With all the interesting gadgets and accessories that you can attach to a router table top, it’s easy to overlook the importance of the table itself. That is, the flat piece of wood (or metal) on which you’ll be doing your work. The key word here being "flat" – which largely determines whether you can do accurate routing on a table in the first place. Just like a table saw, the top must be absolutely square to the cutting blade (bit). Without that, you’ll be fighting your project to the very end to make things line up the way they should. The best way to ensure that your top is perfectly flat and free from defects is to (1) buy a manufactured top, or (2) buy a good set of router table plans that include instructions for making a high-quality table top.

(1) Buy a Manufactured Router Table Top

With more and more router tables showing up in home woodworking shops, tool makers have come up with a variety of components that woodworkers can buy individually – which gives us the option to decide which parts to build ourselves, and which parts to buy. The top is a good example. Although it’s certainly possible to make a high-quality version in your own shop – some of us might prefer to leave this kind of project to the tool makers. And there are some great choices out there.

A basic router table top can cost less than $100 at most woodworking supply stores – which is probably not much more than what you would spend in raw materials yourself to build it anyway. The best part about a manufactured router table top is that the opening for your router is already cut. If you’ve taken a close look at some router table plans, you’ll see that this part of the project can be especially tricky to pull off. What’s more, most commercial router table tops include a miter track already built into the table’s surface, which can also be a challenge to install yourself.

(2) Build Your Own

If you’re determined to find a set of router table plans and build your own top from scratch, here’s a rough idea of the project you’ll be taking on. You’ll begin by making a "sandwich" of several layers of wood materials. Most plans will have you start with 3/4 plywood and then add two separate layers of ¼ inch hardboard on top. This then followed by a sheet of plastic laminate applied to both the top and bottom. All together, you’ll have five different layers that make up the foundation of your table top – which will do a nice job of resisting warp and twist. The best way to bond these layers together is to use contact cement. If you’re not familiar with using an adhesive like this, be sure to do a little research first. Contact cement behaves differently than most common woodworking glues. For example, contact cement can only bond to contact cement – which means you’ll need to cover both surfaces and let them dry before bringing the two pieces together for the final glue up. The instructions that come with the contact cement will fill you in on the details.