Low friction surface for router table top

[kman-oz]

G'day all,

I'm in the process of building myself a router table and I'm unsure exactly how I should be preparing the top surface so that materials will glide over it easily.

I've got some estapol laying around, would a couple of coats and a once over with steel wool be sufficient? I'm fairly new to this and I haven't done any prior surface preparation on the top, so I have raw KD Tas Oak to start with.... excusing the glue I'm yet to clean up :)

The plan is to plane the top flat and even, then a light sand, then finish coat. But if you have a better suggestion please let me know.

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Dave.

[Bodgy]

I'd just wax the top, Kmart. Sand down to the highest grit you have patience for, and then wax and polish.

I love the UB wax, but for working surfaces you can get a bottle of beeswax et al, at Bunnies for $2. Splash it on.

Disappointingly, unless your tabletop is steel, it'll get scratched pretty quick. My pristine laminex now looks like its been in a bitch fight, and even the table (alum) insert is scratched. This is after 2 weeks.

[kman-oz]

Interesting. Would it not be beneficial in that case to apply a harder finish? 2-pac or something?

It won't get daily use, so I may to too worried about damaging the surface, but I'm going to be spending a fair bit of time getting this thing flat so I'd like it to last a lifetime if possible.

I'll have a look at the wax option anyway. Thanks Bodgy!

[Bodgy]

Yeah some two pack would be good. Make sure you seal the whole thing completly, so no moisture gets in and warps it. Wax on the two pack after sanding the top.

[kman-oz]

Sounds like a plan. Thanks again!

[durwood]

Or you could glue on some melenine (laminex-formica)

[kman-oz]

And cover up the lovely timber surface! This is something of a practice run for me also, I've never made a table top before. So far I'm doing really well (read: I haven't broken anything yet), so I think I'll stick with the timber finish and see how it goes.

If I'm ever making another one it would be simpler to use MDF and laminate, but this is an experiment as much as a practical tool.

Thanks for the suggestion.

[scottyk]

Form ply
Cant beat it for that job.
Varnished will not last long as most horizontal surfaces in most sheds end up getting used for a bench and then in gets ruined.

Scotty

[Harry72]

Laminate some .3mm stainless sheet on to the top, I wouldnt use a glued up hardwood/softwood top as the slightest seasonal movement will render it usless as a RT top, use a thick manmade substrate like mdf or chipboard.(and seal it well)

[dazzler]

Hi

I have an MDF top finished with tung/poly and wax as per pat warner style router tables.

See here;


http://www.patwarner.com/router_table.html

seems to work fine:)

goood luck

dazzler

[durwood]

If you want to keep the timber finish then a two part polyurethane is your best bet as Bodgy suggested. Give it a week to cure completely.

If you want to go better there is a clear finish they use on prestige motor vehicles (Lexus, BMW etc) which is virtually impossible to scratch even with a screwdriver. BUT its real expensive. If you know someone in the trade who has access to it or you can track down a user they may sell you a small amount as you won't need much for such a small area.

[kman-oz]

Thanks all for you thoughts. I definitely want to stick with a timber top just to see how well it holds together. The timber is recylced and so far it's cost me some joiner biscuits, some glue and my homemade panel clamps. If it works and looks good it's a cheap excersice, if not I've not lost anything in the process and learned a lot to boot.

A tougher surface is appealing, but half the point of a timber top is the ability to repair it. I can always sand it back, fill it and varnish again if the need arise.

Thanks people!

[Harry72]

Use the recycled KD'TOak to form the router cabinet frame, sorry gunna say it again dont use wood for the top you'll find out the hard way otherwise.
All the worlds top router experts use MDF or chip.

[dazzler]

Thanks all for you thoughts. I definitely want to stick with a timber top just to see how well it holds together. The timber is recylced and so far it's cost me some joiner biscuits, some glue and my homemade panel clamps. If it works and looks good it's a cheap excersice, if not I've not lost anything in the process and learned a lot to boot.

A tougher surface is appealing, but half the point of a timber top is the ability to repair it. I can always sand it back, fill it and varnish again if the need arise.

Thanks people!


HI Kman

Sorry but I think you are going about this the wrong way. A solid timber top is great for thumping and assembly but it is critical for a router top to be DEAD flat. Pat Warner who seems to be a bit of a guru and makes sure his are flat to within 2thou.

Any slight movement in the top is transferred to whatever it is that you are routing.

Not a problem for rustic / outdoor furniture but not suitable for fine furniture.

My 2c....mdf, ply or aluminium. Top with Formica if you can afford it or just make it so that you can easily (and cheaply) replace the top.

cheers

:D
dazzler

[Auld Bassoon]

I'd use a sheet of Masonite as the top layer (the same stuff that some store-bought router table tops are made of, eg see here (http://www.woodworksupplies.com.au/category24_1.htm) and use wax or SliverGlide

[jacko]

Just make sure that you remember to put in some "T" track , two pieces running front to back to carry the fence, one parralel to the fence for a mitre slot.
Jacko
ps, I would use something manmade, dead flat and stable. My table is 45 mm of MDF with a laminate top, waxed occasionally. Just my 2 c's worth, understand that you want to iuse what you have already created. perhaps you could find soething else to do with it?

[kman-oz]

The weight of opinion is getting oppressive around here! I take your point and I might cut my losses before I get my heart broken, but what am I going to use a 600x900 hardwood top for now? :)

[Stuart]

A finishing bench, or a small fabrication bench (assembling small projects)

[kman-oz]

I guess you can never have enough bench space can you.

[Harry72]

Could re'rip it at the joins and reuse on something else. Or just put it aside till the day a project needs it!

[BobL]

The weight of opinion is getting oppressive around here! I take your point and I might cut my losses before I get my heart broken, but what am I going to use a 600x900 hardwood top for now? :)

Just to make you feel better I'd go the laminate or similar as well (my router table is a cast iron wing on a TS). Don't rush on using the 600 x 900. Set it aside and it will call you when the times comes and you will feel even better you made the right decision.

Cheers

[kiwigeo]

See current Australian Wood Review magazine for plans for a simple router table. They use 2 layers of 13mm ply glued together and then melamine glued on top of same. To keep the table level they have a plywood reinforcing channel glued underneath the table.

[kiwigeo]

Hi

I have an MDF top finished with tung/poly and wax as per pat warner style router tables.

See here;


http://www.patwarner.com/router_table.html

seems to work fine:)

goood luck

dazzler

Wow..I love the dovetail joints on that thing. A work of art!

[jaspr]

Just make sure that you remember to put in some "T" track , two pieces running front to back to carry the fence, one parralel to the fence for a mitre slot.
Jacko


There is a school of thought that you don't need either. A fence doesn't need to run in two tracks, it can just swivel from a point, for acurate setup. Unless you are using a linear positioning system like an Incra, but even then I don't think they have to be mounted to T track. And some people swear by not using a mitre track, instead running all jigs off the fence.

My preferred system is a swivel fence - its very quick and easy to set up a fixed distance from the bit. An when I want to use my Incra 'original' jig, it is fixed to a plate which is clamped to the back of the table.

[ubeaut]

Best surface is tempered masonite polished with wax.

If you want to keep the timber top. Sand to 800 grit apply a coat of shellac with about 5% pure talcum powder in it, sand with 1200 grit, apply a second coat, sand again and it should be smoother than a babies bum, have all the slip in the world and won't effect the surface of the timber being routed. For even more slip sprinkle a little talc on the surface from time to time.

The above is also very, very easy to repair if damaged.

See here (http://www.ubeaut.biz) for Talc and Shellac (french polish). Do not use talc straight off the shelf, in most instances it is not pure talc and can cause problems, including leaving white marks in the finish. The talc in the link above is pure and very much finer than body talk.

Cheers - Neil :)

[kman-oz]

Well, I've gone for the MDF top and hardwood frame. I'm doing the trimming and fitting now, what should I do to seal the top and make it smooth and low friction? I can't afford laminate, I've already blown the budget on this one. Estapol, light sand and autowax perhaps?

[Harry72]

Yep but dont use the autowax it contains silicons(unless its something like gold class Meguiar's), any wax will do the job just make sure there's none of that horrid silicon in it.
Ubeauts traditional wax is very good for this!

[keith53]

I did one a few years ago & used reinforced ply. I sanded it to about 600 grit & used beeswax. I only use it for rounding over since it houses a crappy 1/4" Skil router. Works well though. Every now & then it gets a bit of a sand and more wax.

Cheers,
Keith

[kman-oz]

Why no solicone? Bees wax I have, but I'd have thought an auto polish would be better, no?

[Stuart]

Do a search of this forum for silicon, and all will be revealed.