Shopsmith Forums

Thought you fellas might get a kick out of my Router Boss mounted on a Shopsmith "Shorty" base.

I made this several years ago to use for my custom clock repair-and-construction business. Today was a cleaning day in the shop, and it occurred to me that someone might like to see this, so here you are.

For those of you who don't know, the Router Boss is a multi-functional router jig and milling tool that holds the router in place and moves the clamped piece of wood past the spinning bit to do the routing and joinery. I guess you could say it is a "super Wood Rat," for those of you who are familiar with those older machines. I absolutely love this machine. It is fast, safe, repeatable, incredibly accurate, almost dust free, and fun. It has been a huge help to me in making clock cases.

Typically, you mount the Router Boss to the wall, but by having it on the Shopsmith base, I can move the work to wherever is convenient for me. Sometimes it is a beautiful day and I move the whole job out into the sunlight and fresh air.

The base began life as a rust-bucket Mark V that I rescued from a barn with a leaky roof. I removed the froze-up headstock, rebuilt it, and used it for another project. Then I cut the tubes to make a Shorty, bought a second table off of eBay, cleaned up all the rust, and bolted everything together. The new casters let me roll the whole thing around with a fingertip. It works so great! Better than I could have ever hoped.

The black toolbox holds all the Router Boss accessories right at hand and visually balances the look of the whole assembly. I imagine it also helps to keep the Shorty steady on its feet (though the whole thing has always been as solid as a rock).

This was an easy enjoyable project that simplified my woodworking tasks and greatly improved the quality of my clocks. I think the philosophy of the Router Boss dovetails nicely (heh) with that of the Shopsmith, which to me has always been a customizable motorized woodworking jig. It's fun building hot-rodded Shopsmiths.

Even if you _don't_ copy what I did and mount a Router Boss, the Shopsmith Shorty base is a neat idea. I am already working on a design for a Shorty router table that uses one of these bases...

Kelly

ps - I highly recommend using Penetrol on your base tubes and other rust-prone Shopsmith parts. Here in humid North-East Ohio, it never really dries out, and tools want to get rusty quickly in my unheated barn workshop. Penetrol stops rust dead in its tracks. I have tools that I wiped with Penetrol more than a decade ago and they are still shiny and free of rust. You should have seen this Shorty's tubes before I cleaned them up... they were brown with rust. I removed the rust and then wiped them down with the Penetrol and they have remained rust-free ever since.

That's excellent ! Thanks for showing us.

Chris

The black tool box is bolted onto the table tops. Between the Router Boss base and the toolbox, this makes for a very stiff and strong assembly.

At first I was concerned that a Router Boss on a Shorty base might be too unstable or top-heavy for use, but I have found that the Shorty base is certainly heavy enough to work. The black toolbox only adds to the stability. I also usually store a large baseplate (31" by 7" mortise table) on top of the tables and between the toolbox and Router Boss as well. The Shorty base handles it all perfectly.

Kelly

After looking at the side view photo, I began to wonder why I had the Rounter Boss hanging out so far from the tables. There must have been a reason those many years ago when I put everything together, but today, for the life of me, I can't remember why. Everything worked fine as it was, but this morning I decided to unbolt the Router Boss base, drill four new holes, and move it back a bit over 2-1/2", leaving just enough overhang to clear the table fronts with the vertical clamp bar. So far, it seems to be fine, and this will cetainly add even more to the stability of the setup, though as I said before, I have never even had a hint of a feeling of instability with this machine on the Shopsmith Shorty base.

Kelly

KellyJ wrote:image.jpeg

After looking at the side view photo, I began to wonder why I had the Rounter Boss hanging out so far from the tables. There must have been a reason those many years ago when I put everything together, but today, for the life of me, I can't remember why. Everything worked fine as it was, but this morning I decided to unbolt the Router Boss base, drill four new holes, and move it back a bit over 2-1/2", leaving just enough overhang to clear the table fronts with the vertical clamp bar. So far, it seems to be fine, and this will cetainly add even more to the stability of the setup, though as I said before, I have never even had a hint of a feeling of instability with this machine on the Shopsmith Shorty base.

Kelly

I think the table supports it better with all the bottom ribs on the table.

Agreed! It certainly looks more stable, too.

I have a bunch of clocks that I will begin working on tomorrow for Christmas orders (!), and the Router Boss on the Shorty base will be put through its paces. Hopefully, I won't have one of those "Aha!" moments when I suddenly realize why, several years ago, I had mounted the Router Boss the way I did. I think I'm OK, though.

Kelly

What is the dove-tail shaped groove that is now covered up on the bottom used for?

Nothing, as far as I know. I have never used it. It's a t-track, by the way, and there is also one on _top_ of the aluminum base "box beam" on the same front side, which is also not used.

You had me wondering, though, so I dug out the Router Boss owner's manual. I couldn't find anything in it about using that bottom t-track, so maybe it is just part of the extrusion when the company gets them in? I suppose, if it wasn't covered up, that it could be pressed into some sort of service. The Router Boss is an extremely versatile tool, though, and there are a number of ways to skin each woodworking cat with one, so I doubt if a woodworker would ever HAVE to use that t-track.

I could be very wrong about this, though, so if someone has one of these machines and knows what the bottom t-track is for, let us hear about it!

Kelly

A Shopsmith Shorty base is always a good idea. Btw, do you have a pdf version of the Router Boss owner's manual to share? I own a Router Boss Digital (Model 470D).


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Btw, do you have a pdf version of the Router Boss owner's manual to share?

Never mind, found this one:
https://online.fliphtml5.com/etbq/iyqn/#p=1

Arthur