Grizzly G0528 Router Table

by Grizzly

Product Description

If you've already invested in a big router and lots of router bits, but want the benefits of a solid stationary shaper, then this Sliding Table Router Table is for you. The sliding table makes material processing much easier and safer, particularly when making raised panels. The split fence is easy to adjust and provides full support along both sides of the workpiece. Other features include: steel stand with shelf; convenient front-mounted switch; 4" table insert diameter; 34" table height; two fences, each measuring 10-5/8" x 2"; built-in 2 1/2" dust port; sliding table has a hold down clamp; large safety paddle switch; approximate shipping weight of 124 lbs. Router and Router Bit not included.

Product Details

Product Manual [2.82mb PDF]

• Shipping Information: View shipping rates and policies
• ASIN: B00012YIUK
• California residents: Click here for Proposition 65 warning.
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #80,683 in Home Improvement (See Top 100 in Home Improvement)
  • #70 in Home Improvement > Power & Hand Tools > Power Tool Accessories > Router Accessories > Tables

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

181 of 184 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars By an experienced woodworker with mechanical aptitude, December 15, 2004

By 

Edward Scott "ewscott" (Utopia, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Grizzly G0528 Router Table (Misc.)

OK forget those other reviews, they are by beginners and one of them has the mechanical aptitude of a silverback gorilla.

After nearly a year of research before finally deciding to buy this unit rather than some of the others (Bench Dog, Rebel, Freud, and a number of home made jobbies on eBay), I have to say I'm upset with the other reviews here and on epinions because those guys had no idea what they were buying or what they were doing. Proper reviews could have meant much less time and study. I plan to remedy that now if you can stick with me.
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Prologue:

If you're here for the quick read, this unit is a precision tool made up of a rock solid cast iron work surface, an aluminum sliding feed system and a precision adjust fence system. It is capable of all types of routing/shaping plus it can easily be adjusted for jointing without the need for shims.

It does come partially unassembled, so you need to put on the legs, the shelf, the fence (preassembled in 3 sections, and the switch/socket for the electrical. Other than that there are just little things like the hold-downs and the miter guides to bolt on. Assembly is easily under 90 minutes with two people, though it is possible to do it alone if you have the patience and strength (very heavy).
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Ordering and delivery:

Ordering via Amazon or Grizzly Online is super simple and you probably know how that's done. Grizzly answers right away to let you know your item is in stock and will be prepared to ship immediately. They then let you know when the item ships and give you the name of the carrier and a tracking number. The truck carriers seem to have much more detailed tracking than UPS or FedUp.

HOWEVER... your order will arrive on a TRUCK... and I don't mean a UPS truck... it comes on a semi... some have tommy lifts some don't. None of the drivers are required to help you unload, so bring a friend if you can... male if possible. In every case when I've ordered from Grizzly or Harbor Freight, the driver has helped me without my even asking, but I just want to say he isn't required to do so. If he does, perhaps a little tip would be nice.

This particular tool comes in a single box which is about 24X40X8 inches or so... and weighs 137 lbs. It can probably fit in your trunk if you decide to go get it from the truck rather than have him come to your house (I live down many small dirt roads in the country and turning around is difficult for a semi).
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Things I like (aka why you SHOULD buy this model)

HEAVY and SOLID... will not slide around in the midst of working 12 foot moulding.

Sliding feed for medium sized items... guaranteed straight feed with your material clamped in place... safer, more accurate, faster. This item is available as an add-on to some top of the line router tables for an extra couple of hundred dollars.

Precision Fence System... allows micrometer type adjustment of both the infeed fence and the outfeed so that you can set up for basic edge jointing quickly and easily. It probably isn't as precision as Freud's system but it certainly has all the precision you need. You can also slide the two fence halves in and out to get as close as you want to your bit.

Lift-up top for router adjustments and bit changes... but you don't have to lift it for height adjustments because you can easily reach the router under the table.

GORGEOUS piece of machinery!
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Things I Don't Like (aka maybe consider another router if these bother you)

Noise is not muffled in any way since the router hangs open below the table.

Raising the top is HARD because it's much heavier than the stand and shelf... you have to put your foot on the shelf and lift hard and fast to make it latch in the open position. Lowering it is difficult too. It's a matter of which you want, stable weight or easy to lift.
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Assembly: (download the manual for a better preview)

I must say packaging for this unit was beautiful, all but the shelf are well protected in styrofoam partitions. Unfortunately the shelf is only protected by the outer cardboard and if the shipping guys drop it on end, it will bend the shelf flanges... but that would be easy to straighten most likely... mine was not dropped or bent.

Parts that go together are packaged together... so the nuts, bolts and washers that go with the rubber feet are packaged with the feet. Leg and brace mounting hardware are all together. Fence hardware is with the fence... you get my drift... saves time.

You'll need help most likely to lift the assembled tabletop out of the box and place it in a good place to work. Instructions say put it on the floor but a low work bench seemed better and worked out fine.

You'll screw on the rubber feet, attach the legs to the base assembly after putting on the rubber bumpers for the fold-up top, connect the shelf, tighten hardware. Then you'll turn it right side up and put together the fence (very easy) and attach the miter to the sliding table top.

That's the easy part done.

Warning... my prewired switch was wired incorrectly... easy to fix, but if you don't know how to wire a socket, ask somebody or look it up on the web... know which is neutral and which tab on the socket it should go to.

Also, directions don't show the switch assembly mounting properly... it mounts upside down of what they show, otherwise you're putting the plug right on top of the switch when they should sit side by side... you'll see what I mean when you get there.

Mounting your router to the table. People seem to have trouble with this, but use your noggin folks. You don't need to make templates or panels or jigs or anything... I mounted my big Hitachi M12V router which is very heavy and had no problem whatsoever... and it has a very thick plunge ring which in no way prohibited me using any of my bits as per the previous review. Here's how it's done:

Before you start, if you have a plunge router, remove the springs. If you have trouble with this, there are sites online that show how. Also, There are many many t-slots on this unit and some will have antirust glop in them so be sure to clean them out. HaHa you'll see what I mean.

1. Mount the router as per their instructions with it somewhere near the center. Make sure you have your router body set square, not because it is important but because it makes the mounting clamps center up better.

2. Close the table top and loosen your mounting handles just slightly.

2. Put the smaller snap ring in the table hole. Find a router bit that is just a little smaller than the hole in the snap ring. Adjust the position of the router until you can slide the bit into the router and not jam up on the snap ring.

Simple. Do remember to tighten the four mounting handles on the router before turning anything on.

Adjustments:

Of course squaring things up is simple logic. I suggest you square your miter jig to the sliding table first, then square your basic fence adjustments to the miter jig with the fence all the way forward or all the way back to keep the in and out fences close to the same position. Loosen the nuts that attach the vacuum nozzle and set your fences to a straight edge.

Of course since this unit has so many t-slots and adjustments, you'll spend some time getting used to them. They're all quite logical. Use your eyeball to sight along the fences to get the right bite on your infeed, then lay a straight edged board along the outfeed to position it properly for jointing... it's easy once you figure it out. A little oiling here and there is needed and of course you'll need to take good care of your cast iron parts... they need to be cleaned and waxed occasionally to prevent rust. I use carwax, but that has to be replaced pretty often due to scraping and rubbing... obviously.


Note: If you do small, intricate work you don't want to be leaning over the large sliding feed all the time, plus the feed is about 1/32 inch above the router table surface and it gets in the way sometimes. I emailed Grizzly about this and the customer service guy said I should buy another table for small work... he's wrong. All you need to do is mount your fence on the sliding table side and stand on the other side of the table... works great.

Final Note: I will add any additional info I come up with as I discover it. I wanted to rush this review online because I think Grizzly is unfairly under-rated for this item due to inept reviews. I would actually rate this 4.5 but that's not a choice, so i rounded up due to the other unfair reviews.

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Serious Tool Built to Last, May 9, 2006

By 

Jim - See all my reviews

This review is from: Grizzly G0528 Router Table (Misc.)

First, I have 'destroyed' a couple of wood tables over the last few years. I decided to go for the Grizzly for its advertised durability, as well as the sliding table. It arrived about a week after I ordered it. The box was compromised and I could not tell if anything was damaged so I refused the shipment. Before I was back at my desk, Grizzly customer service was calling to inform me that a replacement would be sent out immediately. What a great response! As far as the table goes, it took about 1.5 hours to put togehter - not really what you would call a challenge. And, It performs great. The wood and metal tables of my past are not even in the same league as the Grizzly. This is a serious tool and worth the money.

41 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great table but not for beginners, January 31, 2006

By 

John D "John D" (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Grizzly G0528 Router Table (Misc.)

There's useful and accurate information in some of the reviews of this table and inaccurate misleading information in others. The former do a service to this community, the latter frustrate me. Given both (I've read them all), the most helpful advice I can add, as a woodworker with 20 years experience, is to be sure this tool fits your needs and experience. If you've used a router or router table very little or have little woodworking experience, then this is NOT the tool for you. First, because it's probably more than you need (there are cheaper, lighter, easier options), and second because the setup and use of this tool require knowledge, experience, and common sense well beyond directions supplied by Grizzly. This table is appropriate for someone that can put it together by either skimming the manual or not reading it at all. Good woodworking requires resourcefulness. You won't find step-by-step directions for the use of any tool to fit all of your particular needs.

Some specifics.

The unit is large and heavy. You need room for it, but that shouldn't be surprising when you need quite a bit of clearance for safe table routing operations anyway. And it's heavy for a reason. The last thing you want when doing heavy cutting, such as for raised panels, is for the table to move. The table should also be matched with a beefy router, probably not the one you use for handheld operations. The 3 1/4 hp Hitachi M12V is a good match and powerful enough for the kind of serious cutting this table was designed for.

Assembly took me about two hours, but I wasn't in a rush. The instructions are concise and expect that you're not new to this, as you shouldn't be if you bought this table. One note: There is no mention of the brackets attached to the table top to allow it to tip up for router installation. The front and side braces (skirt) bolt ON TOP OF these tipping mechanism brackets (assuming the unit is upside-down). Also, the L and R marks apparently refer to their orientation in assembly (upside-down, from the rear) not in operation. After setup, be very careful with the table tip lock mechanism. It's a bit undersized for the weight of the table and you need to be sure the lock has engaged on both sides before letting go.

Router attachment. The complaints about the difficulty of mounting a router have everything to do with insufficient user experience for this kind of tool and nothing to do with the table design. It took me about 10 minutes to mount my 3 1/4 hp Hitachi M12V. It's very simple: Remove the plunge springs according to the simple directions found at www.routerworkshop.com. With the router base plate off, rough mount it under the table using the mounting hardware Grizzly supplies. There is absolutely no need to drill and tap the table for custom mounts. Then slide the router carefully underneath the table to see if it will travel down the guides (up) and clear the mounting brackets. If not, adjust the brackets. To center it in the hole, the base plate opening may just be the exact same size or close enough to the size of the hole of one of the table inserts. Use that as a guide or do as another reviewer suggests and put a bit in the router that is the same diameter as one of the inserts and use that as a guide. I have to say in all honestly and with no intention to insult but only to realistically warn that if this process confounds you then you are going to have a lot more trouble later on cutting routed joints properly.

Electrical. The manual picture for installing the switch doesn't make sense so don't refer to it or try to follow it. If you've done some wiring then you will figure it out on your own. Bolt both green grounds to the hole on the table leg closest to the square switch cutout. Connect the white and black plugs to the switch as if it were a light switch. Just be sure to test the switch with something other than your router plugged into it in case you wired it wrong. Use a drop light then all you lose is the bulb if you've cross wired. Try again until it works.

The iron portion of the table top is covered in grease and wax paper to keep it from rusting in shipping and storage. Scrap it off carefully with a sharp putty knife then apply WD-40 to it and wipe or lightly steel wool. Clean up thoroughly with paper towels then wax (I use bowling alley wax) and buff thoroughly.

The sliding table should not rock on its guides. If it does (as a reviewer complained) then the screws were tightened the wrong way. The aluminum is so smooth that you don't really need the table to slide to smoothly push mitered stock along the fence, unless it's very narrow. In any case, your custom-made jigs work better than stock fences. Look at woodworking references for tips on important jigs to make for your router and router table.