Here’s a table extension I put together last night for the Freud Avanti Plunge Router that’s gotten a lot of press over the past few days. It’s made with some MDF, some scrap 1/2″ maple, 3/4″ oak, and 1/2″ plywood.
From the top, you can access the clamp, height adjustment, and spindle lock. The sides of the table were made from a 1/2″ piece of scrap maple wainscoting, cut in half (one half for each side). The hole on the far left was already there in the scrap piece, so it’s not used here. There are a couple of scrap pieces of oak to support the 3/4″ MDF top. Until I get the right length bolts, I just used a nut to tighten them down. I have a magnetic tray here that holds the adjustment know and wrench — it collects a lot of sawdust from the router, but it’s the only place it really fits.
I never even untied the router cord — tt hangs nicely on the hook I use for the saw fence. When I want to plug it in, I use the table saw outlet and the table saw switch. Remember to turn the router back off if you do this!!!
The insert is 1/2″ plywood. In one of the pictures, you’ll notice that I had to carve a little notch in one of the supports so the locking lever would swing freely. Oops! 🙂 The extension is mounted with T-nuts and slides out, and drops down for storage. (I guess that what this is useful for, but I pretty much have it up all the time.) The screws that join it all together are countersunk and basically just fasten the sides to the table and the oak supports.
Click for larger views.
I love your website, and this router table looks fantastic. I have the craftsman version of this table and I’m looking to do a similar job, however the t-nuts: I’ve found them from Ryobi parts and they want too much for shipping (10 would cost me $18). Did you make yours yourself?
Hi William — I’m glad you like the site! 🙂 I picked up a few extra Ryobi t-nuts on ebay a while back., but I’ve read that you can also get them from t-nuts.com. I’ve never ordered from there, though, so I don’t know what the cost would be. I wonder if you could make them by tapping a thick washer… I might have to give that a try. If you find another solution, please let me know and I’ll help spread the word!
Thanks! I ordered some t-nuts (I got 6 for $10) including shipping. They fit perfectly and are quite sturdy in the rails. Now time to design my router table. Thanks for your help.
Hi,
Just a note to say Thank You! for posting this router table idea. I’ve had the BT3100 for awhile and have been working with the accessory table as it came out of the box. Getting a little frustrated with the offset of the router, and even with a good fence, it’s a little too fiddly. Seeing your solution has been hugely helpful as I plan my next improvement. So thank you for sharing!
Hope you’re family is safe, healthy and prospering.
Also another vote for t-nuts.com .. though the smallest ones they used to make are out of stock, and not likely to be re-ordered.
Thanks for the comments! One more update: I still use this very extension, but over the years, the MDF started sagging a little — just about 1mm, but enough to make a difference. I reinforced the table with some 1″ angle iron steel fastened to the bottom of the table up against the oak slats. This straightened it right up.