Another Craiglist Steal...I should be locked up for this one..

OK..like everyone on here, I constantly scour Craigslist for tool deals. Most of my shop is a Craigslist find including my pride and joy…my Unisaw. Recently I decided to keep my eye open for used routers. I like the idea of having several routers with different often used bits loaded up and adjusted ( round overs, chamfers, etc.)..I figured I would pick up some cheap machines and have a collection that I could just “grab and route”! So a couple days ago I was sniffing around on CL, and I see a listing for a Bosch 1617EVS 2 1/4 HP router, so I click on it. Then my eyes practically popped out of my head..the router is mounted in a Veritas steel router table! And it gets better..I see that along with the table is the fence and the right angle sled and what looks like either the table top base or a home made version of it. I have been drooling over this setup for the last year ever since I sold my cheap made mdf router table…but it’s expensive..$550.00 for the top, table stand, fence and sled. This whole setup, with the BOSCH router was priced at $300.00! It was a local tool consignment shop and it was right around the corner from where i work, so I bolted down at lunch time. I checked it out for almost an hour..the top had some surface rust and slight pitting on it but it wasn’t too bad. The fences looked in perfect condition and the router worked and looked almost new. There were some things missing..the studs for the table, a couple inserts and the pin wrench to remove/install them, the wooden sub fences (although someone had made a replacement one out of pine), and the fence comes with a micro adjusting device to accurately adjust it.. that was missing too. So I offered $250. and the guy countered with $265. and I said OK..knowing full well that even used and a little dirty and rusty I was still getting around $700 bucks worth of stuff. SO, take a look at my latest score..

Here is the top fence and stand..

The right angle sled

The router

A couple close ups of the table top..you can see the rust and the pitting..

Here is the right angle sled mounted…

The stand is missing a top piece..I will make a replacement for it. It has this simple kick stand setup to tip the top up and prop it to adjust the router or change bits. If your not familiar with this system the top is super strong, thin steel, and the router clamps to the bottom with the base plate still on. You can take the router in and out in less than a minute and its perfectly aligned every time. I am going to call Veritas and see if I can get replacements for the studs, and the micro adjust. I am going to try and polish the rust and pits out of the top with my ROS and some Scotch Brite pads. As soon as I got it home I was all over it with the straight edges and the engineers square. The top was flat, the fence is straight, smooth and perpendicular to the table, but the right angle sled was perpendicular to the fence, but not to the top. I messed with the leveling screws but I clearly had to crank them way out of alignment to get it right. I looked over the piece and I noticed that where the sled meets the top attachment rail for the fence the rail had chamfers in it that rested on flats on the sled. The piece looked skewed, so I loosened the attachment screws and as soon as I did i felt the pieces settle together. I tightened the screws and now it was close to perfect, except for the adjusting that I had made previously was now messing it up! So, a little fooling with the leveling screws and its dead on. The sled slides like glass down the length of the fence and has zero play.

I am so glad I jumped on this deal…sure it needs a little TLC, and some replacement parts, but this is an amazing router table system. He also had the companion book on how to use the system to it’s fullest extent, and I also want to purchase all the accessories that they make for it. This system got great reviews in allot of woodworking publications ..Like I said I have been wanting one since I first read about it, and I am so psyched that this one fell in my lap!

-- http://www.facebook.com/pages/DSO-Designs/297237806954248