What types of material should I use for an insert to my router table?
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For commercially made router tables, the manufacture offers a wide array of inserts for their table(s). Many commercially made router table inserts are made from steel. It is easy to machine, durable, strong, and thin. The generic insert for a router table has a hole for the router bit and holes to anchor the insert to the table. You will need to drill the mounting holes for your router through the insert. For the manufacture of the router table, this is the ultimate in router support.
Commercially manufactured router tables are nice and come with many features. However, building your own router table will allow you to build a router table that is customized to your routing needs. There are many router table plans available on the Internet, from simple bench top to very elaborate free standing designs. And give you the satisfaction of having built your own shop tool.
As your refining your router table design, one of the things that you will need is a router table insert. Depending one the number of routers you own, possibly multiple inserts. Making your own router table insert is not very difficult and allows you to customize it to your router table’s design.
Some of the common materials to use when building a router table insert are steel and phenolic. Some woodworking hobbyists have used plywood, plastic, or thin sheet metal. The danger with using weak or very thin material is that if the router bit were to bind on the stock the router will transfer it torque to the insert and table. Plastic such as plexiglass typically does not have the strength to with stand the torque from the router. The weak router table insert is unable to with stand the torque from the router and will break or even worse shatter. Resulting in a spinning router falling down and insert pieces flying around the router table. All and all, it will result in a bad day in the woodshop.
In my opinion, phenolic is one of the best materials to use for a router table insert. It is very strong and thin. However, there are some things you need to be aware of when machining phenolic to keep yourself safe.
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