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Most router tables are a top on legs with sawdust underneath. This one is cabinet furniture for the shop: a plywood box with a face frame, two small bit drawers up top (including a drilled bit-holder block so router bits stand in labeled rows instead of rolling in a drawer), two big drawers on slides below, and casters so the whole station rolls to the work.
Read the first step before touching wood, because this build has a sequencing trap the source builder flags emphatically: the little top drawers live in a space too small to fit a drill after assembly. The drawer slides' cabinet members must be installed on the panels BEFORE the box is assembled — do a test layout, mount the hardware, test the drawer fit, and only then commit to glue. Get this backwards and there is no recovery short of disassembly.
The drawer sizing rule in step 8 is the standard cabinetmaker's math, worth memorizing: with common 1/2"-clearance slides, build each drawer box 1" narrower than its opening. And the source's build-one-first advice is earned wisdom — a slightly-too-small drawer adjusts out with the slides' slotted holes; a too-big drawer meets the table saw again.
The top gets cut for your specific router's base — that's why this plan assumes you already own the router, and why the router itself isn't in the materials. A mounting plate kit makes bit changes nicer but isn't required. Distinct from the site's simpler open router table: this is the storage-first version for a shop where the router lives on permanent duty.
| Item | Qty |
|---|---|
| Plywood, 3/4", 4x8 sheetRipped into two 19" x 8-ft strips. The leftover strip can replace some 1x6 — the source suggests an 18" cabinet depth to get two 5-1/2" strips from scrap. | 1 each |
| Plywood, 1/4", 2x4 project panelLarge drawer bottoms. | 1 each |
| 1x6, 8 ftDrawer boxes. Skip if using the plywood scrap. | 3 each |
| 1x3, 8 ftTop cleats and drawer-bay framing. | 1 each |
| 1x2, 8 ftFace frame. | 2 each |
| 1x8, 6 ftDrawer faces. | 1 each |
| Drawer slides, side mount, pairOne small pair for the bit drawer, two for the large drawers. | 3 each |
| CastersAt least two locking. A router table that creeps mid-cut is a hazard, not a convenience. | 4 each |
| Pocket hole screws, 1-1/4" | 100 each |
| Finish nails, 1-1/4" | 100 each |
| Wood glue | 8 oz |
Overall cost: $$$. Lumber prices vary by region, species, and season, so we give a band rather than a figure we would only be pretending to know.
| Part | Qty | T × W × L |
|---|---|---|
| Carcass horizontals3/4" plywoodBottom, mid shelf, and top. | 3 | 3/4" × 19" × 26 1/2" |
| Drawer bay dividers3/4" plywood | 2 | 3/4" × 19" × 8 1/4" |
| Carcass sides3/4" plywood | 2 | 3/4" × 19" × 28 1/2" |
| Top cleats1x3Or the width of your plywood if you went 18". | 5 | 3/4" × 2 1/2" × 19" |
| Face frame stiles1x2 | 2 | 3/4" × 1 1/2" × 28 1/2" |
| Face frame rails1x2 | 4 | 3/4" × 1 1/2" × 25" |
| Face frame drawer dividers1x2 | 2 | 3/4" × 1 1/2" × 7 1/2" |
| Small drawer sides1x6 | 2 | 3/4" × 5 1/2" × 16" |
| Small drawer front/back1x6 | 2 | 3/4" × 5 1/2" × 5" |
| Bit holder block1x6Drilled 1/4" and 1/2" holes hold router bits upright by their shanks. | 1 | 3/4" × 5 1/2" × 14 1/2" |
| Small drawer faces1x8 | 2 | 3/4" × 7 1/4" × 5 1/2" |
| Large drawer sides1x6 | 4 | 3/4" × 5 1/2" × 22 1/2" |
| Large drawer fronts/backs1x6 | 4 | 3/4" × 5 1/2" × 16" |
| Large drawer bottoms1/4" plywood | 2 | 1/4" × 16" × 24" |
| Large drawer faces1x8 | 2 | 3/4" × 7 1/4" × 24 3/4" |
Buy 11 boards at 8 ft.
2 boards
1 board
Before any glue: lay out the top horizontal, the two bay dividers, and the 1x3 framing exactly as they'll assemble, and mark where the small-drawer slides land.
This is the step the whole build pivots on. Once the box is together, no drill on earth fits into an 8"-tall bay to mount slide hardware. Anything the drawers need — slide cabinet members, screw pilot marks — happens now, on loose panels.
Build the small drawer that stores bits: sides, front, back, and the 14-1/2" holder block drilled with rows of 1/4" and 1/2" holes — bits stand upright by their shanks, visible and rattle-proof.
Space the holes with room for the largest bit bodies (panel bits are wide); a block that's all shank-spacing puts cutting edges in contact, and carbide chips carbide.
Install the slides' cabinet members on the bay panels — remembering the face frame adds 3/4" to the front, so set the slides back accordingly. Hang the bit drawer and test its travel with everything still clamped, not glued.
Happy with the fit? Now assemble the carcass: bottom, sides, mid shelf, drawer bay, top cleats — pocket holes and 1-1/4" screws, glue at every joint.
Pocket-screw the 1x2 face frame together flat, then glue and nail it to the cabinet front. The frame stiffens the box and gives the drawer faces something to land against — and its openings are what you'll measure for the big drawers, so install it before cutting any drawer parts.
Measure each face-frame opening and build each drawer box 1" narrower (standard 1/2"-clearance slides, both sides). Square boxes, glued and nailed, 1/4" plywood bottoms.
Build ONE, install it, and confirm it runs sweetly before building the second — small errors adjust out through the slides' slotted holes, but only if the drawer erred small.
Mount the big drawers 3/4" inset from the cabinet front — that's the thickness the applied faces will claim. Then attach the 1x8 faces with an even 1/8" gap all around: tack each face with two brads from the front, open the drawer, and screw it on properly from inside.
A playing card stack makes a fine 1/8" spacer.
Bolt on the casters — locking ones at least on one end, because a router table that migrates during a cut is genuinely dangerous. Then cut the top's router opening to YOUR router's base (trace the baseplate, or the mounting plate if using an insert kit), jigsaw it out, and fasten the top down.
Mount the router, stand a straightedge fence on top, and go make some rabbets. The bits are in the drawer, standing at attention, where they'll actually stay.
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3 boards
2 boards
2 boards
1 board
Assumes 8 ft stock, a 1/8" saw kerf, and buying each part at its own width. Change the board size or kerf on the full board plan →