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The first is that the sub-fences have key-hole tracks that attach to the bolts that go through the main fence and allow the sub-fence to slide properly. Using the table made a huge difference in productivity. I have to say their customer service warrants an A+.Start to finish in assembly was about 3 hours at a leisure pace. The second change is that the vacuum attachment mounts easily to the fence using the sub-fence attachment points rather than snapping into place.
In looking at router tables I checked the local haunts of Lowes and Sears. I was short shipped the jointer bars, but a quick call to Bench Dog fixed that and they are shipping them out to me today. I used Heli-coils to finish them off and then drilled/Dremeled through the plastic/phenolic base to have access to the mounting holes without having to take the baseplate off each time it is mounted in the router table. If you follow this simple bit of advice there will be no hang-ups at all. I removed the plastic/phenolic baseplate to get to the metal frame of the router and then drilled the mounting holes in the baseplate metal of the router. I purchased this through Amazon and it arrived promptly.As of December 2009, there were a couple of small changes to the design that were not reflected in the assembly instructions.
Both of these changes seem to be improvements. I sorted all the fasteners and hardware, made sure of what was needed and then proceeded in the order given in the instructions. The mounting plate for the router is very sturdy and drilling a new hole near an existing hole is not a problem.The table was put to use the very next day on cabinets and I was routing everything from small trim to 2' x 3' panels. This took a bit of time to sort out, but did get a good orientation. The instruction show slots on the main fence. The instructions clearly state that fasteners should not be tightened at the first go.
The did have some nice tables, but the Bench Dog is far and away the better product in design and materials. The fastener selection is good and appropriate and someone took a lot of time to think this out.I have an older Dewalt router and the pre-drilled holes in the template didn't match up.
So goodbye $850 and maybe we'll try to rig something out of sheet metal. Wow--I wanted to surprise my fiance for his birthday. I bought it with the Bench Dog router lift, and that actually fit great--customer reviews of the the lift is actually why I bought this brand--I usually go Delta for everything.BUT the dust port arrived broken in 3 pieces (it's a brittle plastic part) and after an email with the Bench Dog customer service, they said I'd get a replacement--the instructions say not to use the product without the dust port.Well, it never came. Lame, and very disappointing. and I can't find a replacement part online anywhere.
Some of the pictures were not clear enough to use. The service & delivery were Excellent.The instructions were a poor quality xerox copy. You should be able to expect an origin Instruction Manual that applies to the product that you purchased. The dust port does not fit my Rigid Shop Vac nor can I find any adapters that will work. Just received my table that I ordered from Tyler Tools. A lot of the instructions were very vague. This all resulted in it taking 3-4 hrs to assemble.I have not used the Router Table much, but I believe it will be a good product. The instructions were for a Fence that was different than the one I received.
It took a bit more effort than the joiner because of proportions, but it worked great for what I needed.I've been using a 2 1/4HP Porter Cable router that came with a fixed and plunge base. Even the 3/4" track can be snugged up to fit a rail that is slightly smaller than 3/4". The motor has plenty of clearance to come out of the fixed base. I've had my Bench Dog ProTop Router Table for about two years now. I've made everything from cabinets to 6" crown molding with great results. The "T" tracks on the table and fence are great for feather boards or other accessories. I mounted the fixed base to this table and use the plunge base for everything else. One word of advice though - it isn't good practice to leave your router motor hanging in there all the time because over time it could slightly warp the insert.
It has held up extremely well. An important part on my joiner broke when I was in the middle of a project a few weeks ago and I remembered that this thing came with some rails for joiner work. Take the extra minute to take it out and you will have a great router table for years to come. Sure enough, I slid the aluminum rails under the outfeed fence and was able to successfully get true edges on some 10" x 100" rough cherry lumber.
Would have been nice if they would have included an external switch as it is obviously unsafe to open the door to turn off the router. But it still doesn't fit any hose I could find. What is a bigger deal is the dust collection port. I suppose I could have sanded my hose end down some as well.The table works fine. It does not. That took two weeks because the first time the order didn't go out.
Nice and solid, etc. So much for standard. I called Bench Dog support and it seems they have been acquired by Rockler. They sent me the revised one. I ended up buying a 1 1/4 to 2 1/2 adapter, cutting the 1 1/4 part off and duct taping the rest to the dust port. Seems like someone forgot to tell mfg that the wall thickness was supposed to go on the outside and not the inside of the opening.
However it is actually about 2 5/16 with most being fitted into a 2 3/8 coupling. I plan on doing dust collection via shop vac. Using a Triton router and had to drill holes to mount. After waiting the normal time to call, they said oh, gee it didn't ship so will try again. Even Bosch on a less expensive table includes a switch and presumably a dust port that fits a shop vac hose. Having to fool with the dust port because they can't check the fit on a hose by buying and trying a few before spec'ing and the lack of an external switch makes this just average for the cost. So if the Rockler people would have made this at least 2 5/16 or 2 3/8 things would be fine. Mine didn't include hex wrenches but they were standard and I had them so no big deal.
I took the port with me to The Home Depot, Lowes and Sears but could not find a 2 1/2 inch hose that would fit it. Have to say it took a little bit of time to put together but nothing too hard or too vague. Rockler has revised the port and while I had the newer one some were made with a smaller ID. These were accurate so that was a non-event to do.I would give the table a 5 if this review was just confined to that part. Bench Dog includes a paper template with the proper hole spacing. Works fine.
Mine has a standard 2 1/2 inch hose which according to Bench Dog is supposed to fit their dust collection port. They included a free set of hold downs as compensation and this time it did ship. That is what a standard 2 1/2 inch hose fitting is supposed to be apparently. The ID is exactly 2 1/4 inches.
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