[Jason Marsha]

After contemplating it for a while I decided to make a start at building a router that could hold at least a full sheet of plywood. this wouild be my third router but the first metal one.

I have access to 2" by 4" rectangular hollow section metal which I will use for the bearing assembly pictured, to run on. I left a space between the bottom bearings in order to support the long axis.

I also have access to lots of skate bearings(608 series) from frequent copier scrapping and the 5/16" threaded rod is cheap and strong enough to tie the whole assembly together, it also fits the bearings with minimal play.
It looks I should be using in the region of 64 bearings which will be no problem.

The solid metal bar that makes up the corners of the runner assembly is 16mm (~5/8") square and was a pain to drill even after marking the holes with a center punch. After having the drill bit wander too many times I went looking for Black & Decker's bullet point drill bits or DeWalt's pilot point bits. These bits have a tip somewhat like a brad point bit for wood but the pilot or bullet point bit will drill metal, wood or plastic.

I will get some hollow section this week to give a visual idea of how the setup will work.

It appears that gear track will be the mode of motion for the long axis which then raises the question of whether the long axis will be driven from both sides, one side or the middle.

My CAD skills are ok but I should make up for that with lots of pics.

Jason