Keep your router and accessories organized with this bench top router table.
Moving involves more than rearranging your home; your workshop needs reorganizing too. Now that the shop is being constructed, I am excited to unpack all my tools and work more efficiently!
One of my tool tables, a quickly assembled router cart made from scrap wood, became extremely unstable after being moved in and out of our tool storage trailer. So I teamed up with Kreg Tools and their project plan site,dopten.com, to create a new bench top router table with plenty of built-in storage.
Router Table Design
This new router table is exactly what organizational dreams are made of. To show just how thrilled I am with its storage and organization, let me show you the old cart.
I assembled it from scraps in only a few hours. Rather than making practical storage, I placed a partially damaged set of plastic drawers at the bottom. The cart was flawed from the start, but it did serve its purpose of supporting the bench top router.
This time, I planned the new router table to be useful right from the start! To add even more organization to the workshop, I am also enjoying the rotating spray paint storage cabinet, which can hold a large amount of paint.
Raised Sides
The sides rise higher than the center section of the table. As a result, they create an ideal ledge for placing accessories, such as push blocks, while keeping them away from the router area.
I also used the ledge on one side to create a dedicated place for the crank on my router lift. I no longer have to dig through an overcrowded drawer to find it!
Router Bit Storage
The increased height of these sides also provides additional organizing space.
On one side, I installed 4 shelves, each capable of holding 9 router bits. More could fit, but as you can see, there is already plenty of space for future additions.
There is also room to install a fifth shelf at the very bottom whenever it becomes necessary.
I can even install additional shelves on the side later because these shelves were not glued in place. Instead, I secured them using a few Kreg pocket holes & screws.
Router Accessory Storage
On the opposite side, I built storage for the bench top router table accessories. A shelf with a raised front lip provides an excellent place for storing the reducing rings that fit around the router bit.
I also installed a few basic cup hooks for holding wrenches and other accessories that can hang easily. Once again, there is lots of room to expand and add more items!
Large Storage Drawers
The storage does not end there. Beneath the router are 2 extra-large drawers, and they are so spacious that I may need to build dividers for them.
You could turn the deep bottom drawer into 2 smaller ones, but I preferred having one roomy compartment for large accessories, such as the coping sled I use when making my own cabinet doors.
Discover how to make simple drawers for storing heavy objects.
Plywood Construction
The bench top router table was designed to be exceptionally durable as well. After coping with theweathered, shaky table, I was certain I wanted this version to be durable.
The whole table was constructed from a sheet of 3/4″ plywood, along with an additional sheet of 1/2″ plywood for the drawer boxes.
For added strength, I made the table frame from 1 1/2″ thick plywood by bonding two sheets together.
You can leave out this step and choose 2x lumber instead (I used typical lumber dimensions for these components). If you have plenty of plywood and leftover 2x pieces, you might even be able to construct the entire table from those materials.
Still, I really like the industrial appearance of the exposed plywood edges, as well as the durability the doubled layers provide throughout the table.
Router Table Woodworking Plans
Ready to get all your router gear organized as well? With the complimentary plans on ondopten.com, you can make your own bench top router table.
Click here to view the full construction plans.
Enjoy building!