So mine looks a little different than the one written up here: https://www.finewoodworking.com/2006/03/01/router-table-ra1200-review. In all the stuff I've found online, I've found several variations but none that look like mine.
See the photo below (and forgive the mess; I'm just digging out of a months-long home improvement project where everything got dumped in the garage).
I got it a couple of months ago, a good deal with a Jointech Smartlift Digital Router Lift, a Porter Cable Router 890, and that heavy duty dust collection box. It was a buying frenzy and I guess I wasn't really paying attention when I put it in my car with all the other incredible goodies I bought that day.
The router is on the left side of the lengthwise run of the table, rather than centered on the table. And there is no fence or miter track. There are holes on the right as you can see in the photo below (where the arrows are) but they aren't typically in a place where I've seen fences installed (near the top of the lengthwise run of the table, and centered).
The holes seem like the manufacturer made them there, too, I mean, they are finished like the ends of the table are. Certainly not home-made drilled holes.
And the inset ledges that hold the router lift look like they were manufactured to be this way, rather than a home user routing them out. So I'm thinking it was built to be this way.
What would you do with a table like this? Wouldn't a fence on that side of the table (where the arrows are) be too far away from the router? Or maybe those holes are for some other device that someone might recognize? Like, maybe, a fancy Incra router fence?
And would you add a miter track or a t-track? I mean, the table top seems pretty tough-maybe it's not supposed to have a track. The article says the top is MDF but my table feels more like a rock solid polymer, especially around the part that holds the lift.
Basically, I'm wondering what to do with it… buy or build a fence and install it where the old holes are, or what! Maybe I could just sell it, but frankly I'm at a loss at how to describe it to a buyer. I mean, is this a special kind of router table layout, for a special kind of job, or what?
BTW, the original owner was an elderly gentleman who'd only been woodworking for five years or so before he passed away, according to the relatives who were selling his possessions. I got so many wonderful things at that sale for extremely cheap prices, so I won't upset if this table is a loss.
See the photo below (and forgive the mess; I'm just digging out of a months-long home improvement project where everything got dumped in the garage).
I got it a couple of months ago, a good deal with a Jointech Smartlift Digital Router Lift, a Porter Cable Router 890, and that heavy duty dust collection box. It was a buying frenzy and I guess I wasn't really paying attention when I put it in my car with all the other incredible goodies I bought that day.
The router is on the left side of the lengthwise run of the table, rather than centered on the table. And there is no fence or miter track. There are holes on the right as you can see in the photo below (where the arrows are) but they aren't typically in a place where I've seen fences installed (near the top of the lengthwise run of the table, and centered).
The holes seem like the manufacturer made them there, too, I mean, they are finished like the ends of the table are. Certainly not home-made drilled holes.
And the inset ledges that hold the router lift look like they were manufactured to be this way, rather than a home user routing them out. So I'm thinking it was built to be this way.
What would you do with a table like this? Wouldn't a fence on that side of the table (where the arrows are) be too far away from the router? Or maybe those holes are for some other device that someone might recognize? Like, maybe, a fancy Incra router fence?
And would you add a miter track or a t-track? I mean, the table top seems pretty tough-maybe it's not supposed to have a track. The article says the top is MDF but my table feels more like a rock solid polymer, especially around the part that holds the lift.
Basically, I'm wondering what to do with it… buy or build a fence and install it where the old holes are, or what! Maybe I could just sell it, but frankly I'm at a loss at how to describe it to a buyer. I mean, is this a special kind of router table layout, for a special kind of job, or what?
BTW, the original owner was an elderly gentleman who'd only been woodworking for five years or so before he passed away, according to the relatives who were selling his possessions. I got so many wonderful things at that sale for extremely cheap prices, so I won't upset if this table is a loss.