Build a Clamp-On Router Table From a Single Piece of Plywood

The Problem

A router table is the right tool for small-part and edge work, but a full cabinet-style table eats floor space that a small shop doesn't have — and the workbench-corner versions still occupy the bench permanently. Plenty of hobby shops skip the table entirely and wrestle handheld cuts that would be safer and cleaner table-mounted.

The Technique

This woodworker's answer is one board that becomes a table when clamped and a wall hanging when not:

1. Start with a piece of plywood — his is 15 by 24 inches.
2. Cut the bit opening through the middle.
3. Flip the board and trace your router's base around the opening, then rout that footprint into the underside as a shallow recess — the router has to sit up into the board so the bit gets usable height above the table.
4. Use the router's own base plate to lay out and drill the mounting holes, and bolt the router into the recess from above.
5. Trace your clamps where they'll grip the board to the bench, and rout those spots down too, so the clamp heads sit flush with or below the table surface and stock slides over them.
6. Clamp it to any workbench edge to use it; unclamp it and hang it on the wall when you're done.

The recesses are the design — everything that would stick up above the work surface gets let into the board instead.