1.
To provide clearance for installing and removing the insert plate,
adhere strips of masking tape to all four edges of the plate. Then
apply small pieces of double-faced tape to one face. (Use just
enough tape to keep the plate in place. Too much tape will make
the plate hard to remove later.) Position the insert plate on your
router table top, squaring the plate with the table, and
fi
rmly press it
into place.
2.
Cut four ¾ x 3½ x 15½" scrapwood routing guides. Apply
double-faced tape and adhere the routing guides to the router table
top with the edges against the masking tape strips on the insert
plate edges
[Drawing G]
. Remove the plate. Chuck a 1½" Forstner
bit into your drill press. With the edge of the bit just touching the
inside faces of the routing guides, drill a hole all the way through
the router-table top at each corner
[Drawing H]
.
3.
Rough-cut the opening with a jigsaw, staying
⅛
" inside the
routing guides and cutting from corner hole to corner hole. For best
results, support the inside edge of the jigsaw base with a ¾"-thick
scrapwood block.
4.
Chuck a top-bearing pattern bit into your router. With the guide
bearing running against the routing guides, rout the edges of the
opening
[Drawing I]
. Stop routing where the ¾"-radius corners
formed by the drilled holes meet the routing guides. If the thickness
of your router-table top is greater than the reach of your pattern bit,
switch to a bottom-bearing
fl
ush-trim bit,
fl
ip over the router-table
top, and
fi
nish the cut with the
fl
ush-trim bit guide bearing running
against the surface routed with the pattern bit. Remove the routing
guides.
Precision Insert Plate Installation
4.
Routing guide
Masking
tape shim
Double-faced tape
Router table top
Routing guides
Kreg Precision Router Table Insert Plate Levelers method
Note:
This method requires the purchase of Kreg Precision Router Table Plate Levelers (Item # PRS3040) from
your Kreg dealer. These levelers feature eight leveling screws that work with four lock-down screws to keep the
insert plate
fl
ush with the router-table surface.
Radius corner formed
by Forstner bit
Pattern bit
Drill bit
touches guides
Drill 1½" hole all
the way through
G
H
I