Mount and level
Getting the router into the table
Check that the router may go in
Its own manual must allow table use in the base you mount. Bosch's 1617 goes in its fixed base, not its plunge base; Milwaukee says never to put its 2723's plunge base in a table. Details in router tables.
Level the plate
Bosch has you set the plate on its levelling screws and turn them, with a straightedge across the opening, until the plate is level and flush with the top; recheck once the router hangs from it.
Fit the smallest insert
The smallest ring that clears the bit by at least 1/16 in on every side, as Bosch's manual requires. Never enlarge one.
Seat the bit
Unplugged. Bosch's table manual asks for at least 3/4 in of shank engagement and everything securely tightened — router in its base, bit in its collet, base on the plate.
Wire the switch
Bosch's 1617 manual: both switches off, the table's switch plugged in, the router plugged into it, the router's own switch locked on, and the table's switch used to start and stop.
Set height and depth to a marked board
Bosch's method needs nothing but a straight, square test board. Mark two lines on its end: one for the height of cut, one for the final depth into the edge. Raise the bit to the height line; then move the fence until the outermost cutting edge meets the depth line, use the table's scales to keep the fence square, and lock it. If the depth is more than one pass should take, set the fence for a shallower first pass and move it back for each pass after — Bosch gives no figure, and nor does this page. Setup bars, machined blocks of set thicknesses, are a quick way to set a height or fence distance, but the cut on scrap is the check. Bosch's 1617 can be raised from above the table with a 1/8 in hex wrench.
Operations on the fence
| Operation | Guided by | How the fence is set |
|---|---|---|
| Edge profile, bit without a pilot | The fence | Fence sets the depth; facings 1/4 in clear of the bit; deep cuts in several passes |
| Edge profile, piloted bit | The bearing, with the fence | Fence back until the pilot just protrudes past the facings; facings 1/4 in clear of the bit |
| Jointing an edge | The fence, outfeed facing shimmed | A straight bit; one 1/16 in shim or both for 1/8 in behind the left facing; the left facing lined up with the bit's cutting edge |
| Grooves, flutes, veining | The fence | Facings closed up to support the work continuously; featherboards and a push shoe recommended |
| Curves | The starter pin and the bearing | No fence; the pin and its guard, piloted bits only |
Bosch's figures for its RA1181. On a bearing-guided bit, Freud's instructions line both fence faces up with the bearing using a straightedge.
Before each operation, Bosch's sequence is the same: lower the guard to its operating position and tighten it; check both switches are off; feed a piece of scrap right to left while holding it against the fence and down on the table; switch off, unplug, adjust and repeat until the scrap is right; then cut the work. The miter-gauge slot takes gauges 3/4 in wide and 3/8 in deep; for any cut with the gauge and the fence together, Bosch says to align the fence with the table's scales first, and Freud to have the fence parallel to the slot.
Feed rules
- Right to left, against the bit's counterclockwise rotation as seen from above.
- Never between bit and fence. Bosch calls it a fence trap: the bit is exposed and the feed becomes a climb cut.
- Never let go of the work until the cut is complete and the work is clear of the bit, as Bosch's manual says.
- Push sticks and featherboards keep hands away from the bit; featherboards do not hold the work on their own.
- Support long or wide work at infeed and outfeed: Bosch warns oversize work can flip off or tip the table.
- Curves on the starter pin start against the pin and swing slowly into the bit, the work kept on the bearing. Bosch says not to rout very small pieces.
Safety— The guard comes down for the cut
Bosch's manual has you lower the overhead guard to its operating position before every operation in this list, and to use it unless an operation requires otherwise. Raising it to see the cut, or leaving it off to save time, is not one of those operations.
Dust
OSHA names exhaust ventilation at the source as the preferred control for wood dust. Connect extraction to the port behind the fence opening before the first cut and keep wearing respiratory, eye and hearing protection: extraction reduces exposure, it does not end it.
Where to go next
Bits and their speed ratings: router bits, the bit profile chart and the speed chart. Joints commonly cut on a table, such as box joints, have their own pages; a shop-made split fence is built in router table projects. Handheld work is in using a router, and the whole family in the router guide. The same habits of feeding and push-stick use apply on the saw: see table saw safety.
Before the first cut on the table
- Router allowed in a table in this base; plate level and flush
- Smallest insert clearing the bit by 1/16 in a side
- Bit seated with the engagement your table and router ask for
- Height and fence set to a marked board, fence locked
- Guard lowered; featherboards and push sticks ready
- Scrap fed right to left and checked; extraction running
Sources
Steps follow Bosch's RA1181 manual because it gives one complete, consistent procedure; other tables differ in parts and figures, and their manuals govern. The 1/4 in facing clearance, the shim thicknesses and the shank engagement are Bosch's for that table.
- 1.
RA1181 Benchtop Router Table Operating/Safety Instructions. Bosch, 2010.
Used for: Levelling the plate flush with its screws and a straightedge; setting height and depth to lines marked on a test board; multiple shallower passes for deep cuts; fence facings 1/4 in clear of the bit; jointing with one 1/16 in or two shims for 1/8 in on the outfeed facing; the pilot just protruding past the facings for piloted bits; continuous facings, featherboards and a push shoe for grooves; the starter pin with its guard, right to left; trial cuts in scrap; at least 3/4 in of shank engagement; the miter slot for 3/4 × 3/8 in gauges with the fence aligned to the scales; never letting go until the work is clear; supports for long work; the guard used unless an operation requires otherwise.
- 2.
1617, 1617EVS, 1617EVSPK, 1618EVS Operating/Safety Instructions. Bosch, 2018.
Used for: Mounting the 1617 in a table in its fixed base, not the plunge base; locking the router's switch on and using the table switch; adjusting height from above with a hex wrench; feeding right to left across the front of the bit.
- 3.
Premier Adjustable Rail and Stile System (instructions poster). Freud.
Used for: Aligning the infeed and outfeed fences with a bit's bearing using a straightedge; the fence parallel to the miter slot; featherboards and push sticks; multiple passes.
- 4.
M18 FUEL Compact Router, Cat. No. 2723-20, Operator's Manual. Milwaukee Tool.
Used for: A compact router's plunge base never to be used in a table, and the router operated only when held.
- 5.
Wood Dust: Possible Solutions. U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Used for: Local exhaust ventilation at the source as the preferred control for wood dust.
About this tutorial
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