructed.  Hmm wonder if Xmas will beat me?

Mulga and Cyprus Box

Still need the large and small trays for the various Pandora paraphernalia.  (Chains and individual charms)