Jim’s Redesigned Router Table Part 2

Center the box inside the cabinet. Attach it to the cabinet rails using screws. This installation makes the cabinet solid. The top of the bottom shelf of the box should be 1/16″ proud of the bottom front rail of the cabinet. Now the drawer bottom will slide on the bottom shelf without marring the front rail.

   
 
Cut out the drawer parts. First, fit the drawer bottom into the drawer opening in the box. Trim as needed so the bottom slides smoothly in and out. Now, put the bottom in the opening and fit the sides to the space. Fit each side as there could be slight differences in size. Finally, assemble the drawer. Attach the sides to the back, then center this assembly on the bottom. The sides should be about  1/8″ in from the sides of the bottom.

The drawer should slide smoothly in and out with minimal effort. Glue some cleats to the pullout shelves, the sides of the top space and the bottom drawer (I haven’t glued these in place yet).

Cut out the drawer front, pullout fronts and the vent panel. I then fit them to the front of the router table, leaving about a 3?32″ space between all these parts. Then cut the vents in the vent panel. Here, I am using my old router table.

I glued the vent panel to the bottom of the top rail and installed one screw through each of the glue blocks. The panel is free to move with the seasons because the screws will move in the over-sized holes drilled in the glue blocks.

I glued the vent panel to the bottom of the top rail and installed one screw through each of the glue blocks. The panel is free to move with the seasons because the screws will move in the over-sized holes drilled in the glue blocks. I attached the pullout fronts using the same method as I did for the drawer front. This completes the assembly of the router table, inner box, pullouts and lower drawer.  This completes the assembly of the  pullouts and drawer.

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Jim is Senior Editor for Popular Woodworking books.