Customer Reviews

Rousseau 3509 9-Inch x 12-Inch x 3/8-Inch Deluxe Router Base Plate

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I looked into a lot of router base plates. This one by far gives you the most bang for the buck. Their are cheaper ones out there, and other ones that are much more expensive. The cheapest I found was at Sears, a flat smaller metal plate with a 2 1/2" hole in the middle. Drill your own, won't accommodate a freehand guide pin, or accept 3 1/2" bits, but a great price for a solid metal plate. Then you get into the plates that cost three times as much as the Rousseau, and they are flat, and come with insert rings, and a freehand guide pin as well. Then there is everything in between. Now on to the Rousseau.
The advantage to the Rousseau plate is that it accepts even the larger and more popular 3 1/2" raised panel bit for kitchen cabinets etc. It also has two concentric rings that lessen the size of the opening for smaller work, and the smallest one is the standard in the industry: the porter cable template guide. It is ridged out in the center to accommodate the pc guides.
I must say, much is to do, about the difficulty of removing the Rousseau center rings. They are easy to remove, if you know the secret. All you have to do is take a new pencil, unsharpened, place the rubber end on the ring or rings, and give it an ever so slight tap with a small hammer. They pop right out. Additionally, when seating them, you want to use a rubber mallet to push them snugly into place. They fit perfectly that way, and it is effortless to remove them. You can press against those rings with your thumb, until you are blue in the face, they won't come out. A gentle tap, and they pop. Ever see the commercial with the guy fighting to get the lid off of the jar, and the wife comes over, gives it a light tap, and pry's it right off. This is the same thing, albeit a slightly different principle.
Forget setting it up using the concentric rings on the bottom of the plate. The porter cable template guide should be your guide. The beauty of this Rousseau plate is that you can use it for freehand, and template guided work. That template guide needs to be dead center. That is an asset, not a challenge. Simply insert a 1/4" shaft from a router bit combination into your router, then use a bearing the size of one of your template guides, to sit snugly on it. If you don't already have a Porter Cable template guide kit, get one. They are relatively inexpensive, and fit most routers, and will definitely fit this Rousseau plate. What we are accomplishing is getting a snug fit from your router to the template. You can look around in your bit collection, and accomplish that whichever way is easier. Now you are talking dead center accuracy to within thousands, instead of close. Try as you will, eyeballing, and drilling won't give you the type of clearance a template guide requires.
The nice thing is that Rousseau offers an install kit that has the template-guiding feature, to truly center your router. Additionally it has 4 screw studs, with sharp points on them, that you install in the base of your router, and then make an impression on the Rousseau plate. Start with a super fine drill bit, to get your holes exactly on center, then drill for the size to accommodate your base plate screw size. Another tip is to use a forstner bit after the super fine, to create a larger flat surface for your pan head (flat head) screw to be able to slide around. Then slightly oversize the hole for your screw, and it will give you the amount of forgiveness, and adjustability that you need for a perfect fit. I recommend that procedure, no matter how you do it. Original thought, NOT. That is they way the base of the Bosch feature of adjustable centering of the bit is designed. Simple but very effective.
Finally, the crown of the router plate is slight. The engineering created that hump, to assure that the bit was always the same height to the work. If you have so much as a shaving on your router top, that will affect the alignment of the board to the bit. By putting a slight crown, it offsets that problem.
Oh yeah, and one more thing, is that think about getting melamine or any material you are making the router top out of. They are usually 3/4" thick. So you don't want to be cutting a mounting plate too deep into that. What did Rousseau do, they created a 1/4" lip all the way around the edge. So you make your regular opening, then rout out only 1/4" deep for the plate edge. Much stronger than the standard thickness plates, and no having to special order 1+" melamine.
Pertaining to the safety label, it peels right off. If it gives you any trouble use a heat gun, or hair dryer to warm it first.
All in all, a sweet combination. Looks good too. Wish they still had the Rousseau name emblazoned on the top. After all it's a designer router table insert, why not show it off? :-)
Buy it you won't be sorry. Highly recommended.

I wanted to add to my other review. I must admit, the installation tip that I am about to discuss, I discovered by from installing the Bench Dog RT-250 router extension table. It is the way Bench Dog does their installation. The great idea is to use melamine screws, which have flat ends, and coarse threads to make an adjustable platform for the Rousseau plate to sit on. Ok, let me ramble.
The problem is trying to rout out the opening, at precisely the proper depth, so the plate is perfectly flush with the top. A little too deep and you have a valley. A little proud, and you have a ridge to run into, and run the risk of your workpiece coming to a halt. So what to do? Rout out a 1/16" or 1/8" deeper than is necessary. Then drill holes a little smaller than the melamine screw size all around the outside lip. Since melamine screws are not tapered, the threads are the same size for the full length of the shaft. You can look up melamine screws here at Amazon with a search. They refer you to McFeeleys, which is a great business, with instant service, and a full array of screws and fasteners. Much more variety than the usual home centers. They have a box of 50 available. Ok so what is the big deal about using the melamine screws? This is it, by using the screws with the flat tips, screwed in from underneath, all around the circumference, you wind up with a fine adjust system for getting the Rousseau plate, perfectly level with the table top. Combining that with the four countersunk holes in each of the corners for securing the top, you get an incredibly adjustable platform for the Rousseau top. I used 14 melamine screws, equally balanced around the circumference. It enabled me to fine adjust the plate so well, that I was able to completely eliminate the ever so slight crown in the plate. Although I did attach it to a wide base plunge router, which I am sure contributed to the leveling.
Since the adjusting screws are now the contact point for the base, you are now given a lot more freedom in routing the opening. For one, you don't have to rout up to the edge all the way around. You can rout to just one depth, and for example create 45 degree angle corner shelves under the plate, thereby creating greater overall stability of the greater table.
This melamine screw installation is not exclusive to new installations, it can be easily done with an already installed plate. That way if you are dealing with a small dip on any edge, it can be easily corrected.
I thank Bench Dog for turning me on to this installation method, and to Rousseau for making such a great router plate. Once you install any manufacturers router plate using melamine screws for adjustability, you will never want to do it any other way. Hope this helps.

I've owned and used this product for over a year. The installation instructions I received when I bought the router base plate could have been a lot better. The removable rings are very hard to remove and replace, as is the safety post. The product would be well served if it had a way to accurately drill the mounting holes. Being off just a little could result in being unable to properly attach the router to the base. HOWEVER, once you get past all the above negatives you'll find the base plate to be a solid piece of material that should be able to support some of the largest routers.

Not a lot to say about this product. It is made of very solid material and is very easy to install. Getting the router centered on the plate is the hardest part of the install and this was made easy by the circle marks on the bottom of the plate. All you have to do is find the set of circles that is the same size as your router base and clamp or tape it down.

I would have given this product a 5, but the center rings are a little difficult to remove. I like to use the plate just as much out of the table as in so i am ordering another to install on my second router.

I was a little disappointed that the center rings are not flat to the insert top. There is a slight dip on the grey center insert ring. The top has a slight bow, which seems to disappear when using a heavy router. When using the insert to make half blind dove tails with an Incra Ultra fence, I had a very difficult time running small(3" height) box sides across the router bit and keeping a consistant cut height. The dip in the center ring meant I had to do a balancing act to keep the blade from digging in on one corner.

For general routing work, the insert is perfect. For more exact work, I'll continue to use a phenolic flat insert with a small diameter hole.

I have a construction company in New Orleans, specializing in historic renovation. We have been using Rousseau base plates on our Porter Cable 7538 Routers for five or six years. We build our own router tables using an old Fine Woodworking up-plunge router table design. We have 6 tables that stay on the job sites and are undoubtedly the most heavily used job site tool. The major reason we started using this combination is we job build most of our doors. Using an up-plunge router table I can mortise 3 inch deep pockets in my door stiles, easily creating some very solid doors. The key to all this working is the toughness and the versatility of the Rousseau base plates.
My carpenters can keep their favorite routers with them, and quickly set them up up in the router table they're using. Up-plunging these routers on a table with an up-plunge pulley system, puts a lot of stress on the base plate because the base plate has to be fastened to the tabletop with corner screws. These plates take an amazing amount of abuse and the first one I ever put on a router is still in use today. Buy this base plate with confidence, you will not be disappointed.

I like the base. I have a hitachi m12v mounted to it. No flex whatsoever in the plate. It is very rigid and does not bow. The included hardware is good, but I did not care much for the nylon raisers. I bought #10 24-thread , machine screws to replace these. Just a preference, not mandatory. Comes with a start pin for table routing smaller piece with no fence.

The snap in rings are strong and rigid. They snap in real tight. I found that if you use your router bit wrench you can pop them out real easy without maring them by just sliding the blunt rounded tip of the end of the wrench in and using the opposite side of the ring to snap it out. Works really smooth.

You can not fab one for cheaper using the same materials...its a
no brainer to get it-

Jason

The quality of the materials is fantastic! Cutting the table to accept the plate is easy, and a 3/8" straight bit provides perfectly matching corners. I had no trouble making the cutout such that the plate fits very snug but adjustable corner pieces are included to accommodate any errors. Mounting the router to the plate is easy as well and the material machines very smoothly with no tendency to chip or melt. The large and low D-handle of my Bosch 1618 router fits just within the 9"x12" dimensions by about 1/16" when mounted diagonally; Bosch had the foresight to position the power, speed, all bit height controls and chuck access such that they would all be ideally positioned for frontal access when mounted at this odd angle. The plate is perfectly rigid and is accurately molded with a beautiful burr-free high gloss finish on all sides.

Unfortunately, some of that finish is ruined in the tedious process of trying to chemically and mechanically remove the injury-warning sticker from the surface. The warning sticker is actually a danger in itself in that it may snag the work, leading to kickback and subsequent injury and therefore it MUST be removed although no provision is made for such removal. Seems insignificant, but any idiot should have had the sense to put the sticker on the bottom where it could be left in place.

I was concerned that the "slight crown" would be a detriment, but at about 1/32" across the span, it really is "slight". Not only does it not interfere with my featherboards, miter gauge, or fence (which rides low enough to guide laminate), it honestly does an excellent job of ensuring that even slightly bowed wood contacts the plate in the immediate vicinity of the bit.

The removable rings however, are a nightmare. There is no way to remove them without both removing the plate from the table AND the router from the plate. The raw plate can then be supported between 2x4's while the center inserts are violently beaten out with a heavy mallet. I have suffered many painful injuries and badly marred the inserts by unsuccessfully experimenting with other means of removing the rings. Unable to remove the rings, bit changes must be done entirely from below the table. The rings also cannot be re-installed by hand but rather must be hammered in like the lid of a paint can. As the outer ring is hammered in, the inner ring tends to lift slightly under the buckling pressure and one must take great care to get both rings fully seated to avoid any snags. The outer ring is subtly keyed so as to only fit in one of two positions, I assume to maintain consistent orientation of template guides. I find the key terribly annoying and compromised in effectiveness by the non-keyed inner insert and the confounding choice of two possible positions. A simple alignment line would have been much more suitable for the rare occasions of template guide use.

The rings also have a "slight crown" of course, but in this case the crown is more along the lines of 1/16". Small stock wobbles on the peak and is cut erratically as a result. I have begun the process of filing down the rings to fit more acceptably but the process of test fitting and removing them repeatedly is very time consuming and painful.

I purchased this plate to mount my DW621 2HP Plunge Router on my table. I followed the directions and drilled the holes from the bottom of the plate, using the plate from the Dewalt as a template. On turning the plate over, I was horrified to discover that three of the four holes I drilled were in really poor locations. One was so close to the outer ring that the required countersink cut into it. Two were so close to the holes for the starter pin that they were difficult to countersink without "skidding," even on a drill press. Because my tabletop had been premachined to take this plate, I had to find another plate that did not have all the features that would interfere with my router's mounting holes. (Try to find a 9"x12" plate!) I settled for a piece of clear Lexan which I machined to fit the opening in my table and then mounted my router.

In all fairness, this plate would probably work great on larger routers with ROUND bases. This would get the mounting screws clear of the features on the plate. The Dewalt screw pattern is basically a narrow rectangle, which is what caused the problems.

I just ordered and have installed one of these plates in the router table I am building. Before ordering this model, I was somewhat concerned after reading the other online reviews but went ahead and took the chance. My plate was easy to install and mount my router to. The snap in rings are not the easiest to get in and out but on the other hand I don't want them popping out on their own. It is a sturdy plate and the installation instructions were easy to follow. Look forward to years of service from it.