Rousseau Reviews

The most concise way to review this product is a breakdown of pros and cons:

Pros:

--Nicely finished top (and bottom).
--Very flat.
--Insert cutout perfectly sized for Rousseau router table insert.
--Insert cutout is located toward one edge to allow convenience when working small pieces or large, so the tabletop can be oriented whichever way gives you the best working position relative to the work.
--Uses six leveling pins for the insert to get it perfectly flush with the table.

Cons:

--Fence mounting holes are rough (significant chipout on both sides of table).
--Fence mounting holes are on the wrong side of the plate (they should be drilled to allow the fence to be mounted toward the center of the table, rather than the edge, so small work can be performed without leaning way over the tabletop).
--Edge banding is soft plastic--it's relatively easy to ding up--and has a gap of nearly 1/8 inch where the ends meet.

All things considered, I like this tabletop a lot. I plan to fill the factory fence-mounting holes with epoxy or flush plugs, and then to redrill the table on the other side of the insert hole for the RM-3301 fence. I may also replace the edgebanding with hardwood instead of the plastic wraparound edging. But overall it's a good value.

The completed table is a great solid product. The instructions however for assembly are not very clear and not to be undertaken by a beginner.

The leg assembly table insturctions indicated that the top should be drilled into the holes on the long table extentions, meanwhile the pre drilled holes are in the short table..........

The router fence came with no instructions except a templete for a non rousseau table

In general.........this needs improvement..........how do I like my completed table..........LOVE IT.

I wouldn't think of getting one of these portable saws without the Rousseau table and this extension. I've thrown 100# sheets of MDF on this table (using some additional saw horses for side support through the cut) and ripped them down to usable size by myself using the rousseau table, this extension, and outfeed table. Accuracy is as good as I can measure for large sheet goods. Just like the Makita saw, set it and it stays set.

I bought the router extension as an add-on to the outstanding porta-max series of table saw stands. I must say that I have found it to be mainly useless.

1. This router extension slides into the portamax rails and is leveled to the portamax table surface using set screws. As soon as you apply a load to the router extension, the set screws dent the portamax rails. This makes levelling difficult and of course causes unsightly damage to the portamax.

2. The otherwise excellent portamax fence is useless as a router fence. The vibration and pulling motion created when routing with the extension table cause the fence to slide no matter how hard I was able to crank down the friction cam.

3. The thickness (or should I say thinness) of the particle board top and the choice of mounting points makes clamping an alternate fence impossible. Applying appropriate clamping force causes large bowing and flexing of the laminate top. The result is that once you discover that the portamax fence can't be used, you discover you can't clamp a straight board as a fence either.

4. The choice of the pop-out ring sizes in the plastic insert are such that the Dewalt DW-621 cannot be bolted to the insert and must be bolted to an intermediate plate which is then bolted to the insert. This is mainly Dewalt's fault since the DW-621 base is famously small and narrow.

The bottom line is that for $100 you do not get much. I only got the plastic insert which I built my own table around. Anyone looking to add this to their portamax should think twice. Save yourself the hassle and just buy the plastic insert.

Like most home improvements contractors, I place a high value on tools that bring 'shop' performance to jobsites without taking up valuable space in my vehicle and/or several heavy trips to load and unload.

This router table does that and has replaced other router tables because it is durable, accurate, more versatile and takes up a fraction of the space.

Like Rousseau's stable and accurate table saw mounting system, the extension table setup and adjustment, once done, rarely needs adjustment through repeated setups and breakdowns. You slide it into the table saw stand and you're ready to set up bits and/or fences.

While the router table is a great extension to the table saw stand, I use it just as often by itself by just spanning it across horses or a garbage pail(most sawdust goes straight to where it belongs. Though you could rig a shop-vac without too much thought if you need better dust removal).

While Rousseau's table saw fence can be used in this configuration for some applications and as a stable and accurate stage for jigs, their router table fence is another fine tool that deserves very serious consideration too.

Additional removable base plates are readily available(or can be easily made in the field). This allows you to mount a variety of tools to different base plates and swap them rapidly.

Several years ago, when I first bought the table saw stand, router/extension table and router fence system, I had doubts about its durability,.. and I'm beginning to wonder how many more times it will pay for itself and how many more years of abuse it will take for me to finally be able to claim I was right all along.

)

P.S. I found this company's customer support to be one of the best I have dealt with, and if y'all read these things, I'd like to thank you again for helping my distributor get your product to me more quickly than they thought(or told me was) possible.

I ordered this outfeed table on July 1 when I placed my order for the Rousseau 2775 table saw stand. I got the stand quickly. Amazon has been very good about keeping me informed of the status of the order. However, it has now been over a month since I placed the order. Either Rousseau has one heck of a back log on orders for this outfeed table, or they don't care that much. Ill wait, because I think it is a good purchase. Hey Rousseau....Wake up.

I absolutely wouldn't be without this table. It in combination with the 2700 xl table takes an ordinary table saw and turns it into a high end cutting machine. It increases the capacity as well as the safety. You can do so much more with your saw when you know you have the extra support you need. I am so spoiled by this setup , that I can hardly stand to use other saws . Unless of course they have one of these attached .

The concept is a good one, the ability to turn off your saw without using your hands. If you are guiding stock through your saw and something hangs up you can shut down with a knee or convenient body part. It mounts nicely on the Rousseau PM2700XL. What's missing is a second outlet for the shop vac. My table is used in field applications, where I hookup a standard shop vac to my Makita 2703 with an adapter. The sound of the vac and the inconvenice of adapting the Switch with a grounded 3 plug adapter keep this from being 5 star.

This came knocked down in a box, missing two knobs and any coherent instructions. Lots of shims and washers that may go somewhere, but its not at all clear except from a basic knowledge of infeed/outfeed. The Rousseau plate has been reviewed elsewhere, its as hard to work with as noted with the snap in rings and the difficulty in mounting your router.

Update: Credit where its due to Rousseau, Andy took my call, discussed the use of the shims and is sending out the missing knobs via USPS. Good customer service can make up for poor execution in shipping.

First the good:
This table has a nice solid top with a full sized miter slot.

The bad:
Having said that, the fit and finish are very poor. The leg mechanism is held to the table with lag bolts, which is no problem. However, these were placed incorrectly and the bolts went in at an angle of approximately 25 degrees which IS a problem. rather than correct the problem, whoever assembled the leg set just bent parts to make them fit. this is almost criminal because the leg set is very solid and stable.

And of course, The ugly:
The fence is very heavy, which is a good thing. unfortunately, whoever assembled the thing must have been related to whoever applied the finish to the fence. It's the ugliest paint job I have ever seen, well since that time saw a car that had been painted with housepaint and a brush!

The end result is that I built a cabinet and a fence for the top. So I ended up with a decent setup after all, but should I have had to?

Got this table a few days ago. It is built very well, and seems very sturdy. There are no, repeat, zero instructions sent with this table. Lots of screws, and knobs that I found places for most of, by looking at photos of the table on the internet, but still have a handful left over that I am sure would be useful if I knew what to do with them. The Rousseau website is rather minimalist as well and it was of no help.

I actually got some instructions for how to mount my router (Skil 1825) to the baseplate from other reviews of the Rousseau baseplate that you can buy seperately on Amazon. You have to drill your own mounting holes. Not too hard, but again, without instructions it is.

So that said, I have run a few pieces through and it works very well. You need some basic tools, t-square straight edge, to get everything aligned properly, but that too was easy. Easily adjustable fence, hole to attach your shopvac, miter gauge slot, but does not come with T-style miter gauge. The one off my table saw fits in the slot though and I use it.

Not the cheapest table for sale here, but a nice compromise between price and quality.

If you need to do many duplicate cuts under 20", i guess toll is ok....
But it really is hard to asemble/use with any ease..

Most of the Rouseau Products were good. But reall missed the mark as far as what we expected...

Saw support doesn't really work as described...

But is better tham most