Shopsmith Forums

edma194 wrote: Sun Nov 03, 2024 12:16 pm
Thanks, very useful. They must have made special brackets to hold the caster brackets at the right distance. I think I can cut blocks of wood to do the same thing. I'll scan the manual this week for the stand-alone and it's options.

Thanks Ed, that will be really handy to have.

edma194 wrote: Sun Nov 03, 2024 12:16 pm

kenc wrote: Sat Nov 02, 2024 2:48 pm Obviously, I need to derust these! Hope these pictures help.

Thanks, very useful. They must have made special brackets to hold the caster brackets at the right distance. I think I can cut blocks of wood to do the same thing. I'll scan the manual this week for the stand-alone and it's options.

At one time SS sold castor sets for specific stand alone tools, i.e the scroll saw, and others. They came with spacers and longer bolts for the intended application. I made a set of wooden "spacers" for my scroll saw. The legs on the scroll saw are at a different angle so plain round spacers don't work. You only use one of the holes in the legs. The other hole is in the "spacer". I have at least one other stand that has plain round spacers.

Anyone know what this is for? It's called a "spacer" in the parts diagram, so I know it's for the overhead router. I have no clue what it's supposed to "space".

kenc wrote: Sun Nov 03, 2024 8:45 pm Anyone know what this is for? It's called a "spacer" in the parts diagram, so I know it's for the overhead router. I have no clue what it's supposed to "space".

According to the manual it's used in the overarm router holder when you don't have a router mounted there. Not sure if I have one of those.

I have a scanned copy of the manual now but it's too big too attach. If you PM me with an email address I'll try attaching it that way. The file is 4756KB in case you have a file size limit.

BuckeyeDennis wrote: Sun Nov 03, 2024 9:39 am
The problem with melamine is that it sags over time, like the OEM table. If you go that route, I'd recommend adding some structural stiffeners to the underside of it.

Have you considered unbolting the overarm post-mounting bracket from the original stand, and attaching it to your existing router table? It sounds as if that's pretty much the configuration that DLB ended up with. Your OPR stand looks pretty rough, so that approach would save you both cleanup/restoration time and shop space. You could use your undertable router as the pin holder for pin routing, but getting the fore/aft alignment just right could be a little fussy.

My top is good and flat. I do plan to beef it up underneath to keep it stiff and mount a heavy router since I plan to use it mostly for under table routing. The T-tracks underneath keep it good and straight fore and aft. I have to do something to mount a heavy router underneath and I may add a layer of plywood to the bottom of the table, then mount the router to that and use a 2" chuck extender to compensate for the increase in table thickness.

edma194 wrote: Fri Nov 08, 2024 6:32 pm

BuckeyeDennis wrote: Sun Nov 03, 2024 9:39 am
The problem with melamine is that it sags over time, like the OEM table. If you go that route, I'd recommend adding some structural stiffeners to the underside of it.

Have you considered unbolting the overarm post-mounting bracket from the original stand, and attaching it to your existing router table? It sounds as if that's pretty much the configuration that DLB ended up with. Your OPR stand looks pretty rough, so that approach would save you both cleanup/restoration time and shop space. You could use your undertable router as the pin holder for pin routing, but getting the fore/aft alignment just right could be a little fussy.

My top is good and flat. I do plan to beef it up underneath to keep it stiff and mount a heavy router since I plan to use it mostly for under table routing. The T-tracks underneath keep it good and straight fore and aft. I have to do something to mount a heavy router underneath and I may add a layer of plywood to the bottom of the table, then mount the router to that and use a 2" chuck extender to compensate for the increase in table thickness.

Agreed — the sagging on my own OPR table was all side-side. And then I had to weaken the table a little a bit more by opening up the router cutout enough to mount my big 3-1/4 hp Triton undertable router to the table plate. In case you haven’t seen it before, the thread below shows my approach to reinforcing the table. Eight years later, it’s still “perfectly” flat, as Youtubers are overly fond of saying. Or stated more accurately, it’s still “flat to within the limits of my measuring capabilities”.

viewtopic.php?p=213728#p213728

BuckeyeDennis wrote: Fri Nov 08, 2024 9:52 pm Agreed — the sagging on my own OPR table was all side-side. And then I had to weaken the table a little a bit more by opening up the router cutout enough to mount my big 3-1/4 hp Triton undertable router to the table plate. In case you haven’t seen it before, the thread below shows my approach to reinforcing the table. Eight years later, it’s still “perfectly” flat, as Youtubers are overly fond of saying. Or stated more accurately, it’s still “flat to within the limits of my measuring capabilities”.

Mine stayed flat too, my solution was similar to Dennis' except I used steel 1 X 2 rectangular tubing. However, I was getting some more delamination and wanted to add a router lift to my under-table mount, so I felt it was time for a change. I went with a phenolic table top as I've had mixed results with laminated MDF in my garage/shop environment.

- David

BuckeyeDennis wrote: Fri Nov 08, 2024 9:52 pm
Agreed — the sagging on my own OPR table was all side-side. And then I had to weaken the table a little a bit more by opening up the router cutout enough to mount my big 3-1/4 hp Triton undertable router to the table plate. In case you haven’t seen it before, the thread below shows my approach to reinforcing the table. Eight years later, it’s still “perfectly” flat, as Youtubers are overly fond of saying. Or stated more accurately, it’s still “flat to within the limits of my measuring capabilities”.

viewtopic.php?p=213728#p213728

I glanced at your thread some time in the past. Now looking it over carefully. My top is pretty flat and I don't usually obsess about 1/32" but on a router table even a slight difference matters in that direction. My plan is to bolt on something like 1/2" plywood under the table to mount the router. Mine is a Freud FT2000 plunge router, something similar to your Triton with a 3-1/4HP rated motor (of course that's not really true, you can barely get 2HP from a 120V 15AMP line). They never made a standard base for it but I can use the height adjust screw under the table until I get a real router lift and probably a different router head. That way I don't need to make a bigger insert to mount it on the top.

I'll probably bolt that plywood on with countersunk bolts just as you did. Seems to be the best way to attach something to MDF. I'll add some angle iron on the front and back of the plywood to prevent any sagging.

I would agree with those recommending a new top, at a minimum. That way you can toss the SS insert (non standard, and not heavy duty) and go with a better insert. Kreg, Jessem, Rockler all make good inserts. You could add a lift easily as well, giving you both above and below capability.
I made my own SS mounted table system recently (mounted on the saw carriage, it can pivot, which is a nifty Joint-Matic style feature) with a Jessem insert with lift, which I motorized and digitized for the fun of it.
Any good wood supplier should have the melanine topped ply or MDF that you need - price may be a bit rough these days.
You will need a different style fence for overhead routing; if you look at the SS manual you will see they had fairly low aluminum right angle fence parts, to avoid hitting the router body & arm... but sounds like you might enjoy that project too

tucsonguy wrote: Sun Nov 24, 2024 3:15 pm I would agree with those recommending a new top, at a minimum. That way you can toss the SS insert (non standard, and not heavy duty) and go with a better insert. Kreg, Jessem, Rockler all make good inserts. You could add a lift easily as well, giving you both above and below capability.
I made my own SS mounted table system recently (mounted on the saw carriage, it can pivot, which is a nifty Joint-Matic style feature) with a Jessem insert with lift, which I motorized and digitized for the fun of it.
Any good wood supplier should have the melanine topped ply or MDF that you need - price may be a bit rough these days.
You will need a different style fence for overhead routing; if you look at the SS manual you will see they had fairly low aluminum right angle fence parts, to avoid hitting the router body & arm... but sounds like you might enjoy that project too

Can you give some details and post pictures of your table system?