Concrete Router Table Top?


John Page

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You could make a router table top out of crushed svarovski crystal if you like, but it's going to be way more trouble than just sandwitching 2 layers of MDF together and laminating with arborite, and probably perform worse.

 

There's a bunch of reasons listed as to why concrete is not suitable. It's not even a cost thing, since by the time you make a mold for the concrete, get the proper mix, mix it and pour it you're behind financially over 2 handy sheets of MDF at Home Depot. Debating the minutieu about how concrete could be bad (like bearing dust, lol) is like debating the arrangement of the deck chairs on the sinking titanic.

 

Just trying to be the voice of reason.

I'd sure like to build one of those chairs after seeing the one someone posted recently. But I guess these rest of them sank as fast, had they been made of concrete.

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The only posts I saw that pointed to unsuitability I know to be false. I might buy practicality as an argument if you don't have concrete experience. I don't see a need to rain on someone's parade if they want to try it though. I have built and seen too many counters out of the stuff.

 

 

I guess my ethos is different in that if I'm on a tangent, and there are practical and real reasons I should rethink, I would rather have someone "rain all over me" than chase a tangent I wasn't fully informed on. I've done many silly things (like build a carbon fibre motorcycle tank myself instead of spending the 900$ to just buy one), but at least I went in fully aware of my folly.

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My company is played around with making concrete vanity tops.  We have got a pretty good grasp of manufacturing.  They do tend to warp just a little during the curing process.  We use fiber reinforced concrete.  It is also near impossible to get them smooth without some kind of coating.  Honestly I have tried to make them out of MDF and have found it is better to just spend the money and buy a premade one made out of phenolic.

I have bad blood with granite just because of chipping, cracking and being porous.  I do like how it is stable and flat.

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I really have not decided if I have a opinion on the concrete router table being a good or bad idea but As I read the back and forth chatter I have one observation, I build stuff for a living, I build with concrete, ceramic, masonry, metal and do lots of forming with wood, there is almost nothing practical about wood working as a hobby so saying its a bad idea on the grounds there is an easier way don't hold water

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  • 4 weeks later...

Beg to differ with all the nay-sayers.

Built a cement (actually high strength leveling grout) router extension table and used 80/20 alum framing for the fence.

I love it. I'm using a PC 3.5 horse router mounted to a router raiser, and the assembly is utterly rock solid and vibration free.

I didn't like the wobble and the expense you encountered in the other high end tables.

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Beg to differ with all the nay-sayers.

Built a cement (actually high strength leveling grout) router extension table and used 80/20 alum framing for the fence.

I love it. I'm using a PC 3.5 horse router mounted to a router raiser, and the assembly is utterly rock solid and vibration free.

I didn't like the wobble and the expense you encountered in the other high end tables.

Can you hook us up a pic

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  • 2 weeks later...

Beg to differ with all the nay-sayers.

Built a cement (actually high strength leveling grout) router extension table and used 80/20 alum framing for the fence.

I love it. I'm using a PC 3.5 horse router mounted to a router raiser, and the assembly is utterly rock solid and vibration free.

I didn't like the wobble and the expense you encountered in the other high end tables.

 

Very interesting! I would also like to see a picture or two, just to get a better idea.

 

And, for the near future I have been displaced from having a shop, so it's a no-go on any sort of build (concrete or otherwise) for the immediate future  <_<

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  • 2 months later...

Ahem,

To the naysayers that would eschew so much effort in favor of cheap and quick table tops, I offer my 1st prototype below.

The top is as smooth as glass, because that was part of the form I built. The surface is nearly perfect in flatness. Setting the tracks in was not a problem.

I have this built as an extension to my granite top Ridgid table saw. It is heavy, which means no vibration issues and it is as rock solid stable as you can get.

Cost; just under a hundred bucks (if you don't count the beer). Reward; Priceless.

Drop me a line if you're curious.

 

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Way cool! That looks nice and sturdy, and the smoothness is amazing. How did you accommodate the slots for the tracks? Did you put in dummy strips of dimensioned wood or something to make the negative space? Same for the hole, did you use a template to leave the space open, or end up cutting? The former makes the most sense to me...

Thanks!

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Way cool! That looks nice and sturdy, and the smoothness is amazing. How did you accommodate the slots for the tracks? Did you put in dummy strips of dimensioned wood or something to make the negative space? Same for the hole, did you use a template to leave the space open, or end up cutting? The former makes the most sense to me...

Thanks!

Thank you. Tracks were held in place with a smidge of crazy glue. I plugged the holes with waxed screws, not too sure why I did that because the alum tracks are bonded to the grout. The cavity for the router raizer I made with MDF and lined the edges with that green painters tape.

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I'll admit, that is pretty slick but I'm not ready to give up my chagrin quite yet. 

Three years ago when I bought my house, there was no transition between the kitchen tile, and the two steps down into the garage.  I laid some concrete in there and smoothed it down.  After about 6 months, it started chipping away just from foot traffic. In 5 years when it's still flat, not vibrated apart, and still smooth, I'll be ready to admonish myself.

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I'll admit, that is pretty slick but I'm not ready to give up my chagrin quite yet. 

Three years ago when I bought my house, there was no transition between the kitchen tile, and the two steps down into the garage.  I laid some concrete in there and smoothed it down.  After about 6 months, it started chipping away just from foot traffic. In 5 years when it's still flat, not vibrated apart, and still smooth, I'll be ready to admonish myself.

That's the difference between concrete and high strength leveling grout. I have, upon occasion, dropped something heavy on the table. Haven't put a nick in it yet, but chipped a 3" chisel that I had just sharpened using the router table top.

Big problem with concrete is making sure the water ratio is correct, and then blending thoroughly. Most people, me included, won't spend the time and effort for small patch jobs and the final result will be a bit dodgy. No need for chagrin, we've all been there.

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