At a glance
Finished dimensions
Overall sizes
- Top
- 32 × 20 in, two layers of plywood (2t thick, t measured)
- Bit position
- Centred left to right, 10 in from the front edge
- Base
- 24 in wide outside, 20 in deep, R + 2 in high (R = your router's height below the plate)
Materials
| Item | Quantity | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Plywood sold as 3/4 in | About half a 4 × 8 ft sheet | Measure its actual thickness, t |
| 1×2 (3/4 × 1-1/2 in) softwood | 4 ft | Cleats under the top |
| Router-table insert plate with rings | 1 | Purchased; its maker's size, thickness and instructions |
| Router-table guard | 1 | Commercially made, fitted as its maker says |
| Wood glue and 1-1/4 in screws | As needed | For laminating the top and building the base |
Cut list
| Part | Qty | Dimensions | Material |
|---|---|---|---|
| Top layer | 2 | t × 20 × 32 in | Plywood |
| Base side | 2 | t × 20 × (R + 2) in | Plywood |
| Base back | 1 | t × (24 − 2t) × (R + 2) in | Plywood |
| Bottom | 1 | t × 20 × 32 in | Plywood |
| Top cleat | 2 | 3/4 × 1-1/2 × 20 in | 1×2 |
Tools
- Circular or table saw
- Router with a pattern bit or straight bit and a straightedge
- Jigsaw
- Drill/driver
- Clamps
- Square
What this table is, and what it is not
A router table has two kinds of part. The flat top, the base and the fence are woodworking, and you can build them. The parts that make it safe to run — the plate that carries the router, the rings that close the opening round the bit, the guard over the bit, and the switch — are engineered parts, and router makers point to them: Bosch's manual for its 1617 says to use the router table's fence or starter pin and the appropriate guard and to follow the router table's instruction manual. A shop-made table has no instruction manual, so this plan keeps those parts commercial and limits the table to work against a fence. For freehand work on piloted bits, which needs a starter pin and its own guard, use a table made for it.
- Check your router first. Not every router may go in a table. Bosch's 1617 can in its fixed base, but its plunge base is not recommended there; Milwaukee says the 2723's plunge base is never to be used in a table; DEWALT says its DCW600 compact router is not for router tables. Read your router's manual before buying anything.
- Buy the plate and guard. Choose an insert plate that fits your router's hole pattern or that its maker shows how to drill, and a guard its maker says mounts on a fence or table like this one.
- Use the published fence. The split fence clamps across this top; it is 36 in long, so it overhangs the 32 in top by 2 in at each end for the clamps.
The design
The top is two layers of plywood glued face to face, 32 × 20 in, so it is twice the sheet's actual thickness. Plywood sold as 3/4 in is often thinner, and APA notes panels are labelled by actual thickness, so measure yours and call it t; every size that depends on it is written in t. The plate sits flush in a pocket routed in the top layer to the plate maker's size and thickness, centred left to right with the bit 10 in from the front edge, which leaves 10 in behind the bit for the fence and its clamps. A through-opening inside the pocket leaves a 3/8 in ledge all round for the plate to rest on — a BenchRoot choice.
The base is a box 24 in wide and 20 in deep, open at the front for reaching the router: two sides, a back and a bottom. Its height is R + 2 in, where R is your router's height below the plate when fitted; the 2 in is clearance, again a design choice. The bottom is 32 in wide, so 4 in projects past each side as an ear for a clamp to hold the table to a bench. Cleats along the inside top edges of the sides take the screws that hold the top down from below.
Building it
Top, base and fitting
Laminate the top
Glue the two top layers face to face with their edges flush and clamp or screw them from the underside until the glue sets. Check the top for flatness with a straightedge before going further.
Lay out the plate
Mark the top's centreline and a line 10 in from the front edge. Centre the plate's ring on their crossing and trace the plate, or follow the plate maker's template and instructions.
Rout the pocket
Rout the pocket to the plate's thickness so the plate sits flush with the top, using a pattern bit against a template or a straight bit against a clamped straightedge. Then cut the through-opening 3/8 in inside the pocket's edge with a jigsaw.
Build the base
Screw and glue the back between the sides, square, then fix the sides and back to the bottom so it projects 4 in each side. Screw a cleat along the inside top edge of each side.
Fix the top
Set the top on the base, centred, and screw up through the cleats into the bottom layer only, so no screw comes through the work surface.
Mount the router
With the router unplugged, attach it to the plate as the router and plate makers describe, set the plate in the pocket and fit the ring that suits the bit.
Fit the guard and fence
Fit the guard as its maker says, clamp the split fence across the top, and clamp the table's ears to the bench.
Using it
- Guard and rings. Bosch's table manual uses the overhead guard unless an operation requires otherwise, and its insert rings are at least 1/16 in larger than the bit on each side and never altered.
- Feed direction. Feed against the bit's rotation: Bosch says the bit turns counterclockwise seen from above, so work moves from right to left across the front of the bit. Never feed work between the bit and the fence.
- Before every bit change unplug the router, as OSHA's tool booklet and the router manuals say, and check the work for nails before routing.
- Start clear. Start the router only with the bit out of the work.
Guards, feed and fences in general are explained in router tables; bits in router bits. If buying is the better route, choosing a router table compares benchtop, portable and cabinet tables.
The shop projects family
| Build | Page | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Benchtop router table | This page | Fence work with a router |
| Workbench | Workbench plans | A 2×4 and plywood bench at your height |
| Miter saw station | Miter saw station | Level support either side of a miter saw |
| Winding sticks and a marking gauge | Homemade woodworking tools | Checking twist and marking lines |
| Joiner's mallet | Mallet plans | Driving chisels and assembling joints |
| Tool chest | Tool chest plans | Storing and carrying hand tools |
| Router table fence | Router table projects | A split fence with a dust port |
| Crosscut sled | Table saw sled plans | Square crosscuts on a table saw |
| Box joint jigs | Box joint jig projects | Finger joints on a table saw |
| Dado guide and flattening sled | Router projects | Handheld router work |
| Bench hook and miter box | Using a backsaw | Holding small work for sawing |
Each page states its own level, tools and limits.
Safety— The parts you buy are the safety parts
Use a router its maker allows in a table, a commercially made plate, rings and guard, and a switch used as its maker says; this plan includes no wiring. Shop practice is in woodworking safety rules and protective equipment in woodworking safety equipment.
Before the first cut
- Router allowed in a table by its manual, in the base it allows
- Plywood measured and t used in every cut
- Plate flush in its pocket; ring at least 1/16 in larger than the bit each side
- Guard fitted as its maker says
- Fence clamped at both ends; table clamped to the bench
- Feed right to left across the front of the bit
Sources
A BenchRoot design. The top, base and dimensions were drawn and checked but not built or tested for this page, and no flatness, accuracy or load figure is claimed. The router manual cited defers to the router table's own instructions, which a shop-made table does not have; so this table is limited to fence work, and its insert plate, rings, guard and any switch are commercially made parts used as their makers say. BenchRoot designs no guard, plate or wiring.
- 1.
1617, 1617EVS, 1617EVSPK, 1618EVS Operating/Safety Instructions. Bosch, 2018.
Used for: The router usable in a router table in its fixed base, the plunge base not recommended there and the D-handle base not fitting most tables; holes for attaching it to a router table mounting plate, drilled and countersunk if the plate lacks them; always using the table's fence or starter pin and the appropriate guard and following the router table's instruction manual; feeding against the bit's counterclockwise rotation as seen from above; checking the work for nails; starting the router only with the bit clear of the work.
- 2.
RA1181 Benchtop Router Table Operating/Safety Instructions. Bosch, 2010.
Used for: One router table maker's rules: the overhead guard used unless an operation requires otherwise; insert rings at least 1/16 in larger than the bit on each side and never altered; never feeding work between the bit and the fence.
- 3.
DCW600 20V Max* Compact Router, Instruction Manual. DEWALT, 2022.
Used for: A compact router whose manual says not to use it in a router table.
- 4.
M18 FUEL Compact Router, Cat. No. 2723-20, Operator's Manual. Milwaukee Tool.
Used for: A router whose plunge base is never to be used in a table.
- 5.
Panel Thickness Tolerances and Labeling (Technical Topic TT-054). APA — The Engineered Wood Association, 2013.
Used for: Panels labelled by Performance Category and by actual thickness rather than nominal thickness alone, so a panel sold as 3/4 in may be thinner.
- 6.
Hand and Power Tools (OSHA 3080). Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 2002.
Used for: Disconnecting power tools before changing accessories such as bits, and following the maker's instructions.
About this project
Written by BenchRoot Editorial. How BenchRoot sources, checks and corrects its pages is set out in the Editorial Policy. If something here is wrong or unclear, the contact page explains how to tell us.