MGoodwin
ArboristSite Member
I know there was a previous post about this recently but couldn't find it. At any rate, I recently finished my 600SF shop and I am getting setup. I had built a bench using two pieces of CSM'ed doug fir at about 17" wide by 8' long. Over the past four years they have twisted and bowed a bit so I decided this would be a good opening salvo for the router mill in the new shop. Attached are some pics of my setup.
Setup:
Rails: 1x3 80/20 extruded aluminim
Carriage: HDPE runners with groves attached to aluminum bar that is then attached into the wood carriage
Cross sled: 5/8 ply, about 6' ft wide with the router offset to one side.
Router: 3.5HP Freud with 1.5" Magnate router bit (put lots of BF by it and still works fine).
Clamps: 8' bar clamps running through 2x4 blocks. Works well, nice and easy to secure work.
I run my paths length wise and slide the router sled over the wood carriage by about 1/2" increments. The big downside is the required room as your sled over hangs the work bench substantially. The big up shot is this design mitigates any setup defects from the setup, namely in the sled slidding across the carriage (versus having the router slide on a plate mounted in the sled). Another benefit, that I don't have any personal experience of otherwise, is the sled/router now weighs more therefor giving a better finish, or at least more stable during heavy cutting. The level is a 4' level. Little hard to tell from the pics but that is "dead nuts flat". Haven't put a feeler gauge on there but I would expect sub .005" deviation.
Setup:
Rails: 1x3 80/20 extruded aluminim
Carriage: HDPE runners with groves attached to aluminum bar that is then attached into the wood carriage
Cross sled: 5/8 ply, about 6' ft wide with the router offset to one side.
Router: 3.5HP Freud with 1.5" Magnate router bit (put lots of BF by it and still works fine).
Clamps: 8' bar clamps running through 2x4 blocks. Works well, nice and easy to secure work.
I run my paths length wise and slide the router sled over the wood carriage by about 1/2" increments. The big downside is the required room as your sled over hangs the work bench substantially. The big up shot is this design mitigates any setup defects from the setup, namely in the sled slidding across the carriage (versus having the router slide on a plate mounted in the sled). Another benefit, that I don't have any personal experience of otherwise, is the sled/router now weighs more therefor giving a better finish, or at least more stable during heavy cutting. The level is a 4' level. Little hard to tell from the pics but that is "dead nuts flat". Haven't put a feeler gauge on there but I would expect sub .005" deviation.
