Carpentry and Woodworking - Best material for router table top

Hello all,

A couple of years ago, I made a router table top to mount to the fence of my table saw. I used two pieces of 24" x 27" x 3/4" melamine, laminated to make a 1 1/2" top. I'm noticing now that if I place a straightedge across the top, the top appears to be "sunk in", lower in the center. Furthermore, and the most perplexing of all, if I install my router plate and attempt to set it flush to the top (it has six levelling screws), it is virtually impossible to do so. If I set it so the short sides are even with the top, the long sides are up to .020 lower that the top in the center of the plate.

I am planning on making a new top, and I would like to know what material is best. I am leaning toward furniture grade plywood with a laminated top (and bottom, and perhaps sides). I thought of MDF, but it bubbles and swells badly if it gets wet. The melamine I have is simply particle board with a laminate top.

Any thoughts or other suggestions? :confused:

Furniture grade birch plywood was my choice and it works great. Flat, stable, good looking.

Hope this helps.

>>Furniture grade birch plywood was my choice and it works >>great. Flat, stable, good looking.
>>
>>Hope this helps.
>>
>>_________________
>>Chris

Chris,

Did you put any sort of laminate on the top?

No laminate. 3 or 4 coats of varnish. Use wax to lubricate as I do with almost all my tools.

A piece of standard counter top with formica already applied makes a great top. 1) Cut the hole for the router itself. 2) then rout out for the router plate using a flush cut bit and a template. If you rout out slightly more, say 1/32 inch, you can use your plates leveling screws.

BTW, I found 38" pieco of counter top for about 15 bucks.

fred