My Milwaukee trim routers came with an extra base plate.  Larger with a second set of mounting hole closer to the perimeter.

Been wanting to make one of these for awhile now.  Had a 25" x 16" piece of 12mm baltic birch plywood to use up so I challenged my CNC to make me a clamp on router table for the trim router. 

Top view.  14" x 14". Router base flush to the surface. 

 

Side brackets slip into tapered dovetail slots on the bottom of the top piece. Notch slips over my bench easily.  

1" dowel has offset 3/4" ends.  Essentially a cam lever.  Pull the handle straight down to clamp the router table to the bench.  Pull the small dowel handle toward you and level to release.  A relatively quick project, although there were three CNC setups to make all the parts.  Works well. Seems securely clamped to the bench but I've ordered some shrink tubing to slip over the 1" dowel to add some friction. 

Although I used my CNC with the dowel clamped vertically to cut the offset 3/4" ends, I realized I could have used my mini lathe to accomplish it.  Offset the end centers when mounting, then just turn the ends down.   

4D

Great looking design and setup 4D. Glad you got your CNC running again.

1 hour ago, Grandpadave52 said:

Great looking design and setup 4D. Glad you got your CNC running again.

Thanks.  I am too.  

Made a quick fence with a couple cam levers to hold it in place.  This is likely to be the router table I use the most from this point on. I have a nice one in my garage shop area, and one embedded in the bench.  The one you can see the plate of on the right side of this photo serves well, but I find I have to clear off the bench area around it every time I want to use it. 

4D

Awesome design and build!

Remembered that somewhere I had a dust collector shroud that came with the Milwaukee router.  Found and installed it. Did a few flush trim cuts and a roundover edge cut and it appears it'll suck down 90% or better of the dust/chips produced. 

Also added a hook to keep the wrenches close by. 

 

4D

Edited April 24, 20251 yr by 4DThinker

I like it!!!!

Thanks HJ.  I'm enjoying its usefulness so much my mind has wandered to a drawer in my shop with 6 Performax (Makita clone) corded trim routers parked in it.  Haven't used them more than a couple times but would use them more if I could drop them into a clamp on table, each with a different commonly used bit in them. 1/16", 1/8", and 3/16" roundover bits, a 45° and a 30° chamfer bit, and a spiral 1/4"d flush trim bit.   Steal the cam lock insert plate idea from the red inserts on my garage router table. Drop a router in, twist it 90 degrees to cam wedge it in place. 

4D

Thought it would be worth a prototype test of the drop-in and twist base plate idea.  Used some 1/4" thick hardboard for a sample plate, and a section of 1/2" (12mm) baltic birch plywood for the test. 

With a 1/64" offset of the through hole relative to the 1/8" deep rabbet edge the base plate slips in one way, but then wedges tight in the hole when twisted either way.  The image  shows the plywood hanging tight on the Masonite plate. 

I've got four bases, and can make 4 unique base plates the routers can slip into.  One with a 1/2" hole for small bits.  One with a 1.25" hole for larger roundover/chamfer bits, one with a  stepped hole for guide bushings like shown above, and the last for a tilting base.  

4D

Edited May 2, 2025May 2 by 4DThinker

That's pretty cool and creative 4D. One can never have too many routers or clamps for that matter.

31 minutes ago, Grandpadave52 said:

That's pretty cool and creative 4D. One can never have too many routers or clamps for that matter.

Thanks Dave.  I'll confess I was inspired by the router table in my garage. It has assorted red insert plates that drop in and twist to wedge in place.  I had to make a pronged tool to grab them and twist them though.   The sample above with the router in it is easier to twist in place by just holding the router and twisting it.   I can't do that with the garage router table. 

4D

 

Cut out the top and sides for the PerforMax router table this morning. Use plywood salvaged from a coffee table I made back in college.  Surprised me that the old 1/2" baltic birch plywood was actually 1/2" thick.  Has the same 9 layers but the outer veneer layers are thicker. New stuff is 12mm (0.472") thick on a good day. 

4D

And then there were two.  Waiting on a special bit to cut acrylic for the plate inserts, but already can envision having both tables set up with different bits.  One to flush trim edges of parts off the CNC, then the other with a small roundover bit to take the sharp off the edges. 

Now trying to come up with away to split the dust collector hose so both can be hooked up at the same time. Hoping Amazon has a Y splitter.  

4D

Edited May 5, 2025May 5 by 4DThinker

One other nice discovery I came across was a downcut spiral flush trim bit. On the router table it shears up any overhanging tabs or veneer that didn't get cut off completely for a clean bottom edge. 

4D

Threw out the drop-in and turn inert plate idea. Router vibrated it when running.  Decided a simpler approach was easier and better at the same time.

Simple pocket for the router base.  Plywood serves as the new base plate.   4 holes for the screw to hole it in place. 

Rotated the hole pattern for easier access to the duct collector shroud. 

No vibration, smoother running of the router.   I did post CNC files on Vectric's Aspire gallery forum.  The Perfomax router is just one of a few dozen clones of the Makita router, and all use the same bases.  Even their cordless trim routers use the same bases and would fit in this table.   I've posted this now on my blog: Iteration

4D

9 hours ago, 4DThinker said:

The Perfomax router is just one of a few dozen clones of the Makita router,

Thanks. Good to know. I bought one of the Perfomax routers a year or so ago from an online auction. It was new, in the box, never used. IIRC I gave $20 for it.

Your table design gives me some ideas even though I don't have a CNC set-up. Now I just need to get a-round tuit. 

7 hours ago, Grandpadave52 said:

I don't have a CNC set-up. Now I just need to get a-round tuit. 

You don't necessarily need a CNC to make the trim router table  Top is just a 14" square with 1/2" radius rounded off corners.  If you can drill a few holes for the screws, and a larger center hole for the bits to poke through you are half way there. Cut 1/4" deep dados in the bottom for the brackets.  Bandsaw out the bracket shapes. Drill a 3/4" hole for the cam dowel.  

Makita clone trim table pattern.pdf

PDF pattern of the CNC layout. If you can print it out full sized you'll have patterns you can glue to plywood to locate holes, etc.. 

I sometimes forget how I made things before I had a CNC. I know some of the tools in my garage miss being used as often, but the most useful still get my attention.  

4D

Thanks 4D. I'll download the file and store it away when I'm not using my phone or tablet. Appreciate the assistance, suggestions and tips.

I was suckered into buying a Makita cordless trim router with battery and charger thanks to a weekend sale.  It arrived today and I can confirm it fit perfectly into the Performax base trim router table. The one thing better than any corded trim router is a brushless cordless version.

4D

Congratulations on the new family member. I love the smell of new tools first thing of a morning, midday or about any other time.

The Milwaukee trim router in a table has far better dust collection than the Makita does.  Thought I see why and it appears the larger chuck nut on the Makita blocks the bit opening allowing less airflow around it.    The Makita/Performax trim routers came with 3/8" collet inserts.  The larger nut must be to handle that larger insert.  

I rounded over the edges of 3/4" thick cherry using a 3/8" radius bit using the Milwaukee table and there was no dust or chips to clean up.  All got sucked down.  Actually surprised me how well it did. This is the best dust collecting router table I've ever used. 

4D