How about another router table question.....

Jim O'Dell

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Between Aledo and Fort Worth, TX
....or two. I see most everyone has a glass or plexiglass framed door to see the router while it is in the table. Is there a reason for this? Is it only to make sure dust is not piling up on the motor in case there is a blockage in the duct collecting from the tool? What other reason is there to need to see in? I made mine solid, but can open a hole and slap on some plexiglass if need be, or even make a plexiglass door if there is a reason to need to be able to get my hand in from the side instead of just the top. I will be able to change bits from the top, so that isn't an issue.
I'm also curious to see if anyone knows of a good way to bring the power cord out of this chamber and still be sealed off? I have an idea of how to do it, but wondered what you have done. Pictures would help my mind comprehend what you tell me. I know many put an electrical outlet in the chamber, and shorten the cord on the router. I'm not comfortable with an outlet inside there with all the dust, even with my cyclone.
Thanks for your help and ideas! Jim.
 
Hi Jim. In the 3 years I have had the PRL, I have never had a need to look at the router motor other than to set the speed for large diameter bits.

I built an air tight 16X16X12 plywood box that surrounds the motor and lift. The size was selected such that it fit between 2 angle-iron braces. The cyclone is attached via 6" PVC pipe at the center of the bottom exactly below the router motor. It has a door on the operators side with a little wooden clasp. The back corner of the box has a 2" hole for attaching the hose to the dust collector on the router fence. When the cyclone kicks on, you are hard put to open the little door.

One item I strongly recommend is a pair of offset wrenches to use when changing bits. These wrenches all but eliminate cranking the lift when changing bits.
 
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I went ahead and screwed a piece of PTEG on an opening I cut into the side of the box, just to be able to view. I'll eventually have to put a door on the outside edge of the cabinet, or put in another piece of PTEG or plexiglass to be able to see, and of course, as someone pointed out at SMC, I'll need to put a light in there so I can see.:dunno:
I've got some pictures of my progress, I'll go make a post on my shop thread to upload them. Thanks for the help. Jim.
 
Solid door here and my cabinet is not really air tight. The vacuum (Festool)hose attached to my router (Triton) does a very good job and I doubt I would gain much by making the cabinet absoutely air tight.
 
High Jim

In the first photo you see that it is a solid door for me. I do not see a need for anything more. What reason do the people over at SMC give for the need to see in there? I think they are just pulling your leg. I did cut a slot in the bottom of the door to increase airflow across the bottom and it really did help clean out the enclosure.

You can see in the second photo that I just cut a hole large enough to pass the electrical cord through and did not even close it off. Dust never comes out there and I have plenty of suction with a 2hp dust collector. I also have a DC hose attached to my fence with a gate. I bought an off/on foot activated switch, mounted it on the side of the cabinet and operate it with my knee. I really like that setup as I have both hands free at all times with the ability to shut it down quickly with my knee.

The sawdust that you see is not from the router table. Sometimes I forget to hook up the hose to my cabinetsaw and that is what happens.
 

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Allen, I think it's to make sure that the dust is leaving the cabinet and not filling it up, thus creating a big problem for the router. I put in a peep hole with PTG, like I said above, but it's not a door that opens.
And Bill Huber at SMC had an interesting idea on collecting the dust in a router table. Instead of making it a down draft where the dust has to go past the router motor, allowing it to suck some of the dust into the motor, make a hybrid up/side draft box. Let the fresh make up air come from the bottom and go past the motor. I've modified my design to try it. He has had good luck with his implemntation of his design. I'll let you know if it works for me! Jim.
 
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