Router Tables: Parts, Guards, Fences and Feed Direction

The router is bolted to a mounting plate set flush in the top, with the bit rising through an insert ring. The work slides along a fence or, for curved parts, against the bit's bearing. Freud tells users of its large bits to use a table and fence wherever possible, and says its bits over 1-1/2 in diameter must only be used with the router mounted in one.

Upside down, the bit still turns the same way as in the hand, but seen from above the top it now turns counterclockwise. So the feed reverses too: Bosch says to feed the work from right to left across the front of the bit, against its rotation. The handheld rules are in using a router; both are drawn in setting up the table.

For scale, Bosch publishes the RA1181 as a 27 × 18 in top with fence and throat openings of 3-5/8 in, a 15 A switch and a weight of 30 lb. It does not accept template guides. Choosing among benchtop tables is covered in choosing a benchtop table.

Two makers have to agree: the table's, which lists the routers its plate fits, and the router's, which says whether the router may be table-mounted at all. Bosch's 1617 manual allows the router in a table in its fixed base, warns that its RA1166 plunge base is not recommended there because damage may occur, and says its D-handle base will not fit most tables. The RA1181 lists the 1617 in its fixed base only, and several other makers' routers likewise. DEWALT says its DCW600 compact router is not to be used in a router table at all; Milwaukee says never to put its 2723's plunge base in one and to operate that router only when it is held. If either manual says no, the answer is no. That pairing is one of the checks in choosing a router table, along with the kind of table.

Changing bit height from beneath the top is awkward, so makers offer ways to do it from above. Bosch's 1617 fixed base adjusts in a table with a 1/8 in hex wrench, and its RA1165 undertable base stays bolted to the plate so the motor can move between bases. A router lift is a separate carriage that raises and lowers the router from above the table; this page reviewed no lift maker's documents, so it gives no lift specifications. Mount and match a lift only as its maker says. Building your own is discussed in table projects.

• Against the rotation. Right to left across the front of the bit. Bosch's RA1181 manual forbids back-feeding, which is a climb cut.
• Never trap the stock. Work placed between the bit and the fence leaves the bit exposed and turns the feed into a climb cut — Bosch's 'fence trap'.
• Never reach past the bit. Bosch says never to hold the work on the outfeed side of the bit.
• Featherboards help; they do not hold. Bosch says they are not meant to hold the work alone. Use push sticks near the bit, and support long or wide work on the infeed and outfeed sides.
• Curves off the fence. Only with a bit that has a pilot bearing, against the starter pin with its guard, entering slowly and keeping the work on the bearing. Bosch warns against routing very small pieces.
• Warped stock goes concave side down on the table and against the fence, as Bosch's manual says.

The RA1181 collects through a port behind the fence opening. Milwaukee's manual says dust collection can reduce dust-related hazards — reduce, not remove — and calls for respiratory protection or OSHA-compliant extraction in dusty work. Keep extraction running for the whole cut and wear protection as well.

A shaper is a dedicated machine with a heavier spindle, slower speeds and cutters that mount on the spindle. It is compared with table-mounted routing in the shaper. Bits for either kind of routing are in router bits and their speeds in the speed chart. The family as a whole is in the router guide.