DIY Prinsu Top Rack Made on Wood Router

Yeah mine has the dust collector hooked up with down and fence collection. My concern would be the really small ones that get imbedded in the table or fence. Or even in the router. I know I have to routinely clean the brushes off the motor for my Bosch (known issue), do like the tinfoil idea though! This is all more of a concern without a dedicated set up for aluminum.

@birdbrooks So no issue with scratched panels on some of your cabinetry?

Why would I try to use a router for glass? Silly pants.

 

It would certainly be interesting to watch. But it was just another thing you can pick up with bread.

 

I was being smart.

 

Totally knew that. But it does work really well when little kids drop glasses in the kitchen.

 

@birdbrooks So no issue with scratched panels on some of your cabinetry?

No scratch issues on wood pieces when using my router, shaper surfaces after shaping metal or plastic. I just clean off the shavings between materials. I also use a metal table surface lube called SlipIt.

In any case I am doing a lot - a lot- of sanding on wood pieces in later stages, so router table scratches would not be on my worry list.

 

Very nice design and writeup! If I had seen this before, I would have perhaps done it too, but I am happy with my self-designed rack- even if it cost a bit more.
I was one of those who ended up designing my own online and having it laser cut from a online machine shop (emachineshop.com). It turned out pretty well and I really like it, here’s what the sides look like:

 

How much was the laser service?

 

It cost $150, with the rails (from tnutz.com) and hardware, the rack cost $300. It’s a short one that fits on top of my ARE MX shell like this:

 

Emachineshop.com has a downloadable cad program that you can use to design and then get price quotes for free depending on your material.

I think OP’s design is really awesome though, a little more labor-intensive but his results were great!

 

Awesome, that's cheaper than I thought. Might even be cheaper than the places local to me.

 

I'm using solidworks, perks of doing CAD for a living.

 

FYI - emachineshop.com is limited to lengths of 47.5 inches. I designed side bars of 58 inches and submitted for production only to be notified afterwards they are unable to make it.

 

Im sorry about that! My ARE MX top is short. I guess you could make it modular with a bolt-together part. What a hassle for you after designing it and all. Can you save the file and try another shop?

 

no big deal. I’ll get it done, it just won’t be as fancy.

 

How far are your crossbars spaced out? Just got all my materials and am ready to get going.

 

I'm currently out of town without the truck but can measure when I get back. think they were centered roughly 11" because the overall length was 68" and I used 7 cross bars.

 

Most or the bars are 10-5/8" on center. The end bars are 10-3/4". Center to end of rack is 2" on the ends. Hope this helps.

 

Thanks for the write up! I never would’ve thought of using my woodworking tools to do this. I built mine similarly but:
- made the outer cuts on my band saw and table saw and only cut the slots on a router
- took your advice about angling the cuts on the c channel mounts
- predrilled the slot endpoints so I didn’t have to setup a stop system. Couldn’t figure an easy way to do stops for this on my DIY router table.




Unfortunately I thought I would be okay without slots and painted it before realizing I did want the slots.





Matches the Martin rack pretty well.

 

Mobile One synthetic works really well for cutting aluminum with a router better than WD40

 

Where do you even put it? I usually just use my used mobil1 synthetic (since that’s what I use in the truck) for drilling but couldn’t figure out how to apply it for this application.

I basically sprayed WD40 down in the pilot hole as I cut, no idea how much actually hit the bit except when it was directly below the pilot hole. I did break one Chinese 1/4 plunge bit but I switched to a Milescraft one I had and it had no further issues.