Workbench Upgrade!

From J:

For the most part, my workbench/saw stand has been pretty good. It fits my tools well and has been perfectly functional. But I'm still wanting more workspace and storage. So, this weekend, I built some.

Item 1: Router table. A router table lets you mount your router in a fixed location and use a fence to dictate where you cut. It's great for all sorts of things. Commercially, these things cost $150-300 for small, benchtop models. Not too expensive, but you need benchspace to put it and somewhere to store it, which I am lacking. My solution: a slide-away router table/shelf.

Ingredients:

• 1x sheet of 3/4 birch plywood, cut to size
• Some 1x2 strips for reinforcement
• 2x T-track slots with ruler, for fence mounting and positioning
• 1x drawer slide kit, 20" length
• A fixed router base
• Miscellaneous hardware for mounting

This really is a pretty simple design. I cut the plywood to size, drilled holes (3x mounting holes + 1x big hole for the router bit to poke through) and routed out some slots for the T-track. Careful measurement made sure that the tracks are parallel to each other. Reinforce the bottom underneath the T-track and at the edges with 1x2 strips. Hang the drawer slides at the desired height, and enjoy!

Stealth mode: engaged.

Ta-da!

It's a little bit lower than ideal work height but given the design constraints I can't complain and am very happy with the results. I made a fence out of some more 3/4 birch ply and some leftover hard maple. This is mounted to the T-track with 1/4-20 bolts and some knobs. I added some bolts through the workbench top that screw into nuts in the T-track to take weight off of the drawer slides when the top is extended; these also stabilize the whole assembly.

So functional!

First project using the new router table: drawers for the workbench. One of my upcoming projects will feature drawers and I needed to practice some before using expensive wood. I had some leftover pine from building my workbench and shop cabinets that I used for my practice drawers. The main construction technique here is a sliding dovetail, which is easily cut using a dovetail bit on a (you guessed it) router table. The table is needed to get a precise depth of cut so that the male and female halves of the joint fit tightly. This is a variation on the traditional dovetail that is 1) much easier to make and 2) also very strong. I don't really have the desire to get a hand saw and cut traditional dovetails over the course of a week.

After cutting all of the dovetails I used some leftover 3/32" plywood from my cabinet doors for the bottom of the drawers. Three of the pieces (front and sides) got a 1/4" slot routed in (using the router table!) for the plywood to sit in. Assembly is straightforward, just glue up the dovetails on the front and sides, glue in the plywood, then glue up the back of the drawer and slide it (or use a rubber mallet, these things fit tightly) onto the back set of dovetails on the side pieces.

Nice, tight joints.

 

I mounted it using some more drawer slides and added a knob I had laying around. A nice upgrade, and a big feeling of accomplishment! Drawers were pretty intimidating since the joinery is somewhat complex, but the router table makes things easy!

The perfect place for my router accessories.

Router table cost: $10 plywood, $25 T-track, $15 hardware and slides.
Drawer cost: free, this is why you keep scraps.

Project thoughts: Extremely pleased with the router table. Once I figured out how I could keep it supported (bolts through the workbench top) I felt much better about the idea. If the mounting needs to change, it can - the top is self contained and can be remounted wherever or however it needs to be without affecting its performance. The T-track and fence work very well. Two of the drawers that I made turned out well, but a larger one for the cabinet under the saw did not...the pine dovetails fell apart when I tried to fit it together during glueup (I was not pleased when that happened). Not too surprising, as this particular pine had a very bad tendency to chip. Harder woods will go better. Bring on the next project!