: I'm gearing up to build my first stripper. I need a way to rout the beads and
: coves on the strips. I don't have a router table. I have a Craftsman
: router. Should I buy a cheap Sears router table? What about those
: Router/Shapers that already have the motor built in. They seem like good
: values. Is there something I need to know about them? Please advise.
: Thanks!

Hey Gordon,

Here's what I did to mill the bead and cove on my strips. I only milled one side at a time using an old 1 1/2 hp sears router and it worked great!!

I had an old cheap Sears table-top router table on hand (which I never used) so I took the legs off and inlayed the "top" of it (which has the mounting screw holes for the router already in it) into the top of a 26" x 48" cabinet which I built with scrap 3/4" plywood. I put small jack bolts under the corners to make adjusting the height easy.

I made a fence out of a couple of pieces of plywood 48" long and screwed together at 90*. I use 2 "c" clamps to lock it down. I cut a small dome shaped hole in the face of the fence adjacent to the router bit and added a small plywood box at the hole on the backside of the fence with a hole cut in it to recieve the end of my shop vac hose.

I supply electricity to the shop vac and the router via a switch controlled recepticle which I usually lay up behind the fence for easy access.

When I want to change the router bit, I just lift the table-top with router attached out of the hole, change the bit, then just plop it back into place.

If you have ever seen a woodworking show called "The Router Workshop" then you know where I got the idea.

Anyway, with a couple of finger boards to hold the strips snug to the fence and table, it does a good job.

And . . . with the shop vac attached, nearly ALL of the shavings go into the vac instead of all over the shop!! I was really surprised at how well this little addition worked! It doesn't do as well for some bits, but for bead and cove bits, its hard to beat.

So one more idea to mull over.

Happy Building.

Charles