Back in November of last year I did some initial work on my new router table – you can click here to see what my early sketches were. I created this to replace my simple tondo jig system that I made back in 2010 (click here for info on that tool).

Today I finished work on the table – at least enough to make it functional. There are a few cosmetic details to work out, but for now it’s ready to roll. Here are a few images.

These first two images are fore and aft shots, giving a general overview of the beast. The active ingredient is a mid-range Porter Cable Plunging Router. The router has been attached to a Beseler 45MCRX Photo Enlarger body that I scavenged and hacked last year. The motor still works great, which means that my router can be moved horizontally over the table allowing me to make multiple plunges at different locations on the wood. The whole layout of the table is very close to a sketch I made last year.

Here you can see the underside of the router carriage (top half of image). The bit plunges through the oak carriage deck and into the wood that’s to be cut. The wood is sitting on a “lazy susan” deck that grips the panel and may be easily rotated past the router bit.

This is a shot of the lazy susan rotating deck. You can see the points that protrude through the deck (there are four – one point at each corner) that hold the wood in place as it’s being routed into a circular panel.

The first tondo I cut this afternoon was a resounding success. Here’s hoping for many more. It’s definitely an improvement on my old tondo jig. The big plus to this table is that I will be able to make circular frames for my tondo works. I wanted to have the movable routing deck precisely for this feature, and now we’ve got it. I’ll keep you updated.