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I received a Lowe's gift card for Christmas and the cheap particle board Bosch router table ($169) is tempting because I am flat broke and I wouldn't have to spend any money. However I've been eyeing and thinking about saving up for a Jessum router table $770-ish delivered.

http://www.jessemdirect.com/Rout_R_Lift_II_Complete_Router_Table_Package_p/rout-r-lift%20ii%20kit-1.htm

However I wouldn't be able to afford the Jessum for a while. Is it overkill? I'm getting out of the ARMY in 10 months and I may do some kitchen work so I've been thinking about holding out for the Jessum once I get myself situated after the ARMY.

Is the Bosch table that crappy though? I have three Bosch routers and the 10" dual bevel sliding compound mitre saw with stand. I absolutely love every single one of those tools but when I walk into Lowe's and look at this Bosch Router table it really just likes like a little POS to me. Opinions?

Joey,

Take 20 bucks and get yourself a half sheet of 3/4" MDF and build your own table with a stand and a fence you can hold in place with f clamps. If you can build a guitar you can figure out how to mount the router without the bit hanging too far out of the collet. Use that for a while and then you can decide if you need a $170 or a $770 version.

Steve

I agree with Steve and Filippo. Not much sense in buying a particle board table when you
can make one yourself. I've made at least 10-12 of them over the last 25 years. I use particle board with a piece of white laminate on top. It wears much better than using sheet melamine, but I use mine more like a shaper. If you screw a hardwood frame around the top, it will stay much more rigid.

Alex

_________________
"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

If I do the DIY thing I want it here...
But there's a few problems with that. Namely I want to leave the router in place permanently and this already doubles as a work bench/go-bar deck.


Then there's the underside. Which there isn't much room to mount a router.

I like this bench the way it is, so I guess I'll deal with setting up rails/guides until I can afford a precision table with a precision lift.

I used to use my grandfather's shop made router table but I always found I got better results taking the time to set up rails. But he also had it set up with a junky Craftsman Router.

Grazi.

This is my homemade table that works real well for truss rod slots.

One reason a "router table" located in the wing of a tablesaw is so popular is that it doesn't cost anything and doesn't take up any additional space.
I made a router table out of corian scraps and a metal base, with drop in inserts for different router bases. I found it took up more space than it was worth for the use I made of it. I drilled a hole in the wing of my tablesaw and mounted a router base under it, and that is what I use now. If I find the need, I will fit the corian inserts into the wing, but for now a simple hole for the bit to poke through works fine.
I recently got a new tool catalog in the mail. $50 push sticks and whatnots. Perhaps I am a bit of a curmudgeon when it comes to expensive gadgets that are hard pressed to pay for themselves through honest work. For the price of the Jessum router table kit a person could buy a good used shaper.
If you really want a router table, as others have said, make one. Almost any flat surface you can drill a hole in and sink a screw into will work.

I'm not sure about the Bosch router table but I bought the Ryobi from Home Depot and it is not a bad table.

I had an MDF one that I had made a number of years ago that was giving up the ghost and was a pain to remove and replace the router.
I was in the middle of a project when I couldn't attach my router to it anymore and didn't want to take the time to build a new one.

The Ruobi is big enough to do what I need and be able to store it away when I don't need it. It is certainly not a $700 one but it gets the job done and has all the accessories I need. It is normally about $100 but I got it on sale for about $80.

Not a Bosh but it is made pretty well and I can at least remove my router easily.

Bob