From: Brad Lockwood 
Location: Stratford, CT
Hobbyist or Pro: Hobbyist
Project Name: Router Table
Wood Species: Birch Ply/Maple/Polar
Finish Used: Standard Stain with General Finish Dye stain, 3 coats of General Finish Wipe On Stain. I also used Shellac on the top.
Project Description:
This was my second project and I needed a good Router table. I wanted to see the effects of different finishes on different woods and what happens if I don’t do the light sanding after the water base stain. I also wanted to practice dovetail, rabbet joinery, inlay (t-tracks for the miter and fence). I also ordered and installed the Jessem Router Lift, which I bought after watching Marc’s router lift segment. Marc was right on with his analysis in my opinion.
As you can see from the full front photo, I fully integrated the dust collection using hose connected to the fence and a pickup from the router cavity. I placed plexi-glass on the door to the cavity and placed a light in there as well that turns on when the router is on. 
The very bottom door area is for storage. The left side drawers are sideless as I drilled holes to hold the bits. The Top right side drawer is a false front to hold the switch and the 3 lower drawers are half blind dovetails using the MLCS jig.
I learned a lot about finishing, dovetailing, drawer guide mounting and many other techniques as well. Now I have a top-of-the-line table and lessons learned. So as my friends say, this is the most furniture like router table east of the Mississippi.
What an awesome table!! I’ m looking in to building my first router table and when I looked at the my mouth dropped I would have but that table in my entrance in my apartment what a beautiful table. I’ m looking for something for beg
That is one sweet router table! Just be carefull, if you keep building shop furniture that nice your wife will have you remodeling the whole house. How many hours do you have wrapped up in that baby?
It’s not the wife but my son. After WE built the poker table, he’s created a backlog of things for us to build. I feel like Boeing with years worth the projects! (ha)
To be honest I don’t know, but if I was to guess, 20 to 25 hours.
Very nice looking…… what do you do if you buy more bits,,,,, can you add holes for them??
Yes. I did not show the bottom drawer on the left side which has not been drilled. Also the spacing in the other drawers are far enough apart the I could double them up. Thanks for the comment and question.
Sweet table! I love the detail and the power stop. Great job!
Thanks for the great comments.
Tried to convince the wife to let me put it in the living room so I could work and watch TV with her, but that didn’t fly. HaHa.
I would be very lost without that guy, and yes It’s showing the wear. Sorry to disappoint, but I didn’t cry when I scratched it! Sobbed like a baby! just kidding.
Thanks again!!
I agree with your friends assessment.
Sweet – keep up the good work!!!
Bravo for Brad….Well done. Looks like a great piece of furniture as well.
That rendered me speechless. Looks like it was a great learning experience. Though you should probably haul off and smack it and get the first ding over with. :)
That looks great!
That looks like a piece of furniture, Very very nice. I hope it works as well as it looks. You should be proud of it.
Nice job, Brad. But like the others said, it’s too fancy for my shop. Have fun with it!
That is an awesome Router table, great looks, hope it stays looking nice for a long time!
Beautiful. Almost to the point where I would be afraid to use it. I suggest bringing it into the house and using it as a bar.
funny you should mention that, because my son and I are going to take the plans and modify it to make a wine rack. It’s going to be a very unique design however, so keep an eye out for in towards the end of the year.
Way too fancy for my shop. Maybe my wife would let me route in the livingroom. It would fit in.
Looks like a very nice routertable
What kind of wood did you use?.?
Nope. Too pretty. You’ll cry when you make the first nick on that beautiful finish . . . . ( And it WILL happen . . . . ;^)
Nice job! What fence is that? Is it home made? Also like the lit router area.
Hey Kris, thanks for the comment, and no the fence is not homemade. It was left over from my old homedepot metal router table. Hence the need for a good one.
Looks like a well done table! May it provide you many years of great service!