Electric routers are the most versatile of all power-driven woodworking machines. A router bit is capable of speeds in the range of from 20,000 to 30,000 rpm and enables the non-professional to turn out work that once was strictly in the province of a master cabinetmaker. In particular, the router is capable of making the most intricate joints, decorative cuts and exacting inlays with a high degree of accuracy. In short, a router is the secret for achieving sophisticated professional touches on wood products that are impossible to duplicate with the use of any other tool.
In order to extend the capability of a router. Tables can be purchased to convert the router to a spindle shaper. In particular, the router is normally mounted below the table to have its router bit extend through an opening formed through the top working platen of the table. This arrangement frees the operator's hands for better control of the workpiece and allows operations that would otherwise prove impossible by use of a portable or hand-held router.
Various improvements have been made to router tables over the years, including the provision of means for tilting the platen of a router table relative to the rotational axis of the router bit. Routers have also been mounted on a table to swing in an arcuate manner. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,604,484 and 4,741,370 disclose other types of router tables that have adjustments for the purpose of aiding the operator. In particular, such improvements are primarily intended to increase his or her capacity to perform various work tasks with greater accuracy.
Conventional router tables of the above type are generally expensive to purchase and maintain, complicated to adjust and manipulate and do not always provide the high degree of accuracy required for many sophisticated work tasks.