Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Use particle board for router table
Jeff H. - Oregon
>I was at the borg this morning and picked up a 4' countertop on clearance. I am thinking about using this for a router table top.
Should I be concerned of the particle board sagging over time? Should I brace the back side with plywood to provide more strength?
Re: PB can sag
Dave Mount
>Yes, 3/4" PB can/will sag. You should reinforce it. DAMHIKT.
Best,
Dave
Re: Use particle board for router table
Barry Irby
>I have a friend in the cabinet business. He gives me sink cutouts and I have used them for a ton of stuff in my shop. If I want one to stay flat, I laminate two of them together back to back so there is laminate on both top and bottom. Many of them have had a substantial bulge in them when I started, but they counteract each other and some out reasonabley flat. Just glue them with yellow glue and clamp them around the perimeter. They bulges work in your favor here and you don't have to clamp the center.
On some of them I put wooden strips around the edges, some are bare. I even made an extention for my TS and installed bolts in the deged to hold it to the wing of the table. My router hangs in that and I can use the TS fence for it as well.
PS... some things in my shop are colorful to the point of being tacky. Hey FREE is a price I can stand. I would think if you found a local countertop shop you could get some free too.
Sag happens
Ellis Walentine
>All composite boards are low on sag resistance. For router table use, we found that two thicknesses of your board-du-jour is usually enough, but, as Barry said, It doesn't hurt to provide a bit of beam strength, too. I'd use a minimum 1 1/2" thickness of your partboard, with laminate both sides. If that starts to sag over time, screw a couple crowned cleats underneath the table alongside the router opening.
Ellis
Re: Sag happens
Barry Irby
>Ellis is right, Sag happens, I think the laminate on mine on both sides helps resist it. I have not put a atraight edge acrss mine. (I'm Chicken and don't want to know.) I did use a piece fo 1/4" tempered masonite for a router insert and that sagged. Anyone care to name their favorite router insert plate?
Router plates
Charles Self
>Rockler makes a good one, a bit pricey, but the two I have had did NOT sag. Aluminum, anodized blue, with multiple inserts, can be drilled to fit almost anything. (I have not checked their catalog for this lately, so their current model may differ.)