I recently added a router table to my tablesaw’s extension table using a piece of Corian for the top, and needed to make an opening for a commercial aluminum router-table insert. After rough-cutting the opening using a jigsaw, I had to rout a rabbet sized precisely for the insert. To do that, I made a rectangular routing template by joining four pieces of 3/4-in. material. The opening in the frame was sized larger than the aluminum insert by the distance between the router bit and the outside edge of the bushing. I made the template as precisely as I could and theoretically, I could have routed the opening and achieved a perfect fit on the first try. But as a precaution, I decided to sneak up on the size of the opening by wrapping blue painter’s masking tape around the bushing. I wrapped three layers of tape and trimmed any excess sticking off the end of the bushing. After the first round of routing, I checked for fit and, as expected, found that it was a bit tight. I removed a little tape and routed again to enlarge the opening by a fraction. The result was a perfect fit.

Jim Richey

Jim Richey

John Burke, Northfield, NJ

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