Router Table Cast Iron Table Tops for Australia's best Router Table
The two most important parts of a router table is the squareness, flatness and rigidity of the fence and the flatness and support provided by the table top. You've spent a long time getting a straight square piece of timber ready to rout and you need a table that supports that investment to ensure it gets machined perfectly straight. You need one of the Sherwood Cast-Iron Router Table Tops.
In the beginning
Care is taken making these tops to last from the day they are cast. Most tables are only ever cast on warm days - mostly during spring - autumn time. This is because some winter-time ambient temperatures affect the chemical composition of the cast-iron due to the larger drop in the tops core temperature when coming out of the foundry, reducing its long-term stability.
Left to settle into its new shape for a matter of weeks, an initial machining run is done and then left to settle with the exposed surfaces. A second machining run is done then a final machine grind is done to all components All edges and mounting points are square, smooth and perfect.
Industrial Strength and Support
The only exception is the table-top itself, which comes in for special attention and goes back for one final polishing grind. You will see it the minute you unwrap the top and take the plastic off the top. Not a single imperfection and a perfectly smooth, flat surface. Because of this attention to detail and four-step machining process you get a top that is flat out of the box and will remain as close to the day it was machined for its lifetime - which will easily outlast most of us with proper care and storage.
Looking at the underside you can see that the edge is a huge 38mm thick, with maximum casting support around the aperture - designed to take industry-standard 298 x 235mm mounting plates. Extra ribbing and support points where the table is mounted to the stand and where the fence is mounted finish it off.
When you start using it
You'll find the mount plate aperture has 10 levelling screws with two clamping holes provided. Paired with the levelling grub screws in the Sherwood router table mount plates and lifts, you can get a perfectly flat surface on all four sides where the mount plate meets the cast-iron top.
A 19.0 x 9.5mm (3/4 x 3/8in) t-mitre guide and full-size 5/16in t-track slot have been precision machined into the table top perfectly parallel to the mount aperture so you can use any industry-standard mitre guide or mount your own jigs and fixtures to the table as required.
Two sizes available
Unlike other brands, but just like every other Sherwood Router Table component - the only difference between the smaller and large table top is the external footprint dimensions. The same thickness of table top and care and attention to detail has been applied to both the 685 x 405mm size top as the full-size 810 x 610mm table top.
The 685 x 405mm table top has one slight variation over the full-size table top. It has two wide channels machined into the top. These have been provided because while this size table top can be paired with the benchtop stand, it can also be used on cast-iron table saws that have the industry-standard 685mm (27in) deep table tops. In this application you cannot mount the Super-Flat Router Fence (available separately) brackets on the outside edge of the table so these slots have been machined to mount the fence directly to the table top when needed.
Check out the kits available for table-saw mounting here.
Simply the best router table top available in Australia today.